500 Days (8 page)

“
She threw you up against
a wall and squeezed your nut sack so hard you almost cried and then
she told you too fuck off.”

“
It was pretty fucking
awesome,” Greyson said, staring off dreamily. “I think she’s a
lesbian.”

“
No. You’re just a
dick.”

“
I offered to buy her a
drink and she goes all crazy on me.”

“
She was working and you
grabbed her ass and told her, that her outfit would look better
crumpled up on your floor.”

I laughed, getting an eyeful from Greyson.
“She’s hot and doesn’t like Greyson. I like her already. Maybe I
should talk to Declan about hooking us up.” Colton turned to look
at Greyson. They both started cracking up laughing. “What?”

“
Good luck with
that.”

“
Give me your phone.” I
held out my hand to Colton.

“
What for?” he looked at
me skeptically.

“
I’m gonna text Declan and
suggest all four of us go out for coffee,” I smiled, a plan forming
in my head.

“
No, no way.” Colton shook
his head. “You’re not going to fuck up my chances with
Declan.”

“
How would I fuck them up?
If anything I’ll be helping you.”

“
Just no.” He covered up
his drums and walked out. I looked over my shoulder at Greyson and
he shrugged his shoulders. I let it go and packed up my guitar. I
had one long
-
ass
day and I was ready to crash.

**************************************************************************

The crowd was still screaming when we left
the stage. Our new song was a hit and they were eating up every
word. Not wanting to lose the high I always felt after a show, I
quickly walked back to the dressing room to wash up before I headed
out to the bar to tip a few back with the boys. The bar wasn’t as
packed as it was on the weekends but it was still a decent crowd.
Colton had already beaten me to the bar and I saw he was talking to
Declan. I dodged roaming hands from the few girls I passed as I
made my way over to them. I picked Declan up and spun her around
making Colton give me the evil eye.

Declan laughed and shoved me playfully in
the chest. “How’s my favorite girl?”

“
Busy,” she said, heading
back behind the bar.

Colton glared at me. “What?” I asked
innocently. He ignored me and threw back his bottle, emptying it in
one easy gulp. He held his empty up, ordering another one.

The bartender served him one and he downed
almost half of it. “Better take it easy there tiger,” she said.

“
Hey sweetheart, your job
is to serve drinks not advice,” I told her.

She whipped her head around and narrowed her
deep, dark green eyes at me. She was about to open her mouth when
Gus called for her. “Alex!” She flipped me off before she walked
away to help Gus. Did all these chicks have attitude? Colton
snickered to himself. “What’s so funny?”

“
Nothing,” he smiled. I
ignored him and watched while she talked to Gus. All these girls
looked alike. It was hard to tell who was who. This girl was
wearing black fishnet stockings and four inch red fuck me pumps. My
eyes traveled up her legs and to her nice, round ass. She had
killer curves and when she reached up to grab a glass I caught a
small glimpse of her large breast poking out the side of her halter
top. Damn this girl was sexy. She wore a short red wig to match her
uniform and the only thing I could think about was what her real
hair looked like. I bet she was a blonde but I was really hoping
she was a brunette. I really had a thing for chicks with dark hair.
The pounds of black shadow she wore just made her green eyes pop
even more. Wait…I knew those green eyes. I searched my head through
the fuzzy haze of the past few days. Green eyes, attitude, fishnet
stockings, red shoes. I almost smacked myself in the head. How
could I forget her? She was the new bartender. My eyes shifted back
to her ass as she bent down to pick up something from the floor,
causing her shirt to ride up
,
revealing a tattoo. I leaned in a little closer
to get a better look. I rubbed my eyes thinking they were deceiving
me. No fucking way. My foot slipped and I fell backwards off my
stool, smacking my head on the floor.

The next thing I knew there was this
beautiful woman standing over me. I smiled. The most beautiful
green danced in front of my vision. I reached up my hand to touch
her wonderful, soft skin. Something cold and wet hit me in the
face. I blinked back in surprise and when I opened my eyes I saw
the green eyed monster standing over me holding an empty pitcher.
“He’ll live.” The green eyed monster stood up and handed the
pitcher back to Declan and then got back to work. I was a little
dazed and confused.

“
Are you okay?” Colton
asked as he helped me up. “Dude, how much have you had to drink?” I
shook my head trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
“You sure you’re alright?” I nodded. Did I really see what I
thought I did or was it just wishful thinking? I ordered another
beer and a shot. Colton said nothing else.

For some reason I found myself not able to
stop watching this girl. There was something about her that I
couldn’t take my eyes off her. I wasn’t the only one. Just about
every guy in the bar tried every trick in the book to get this
chicks attention. I watched her turn down every single one of them.
I had a few girls approach me during the night, but I wasn’t
interested. Declan gave me a funny look before she saw my attention
was elsewhere. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. I ignored
her and turned my attention back to my new obsession who was now
standing at the end of the bar talking to three very large men.
They were all over six foot and two of them had tattoos running up
and down their arms. The muscular one on the right had his hair
buzzed short, military style, while the one on the left had his
hair longer. The guy in the middle looked like a b-list movie star
and I wondered what the hell they wanted with her. I could see the
contours of her jaw tighten as she glared at the two taller ones
who had enough similarities to make them brothers. The heavier one
pointed at her and said something that made her roll her eyes. I
wanted to step in and say something, but she walked away.

“
Goon squad is here,” she
said to Declan as she passed. Declan looked up from what she was
doing and down to the end of the bar. She laughed and shook her
head going back to work.

I nudged Colton. “Who are the three at the
end of the bar?”

He finished off his beer and took a quick
glance. “I don’t know, but one of them looks familiar. I think I’ve
seen him here before.” I kept an eye on them while they watched her
like a hawk. Any guy that gazed in her direction they scared off
with just a look.

By the end of the night the bar had cleared
out except for a few stragglers and the three who kept watch at the
end of the bar. Declan and the green eyed monster were the only two
workers left. Declan started to clean off the bar while her
co-worker collected the bottles and glasses from tables. There was
a group of guys who didn’t seem to want to leave. The red devil
mistress told them several times it was closing time, but they
ignored her. One of the guys smacked her on the ass and the three
guys at the end of the bar stood up. She shook her head at them and
then turned back to the table to finish cleaning up. A different
guy took his hand and started to run it up the back of her leg. Now
I was getting pissed. I wasn’t a particular fan of this girl, but
she still deserved respect and these guys were being dicks. I was
just about to step in when she grabbed the guy’s hand and kicked
his chair so hard it fell out from underneath him, knocking him to
the floor. She then slammed her foot into his back and yanked on
his arm.

“
Like I told your friend,
it’s closing time, got it?” He nodded and she let him go. The three
guys at the end of the bar smiled proud and sat back
down.

Colton laughed, bringing my attention back
to him. “What’s so funny?”

“
You should see the look
on your face.”

“
What look?”

“
I know that look and I’m
telling you
,
don’t. She’s way out of your league.”

I scoffed. My interest in this girl was pure
fascination, but Colton telling me I didn’t have a chance, I took
it as a challenge. “No biggie. I can handle her and you and I both
know I have yet to have a chick turn me down.”

“
Really? Okay then, by all
means, give it your best shot.” Colton snickered as I stood up. I
was so turned on watching her take down that guy. She was sexy and
lethal and I knew she could probably kick my ass, but I was willing
to take the risk. I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans and walked
over to the red devil who was still cleaning up the table. She
looked up when she heard me approach.

“
Hey,” I knew everyone was
watching me which didn’t make this any easier. Why the fuck was I
nervous all of a sudden. “I was wondering –”

“
No,” she said
simply.

“
But you didn’t even know
what I was going to ask.”

“
Doesn’t matter. I’m sure
whatever it was my answer will still be no.” She walked away
carrying the bin of empty glasses behind the bar. Colton did
nothing to hide his laughter
,
even the three at the end of the bar were smiling
at my rejection. I did not take defeat well and decided to saddle
up. This was going to be a hard one. I walked back over to the bar
where she was washing dishes.

“
Let me take you out to
dinner.”

She laughed. “I don’t date musicians.”

“
Well then it’s a good
thing I’m not a musician.”

“
Oh no? Then what would
you call yourself?” She stopped and looked at me with her deep
green eyes.

“
An appreciator of the
arts.” I flashed my cocky smile and for one split second I saw her
tough exterior falter. She quickly caught herself and tried to give
me her normal scowl, but I was on to her. She tried to busy herself
by finishing cleaning.

“
Alex,” one of the guys
called from the end of the bar. So the devil has a name. Alex
looked up. “You good?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she sighed.

“
We’ll meet you outside
when you’re done.”

She turned back to me. “Look, is there
something else you want? Because I’m pretty tired and would like to
go home.”

“
Is that an
invitation?”

“
You’re
relentless.”

“
Do I get any points for
diligence?”

“
No, now all you get is a
choice.” She took a quarter from the tip jar. “Heads, I kick your
ass. Tails, the three guys who are waiting for me in the parking
lot get to kick your ass.”

She flipped the coin in the air. “Don’t I
get to pick?”

She turned the coin over on her hand. “Oh,”
she made a face. “Sorry. I would say it’s been a pleasure but then
I would be lying. Bye now.”

“
Come on; let’s go before
you get us both killed.” Colton stood up and pulled me from my
stool and out the door.

Colton sulked all the way home. Pissed at
himself for being too much of a wuss to ask Declan out. I ignored
his pouting. My mind was somewhere else. I couldn’t get Alex out of
my head. She was a little rough around the edges, but I liked that
about her. She was also the first girl to turn me down which just
made me more determined to get her to say yes. I knew I would have
to approach her differently. She wasn’t like most girls so I knew I
had a challenge ahead of me.

Colton spent the rest of the week moping
around the house. He would text Declan almost every day asking her
if she wanted to meet up, but every time she said she was busy so
he took it as a brush off and gave up. I knew Declan and if she
said she was busy it meant she was busy not that she was brushing
him off. Tired of looking at his pathetic, puppy whipped face; I
took it upon myself to see what was going on.

What are u up2 this
wknd?

Family in town

Next wknd?

Busy

If I didn’t know any
better I might believe Colt’s theory of you blowing him
off

Is that what he
thinks?

Pretty much

Please tell him that’s not
it. I really am busy.

He doesn’t know I’m
texting u

Ok I’ll text him. thanx 4
the heads up

I tossed my phone on the nightstand, happy
to help out my friend. I knew Colton would be pissed at first for
me for interfering but in time he would thank me. Declan and Colton
are perfect for each other. I would gladly do what I could to make
that relationship happen.

I lay back on my bed resting my head on my
hands. I heard a celebratory shout and had a feeling Colton just
got a good news text. He came barging into my room. “She said yes.”
I smiled, glad to see him finally rid of that dopey lovesick
face.

“
See, I told you she
would.”

His smile dropped and the look on his face
told me I wasn’t going to like what was coming next. “There’s one
speculation. She asked if I didn’t mind if it would be a group
thing.”

I sat up, resting my arm on my knee. “Group
thing in like, a bunch of people going out?”