Page 9 of Drunk Girl

“This one’s birthday,” I tell him, wrapping an arm around Tiffany’s shoulder.

“Well, happy birthday.” He pushes our glasses across the bar in front of us. I hold up my debit card for him to take and he shakes his head at me. “These are on the house. A birthday gift, of sorts,” he says as I try and protest.

“Thank you!” Tiffany takes a drink. “This is so good,” she tells him as he pours a beer from the tap in front of us.

“I’m glad you like it,” he says as he hands off the glass of beer.

We bring our drinks back to the table we occupied earlier. The crowd has definitely thinned out since we got here earlier, but there’s still a decent group of people finishing up their last drink of the night.

“Are we splitting an Uber back to my place, or what’s the plan?” Tiffany asks once we’ve finished our drinks.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive tonight, so I just took an Uber to your place. I can just grab my own, since we’re going in opposite directions from here.”

“Now that you mention it, I realized your car wasn’t in my driveway when we left for dinner.”

“Figured that was the best option,” I tell her as I finish off my glass of water. “I’m going to stick around for a few minutes and talk to Nick.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” she asks, eyeing him behind the bar.

“Nothing’s up with that. He saved me the other night after you left, that’s all. Took pity on the girl that was crying in one of his booths.”

“And tonight… the free shots, free drinks?” she states.

“That, I have no clue about. I didn’t even realize he was here until the shots were delivered and the server said they were from him.”

“I think someone likes you,” she says in a teasing voice.

“Shut up.” I smack at her shoulder. “And it doesn’t matter anyways. I’ve sworn off men. They’re all bad news. Well, except Colton.”

“Ashley, you’ll find a good one, just give it time. I promise you, they’re not all toads. You’ll find your Prince Charming one of these days.”

“If you say so,” I tell her, blowing out a huge breath.

5

Nick

I wipedown the bar again as I watch Ashley and her friend in my peripheral vision. I noticed her group as soon as she walked in tonight. I tend to watch the door as each customer comes and goes; just something I’ve always done since we opened. It helps me keep tabs on what’s going on in the bar, especially when it’s busy like it is tonight. Her group looked like they were having a great time tonight, laughing constantly as they sat around, eating and drinking.

With last call over, and the crowd dispersing as everyone finishes up their last drinks of the night, I watch as the one last friend that was with Ashley heads out the door before she does.

“Need another water or soda?” I call out to her from behind the bar.

“Another water would be great,” she tells me, moving over to sit on a bar stool in front of me.

“What happened to your group?” I ask, placing the glass of ice water in front of her.

“Some left earlier, as they were tired. Tiffany just went home in an Uber. I need to get one, as well.”

“Why didn’t you go together?” I ask curiously.

“We live in opposite directions, so it made more sense to take separate ones,” she says, taking a drink of her water. “Thanks again for the free shots and drinks tonight.”

“You’re welcome. Looked like you ladies enjoyed yourselves.” I place all my shaker cups in the dish tub as I start my cleanup process. “How’d everything turn out after the other night?” I ask curiously.

“Nothing really to turn out. I applied for a bunch of jobs yesterday, after I moved all my things out of my apartment with my ex and into my mom’s place. Thankfully, she was willing to let me move back in. Not exactly where I thought I’d be living at this point in my life, but I also didn’t quite expect to be jobless, either. Shit, sorry, I’m rambling again,” she says, clamping her lips together to keep from saying anything else.

I don’t know what it is about her, but she’s cute when she’s flustered like this.

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