Page 30 of Rough Ride

And I had pushed them away with a sneaky trick.

It bothered me throughout my shift, the guilt flaring hot like a stab wound. Was the way I opened up last night a one-time thing? Was there more to these men that I was missing out on?

Eventually, I couldn’t speculate about it any more. I had to know for sure.

“Hey,” I said to Liz. “Cover the bar for a minute?”

She flashed me a thumbs-up while flirting with a customer who was nowhere close to being in her league.

I left the bar and walked out to the floor of the honky tonk. It was more crowded now than it had been when my shift began, customers filing in to listen to the twangy country music from the man on stage. Eventually I reached the other side of the room, where I had seen Johnny and Eli sitting just a minute before.

But now the table was occupied by a gaggle of women in cowboy hats and sequin dresses.

“Are you our waitress?” one of them demanded when she saw me. “I’ll have an espresso martini…”

“Make it two!” one of the others said.

I mumbled something about them needing to order at the bar, then began searching through the room. I hadjustseen Johnny sitting here before telling Liz to cover for me. They must have left.

I hurried out of that room and down the hall, into the main dance area. The entrance to the entire establishment was to the left, where a line of people were slowly coming in, gazing aroundwith wonder at the largest honky tonk in the world. I must have been too late.

Then the crowd parted just enough to give me a glimpse of blond hair sticking out from beneath a tan cowboy hat.

Johnny.

I practically shoved gawking customers out of the way to reach them. I hadn’t imagined it—thatwasJohnny, with Eli on the other side of him. Relief flushed into my veins like ice water in a pint glass.

But they weren’t alone, now. They were chatting up two women.

“And that’s when I said, let’s do it!” one of the women was saying as I approached. “You only live once, right?”

Johnny gave a laugh—afakelaugh, I could tell. Then he saw me and his smile turned genuine.

“I’m sorry,” I told him without preamble. “I’m used to immediately pushing people away. It’s part of being a female bartender, plus all the other baggage I told you about last night regarding… my ex. But you’re a really nice guy, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know you. I get off in half an hour if you want to get a drink. Or just food if you were serious about never drinking again. Either way, I’ll be at the bar until my shift ends.”

One of the women stepped forward into my personal space. “Um,excuseme? We were having aconversation.”

“Relax, botox,” I said to the woman. “I don’t know if you’re thirty or seventy, because you’ve got more plastic than all the beer cups in the trash can over there. But I said my peace. He’s all yours.”

As I walked away, I heard Eli laughing heartily. The other woman snapped at him, “What areyoulaughing at?”

“What Sophie just said,” he replied. “Did you not hear her? That was fuckin’hilarious.”

The last thing I heard was the woman scoffing in offense.

My heart was pounding as I went back to my bar and relieved Liz, who was swamped with customers now. I wasn’t used to making big gestures like that, especially in front of several people. Eventually, my pulse returned to normal as I served beer and collected tips. It felt good to say that to Johnny, and I was looking forward to seeing if he accepted my offer.

But when my shift ended, Johnny wasn’t there.

“I’m still proud of you,” Liz said as we exited out the back of Billy Bob’s. She put her arm around me. “And who knows. Maybe he’ll change his mind in a day or two. He’s probably still in rough shape after what happened at Dickies tonight.”

“Maybe,” I said, but I wasn’t as optimistic as her. It felt like I had missed my chance. Johnny was going to focus on the rodeo, just like he said he would.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Liz put her arm around me and gave me a side-hug. “Want to go somewhere and get a drink?”

I shook my head. “Honestly, I just want to go home, put sweat pants on, and start my rewatch of White Lotus.”

“Season one or two?”

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