Page 3 of Falling For Lucky
“Yeah yeah, you’ve been telling me that since we were babies,” she says to me as the bartender, Khloi, sets beers in front of us.
I pick up the glass taking a long drink. A flash of blonde catches my eye talking to the man in the suit. She throws her head back laughing and I swear that I can hear it. Something dark and dangerous works its way forward wanting to rip the head off Mr. Suit and shove it down his throat for having her attention on him.
“If you glare any harder, they will both go up in flames,” Khloi says as she puts our food down in front of us.
“Oh yeah and what’s it to you?” I growl never looking away.
“That man will torture you for the pleasure of doing so. So, if I were you, I’d put your eyes back in your head,” she shrugs like she didn’t just threaten someone.
“Not here to start trouble, taking care of some family business and then heading back to my unit,” I tell her, taking a bite of the wings in front of me.
“Good information to have,” Khloi says grinning. I stare at her as she walks away still not understanding what just fucking happened.
Trixie and I spend the rest of the night drinking, talking, and just enjoying seeing each other after such a long time apart. Now that Dad has passed, I am hoping that she will finally decide to leave this shit hole of a town.
Three
Lucky
Seeing Troy at the bar was such a flash from my past that it left me unable to breathe. What is he doing here? I’ve heard from so many that he left the day he graduated and hasn’t been back since. Him not being here is one of the reasons I came back here when I ran from the monster my family sent me to, who was supposed to love me. Now Troy is here, and I don’t know what the heck I’m going to do.
“You do know you are going to have to explain who that man is,” Khloi says from the doorway of the kitchen, scaring the shit out of me.
“Khloi, you just scared the crap out of me.”
“Well, that does it. I’ll be over in the morning to do laundry and you will spill the tea about Mr. glares a lot out there. I will not take a no for an answer. Wait, you know what? I'll just come home with you tonight since I know your stubborn ass walked here,” she says with a hand on her hip.
“Do you really want to deal with everything at my house after being here all night?” I ask, chewing on my lip.
“That's what I said, isn’t it? Now let's get this night done and get out of here.” She pulls me into a quick hug before going back out to the bar.
I spend the rest of the night avoiding Troy’s end of the bar. It’s not very hard with how busy we are but I feel a little guilty leaving Khloi with over half the bar to deal with. She works it like the amazing bartender she is. I’ve heard talk of her being from Vegas but have yet to confirm that.
Around ten we are so busy that I don’t even have time to think much less worry about who’s in the bar and before I know it is last call and we are headed to Khloi’s car.
“Fuck, I am so fucking tired. We were busier than we have been in weeks,” Khloi says as she pulls out of the lot headed for my house.
“I didn’t even know there were that many people in this town.”
“Me either! I swear it was only because that soldier was in there. He seemed to know everyone,” she shakes her head.
“Well, Troy and Trixie did grow up in this town and before their momma passed their dad was the sheriff. Things fell apart for them when Mrs. Ruthven passed when they were three. I didn’t meet them until the third grade when my mom and dad decided that it would draw less attention if the older kids went to school.” I tell her looking out the window.
“Wait, so you're telling me that you grew up in this town? I’ve lived here for the last five years and haven’t seen you or them around. You haven’t been here but a year and now you are telling me that you grew up here?” Khloi says absentmindedly as if trying to figure the timeline out in her head.
“How about we get home and check on everyone and then I’ll tell you everything I can in the morning,” I beg not ready for all the emotions this is going to bring up.
“Sounds like a plan. I called Old Lady Tina and told her to go ahead and put LJ in the small bed in the twin’s room. Which means we are sleeping together tonight, beotch!” I tell her, smiling wide.
“Did your sitter not show up again?” I ask her. Mrs. Tina normally doesn’t watch LJ due to Khloi living on the other side of town.
“No that’s why I was late. I didn’t know what else to do. I knew Mrs. Tina had Kylen and Rylen so I called praying she would keep LJ so I could work. I then rushed out to your place. So, thank your lucky starts I didn’t just stay my ass at home,” Khloi sticks her tongue out at me on her way out the door.
I just shake my head and laugh at her craziness. This woman is everything my parents and the bastard warned me against. She is outspoken, not shy, doesn’t hide her body, and has a child out of wedlock. I am so thankful every day that she befriended me and works every day to bring me out of my shell and remind me that I am more than what everyone has said.
We pull into the house and find that only the lights in the living room are on.
“Yes, that means all the babies are all in the bed. If we hurry, we may get more than four hours of sleep,” I say excitedly.
