Page 18 of Beat around the Bush
Shaking his hand, I smiled. “Yep. I get the feeling you’ve heard about me, too?”
He dropped my hand, taking a swig from his beer he’d grabbed off the table. “Lettie here won’t shut up about ya.”
She glared at him. “Be nice.”
So it wasn’t Lennon who had talked about me. A small bit of disappointment crept in, but I willed it away. Tonight wasmeant to be fun, and being down in the dumps over something so miniscule wasn’t helping.
The other two men ambled over, pool cues in hand. “Oakley, this is Reed and Callan, my brothers,” Lennon introduced them.
“He’d introduce you to Beck, but he’s too busy in the big leagues,” one of the guys said. He had dirty blonde hair that curled at the nape of his neck under his baseball cap.
“Big leagues?” I asked.
Lennon looked down at me. “He does rodeo. Rides broncs for some dumb ass reason.”
“Callan’s just butthurt because he deals with teaching kids how to ride horses all day,” the man with the black cowboy hat and tattoos joked. I guessed that one was Reed.
Callan picked up his beer, taking a long swig. “Better than breaking my back shoeing horses. Plus, I like kids. I don’t see the problem with my job.”
Lettie grabbed my arm, whispering in my ear, “If we don’t go now, we’ll be stuck listening to them argue about whose job is better.”
I followed her lead to the bar with Brandy at my heels. Neon beer signs illuminated the dark atmosphere of the bar, and the smell of beer and whiskey filled the air. There were people dancing in the middle of the room, but it wasn’t packed for a weekday.
“What can I get you ladies?” the bartender asked over the music playing.
“Three shots of tequila, and whatever else they want,” Brandy said.
“I’ll just have a mojito, thanks,” I told the man, already calculating how much money I’d have left over after a drink.
“Me too!” Lettie shouted. She seemed to already be buzzed, or maybe she was just typically this hyper.
Brandy faced us with an elbow on the bar as he got to work with our order. “I’ve got a beer at the table, so I’m only doing the shot.”
“You know it won’t be the first.” Lettie smiled, the act bordering on evil.
I wasn’t huge on taking shots, so this would be torture. I preferred sweet drinks over the burning taste of straight alcohol.
“So, Oakley, do you have any siblings?” Brandy asked.
I shook my head. “Only child.”
Lettie gaped at me. “God, you’re lucky. Having four brothers is the absolute worst.”
“They don’t seem too bad,” I said.
She rolled her eyes as Brandy said, “The lot of them aren’t. But one in particular grinds my gears.”
I raised one of my eyebrows. “Really? Which one is that?”
My eyes drifted back to the guys as she said, “Reed. He’s an asshole. Stay as far away from him as possible if you can.”
“The one with the tattoos?” I asked, to make sure I had the right guy. He didn’t seem like an asshole at first glance.
Brandy inhaled deeply. “Please donottalk him up like that.”
“Oh, please, Brandy.” I brought my attention to Lettie as she spoke. “Reed’s nice. He and Brandy just have some hate-thing going on,” she not-so-quietly mumbled to me.
Brandy gaped at her. “Hate-thing?”
