Page 31 of Ky
But then the door opened to the bar andhisstupid laugh filled my ears. I couldn’t get away from him, not even for one fucking night. Yeah, I should have expected this being that he worked there and all.
“Hey, guys,” he greeted us, laughter still ringing in his tone.
“What’s up, Chris,” Lake said as they fist bumped.
Chris opened bottles of beer, handing them off to each one of us. His stupid fingers brushed by mine as I went to grab the bottle. His lips twitched as his eyes held mine.
“You have a good day?” he asked and jerked his chin in such a manly way that I had to hold back a chuckle. The contrast to everything shook me, but none of it was fake. It was just all Chris. Sweet and a bit rugged. Manly, but at the same time a little soft. Fuck, he had my head spinning.
“Yeah. You?” I asked, trying to hold my shit together.
“Can’t complain. I’m out of here in an hour, so it’s almost over.”
Then I felt a wave of disappointment, when just a few minutes ago I felt a tinge of frustration. These emotions were giving me fucking whiplash.
“Cool,” I answered lamely. Then I fucking smiled at him. I had no idea why the hell I’d let it slip, but it did, and as his eyes looked at my lips, some unknown thing passed between us.
“Yo, Ky,” Sketch called out from across the bar and just like that, the trance was broken.
I made my way over to the pool table and ended up taking the next game. There were a lot of things I was good at, but pool was not one of them. I think I managed to get two balls in.
“So she was telling me how her and her best friends were really close and her best friend is standing there just, like, fluttering her eyes at me and shit,” Sketch said clearly in the middle of a story. I suddenly wondered if I’d chosen the wrong time to walk up to get another beer. But then again, it was Sketch and he always seemed to have an endless supply of stories. “Then, as if I didn’t get her hint that she was dropping, she pulled off the other girl’s shirt and started making out with her like two feet in front of me.”
“How’s it you always manage to get so lucky?” B-ry said as he shook his head.
“’Cause I know how to handle the bitches, and they can fuckin’ sense that shit. Plus, I ride a motorcycle and I’m not as scary as most of you fucks,” he joked and then punched B-ry on the shoulder.
“You’re such a dumbass,” B-ry said as he playfully shoved Sketch’s shoulder.
“How are things going with your sister?” Mason asked as he walked up to get a fresh beer.
“Uh,” I said, turning in his direction. I was glad for an escape out of having to hear the rest of Sketch’s story, but I also wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “A little strained but I guess better than could be expected.”
“You guys haven’t seen each other in a while, yeah?”
“Ten years, yeah.”
“That’s a long time. People can change so much in that time,” he said.
“Very true. It’s hard because I still remember her as a kid, but it’s like I blinked and she’s all grown up and shit. I, um, don’t really know what to do with it all. I have no clue what I’m doing.” I let out a short, huffed laugh that gave away my nervousness about the situation.
“I’m sure you’re doing a lot better than you think you are.”
“I fucking hope so.” We both shared a laugh. “I have no fucking idea what I would do if it wasn’t for Chris. I mean, offering a place to stay is amazing enough but he seems to set Ingram at ease too. And everyone here has been great too. They haven’t treated her like she’s any different, ya know?”
He hummed as his head bobbed a lit and he rubbed his fingers along the stubble that covered his jaw.
“It’s good to have supportive people around you. Nothing like having people to have your back, catch you when you fall, and never judge you for anything.”
His words slammed in my brain. It could have been that he was just making a statement based on how he felt, but for some fucking reason, it felt like he was trying to slyly tell me something. I didn’t want to think about things or go into any of it, so I decided to change the subject.
“How’s your boy doing?” I asked.
“Good, I guess. I don’t get to see him much. Every time I set up a time to go over there, she calls at the last minute and cancels. I really wanted to do things without getting a lawyer involved, but if she continues to keep him from me then I have no choice. I’ve missed so much time already. It pisses me right the fuck off, if I’m being honest.” Though his words were angry, his tone showed none of it.
“Yeah, but that’s not your fault, man. It wasn’t like you knew you had a kid,” I said and cupped his shoulder in a comforting way.
“True, and fuck, if it wasn’t for the accident, I might not even have known about him at all. Shit sucks.”
“Damn. But he’s better now, right?”
“Yep.”
And that was the end of our touching conversation. That was enough heavy shit for one night and we both seemed to agree.
I stayed later than I had intended to, but I had a good night. I didn’t drink much because I knew I’d have to drive all the way out to the beach. By the time that I thought about just crashing at the clubhouse, it was too late for me to text Ingram. I knew I didn’t have to answer to her but it was just fucking courtesy to let her know. I didn’t want her to wake up and worry about me. So, I made the adult decision to hang out and at the end of the night, I’d drive back to the beach house.
