Lyrics of a Small Town

Rio came walking inside from the balcony and he nodded his head when he saw me. We hadn’t talked since yesterday and I hoped he was dealing with everything better today.

“Benji! Fix me a drink,” Rio called out and I turned to see Benji behind the bar with a shaker and martini glasses.

“You want a fucking martini, pussy?” he asked.

“God no. Just a Jack and coke,” he replied. “Pour up that girly shit for Genesis.”

“What the fuck am I making the first book in the Bible a cocktail?” Benji asked.

Rio rolled his eyes. “Genesis is the girl here with me, dumbass.”

“Jesus, who named her?” Drake asked.

Benji burst out laughing. “Maybe Jesus did!”

It took Drake a minute to realize what he meant then he started laughing.

“Gangs all here,” I said to Saul.

He gave me a crooked grin. “Lucky us.”

“Is Saul fucking smiling? What the hell is that?” Benji asked, and I turned my head to see him coming in our direction with a martini and a Jack and coke.

“He will do that shit all night as long as she’s around,” Drake called out.

Saul didn’t appear amused. He moved his arm from my shoulders and put his hand on my lower back. “You want a drink?” he asked me.

I started to say no but decided perhaps a drink would help me tonight. I looked at the martini that Rio was taking from Benji. “Maybe one of those?” It sounded like a question and it kind of was.

Saul moved and led me over to the bar with him. He picked up the shaker and then poured what was in it into a glass. “What the fuck is this drink?” he asked Benji.

“Dirty martini. Add an olive,” he told him.

Saul took an olive and put it in the glass before sliding it to me. “Thanks,” I said as he grabbed a bottle of beer from the ice bucket.

“Don’t thank me yet. It may taste like shit. I don’t know what’s in it,” he replied.

“Vodka mostly,” Benji replied.

I looked at it, wondering if maybe I should have gone with something else. How much vodka was in this? I didn’t ask for fear of sounding like a dork.

“Come on,” Saul said and led the way down to the balcony door.

Rio was at the pool with his date. She had just gotten out of the water and was walking toward him dripping wet to take the martini he had brought her. The back of her bathing suit did not exist I realized when she turned her back to us.

“Want to swim?” Saul asked me and I thought about my bikini. It didn’t seem so bad compared to Rio’s friends. At least most of my butt was covered up. It was the little bit that wasn’t that had me nervous. I looked down at the drink in my hand. Liquid courage.

“After I drink this,” I replied then took a sip. It was a miracle I didn’t choke. I didn’t know what Benji had been shaking up with the vodka because I tasted nothing but vodka. Possibly a hint of olive but that was it.

“Bad?” Saul asked, and I lifted my gaze to see him watching me.

I shook my head and he laughed.

Unable to keep from smiling, I added “Maybe a little.”

He took a drink of his beer but continued smiling. I turned to look back at Rio then and saw the girl was looking at Saul. She wasn’t just looking; she was checking him out. I couldn’t blame her. He was hard not to look at. Especially when he was smiling.

I took a bigger drink of the martini. I was going to need it and possibly more.

Saul took my hand and led me over to the teak lounger that was wide enough for two and had a table for drinks on each side.

“Where’s the music?” Drake’s voice rang out.

He was walking down to the pool patio, wearing a pair of baby blue swim trunks with a beer in each hand. Behind him was Benji and a guy I hadn’t seen inside. He must have just arrived.

Saul sat down on one side of the lounger then patted the spot beside him once. I put my drink on the table before sitting down. Saul rested his hand on my thigh and I reached for my drink, deciding I might just need another one after all. This wasn’t so bad. Country music came over the speakers and Rio groaned loudly.

“You shouldn’t have let me pick it,” Drake said then dove into the water sideways.

We sat there silently and Saul traced patterns with his fingertips on my leg. It was peaceful, even with the music and other partygoers. I finished my drink and felt very relaxed.

“Do you have on sunblock,” Saul asked me.

I nodded. “Always. Have you seen my skin?”

His hand slipped between my thighs. “Yes, all of it,” he replied.