Chapter 1
~Camreigh~
“I just took a wrong turn is all,” Matt argues from behind the wheel. I don’t know what Tina finds so irresistible about the guy. He’s kind of a preppy goober. He wears Dockers and Polo shirts or button downs everywhere he goes. A true southern momma’s boy who will probably follow in his daddy’s footsteps and sell insurance.
“We’re lost,” I announce as we pass by more country scenery. Nothing but rolling farmland for miles. Some cows and wheat not much else to look at but we passed by I shit you not a corral of mini horses. I wanted to stop to pet them, but my friends refused. Jerks. “I’m seriously going to piss all over myself if you don’t pull over soon,” I grumble from the backseat. “I don’t care if I have to squat with the cows.”
Tina laughs. Her dirty blond hair drapes over her shoulders in loose curls. Her bright red lips striking against the white of her teeth and her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. “That’s a visual I didn’t need in my head. There was a sign for some bar up ahead. We can stop there,” my best friend promises as she glances back at me over the front passenger seat.
Jeff, my date is sweating profusely next to me, his nerves getting the best of him. I can’t believe I let Tina talk me into this date with Matt’s cousin. I knew better, but I didn’t want to be stuck alone on a Friday night either, and it was a free concert ticket. Now I am regretting this poor choice. Jeff may be a super guy but he’s a baby and probably still high school. He looks fifteen and judging by his acne like he has hit a rough patch in puberty. Military man my ass. Maybe he is a member of the JROTC. I’m not an overly vain person, but I’m twenty-three, and I know I’m attractive. I need a real man. But what I need right now more than anything is to escape this car and this nightmare of a date. Not to mention again that we are seriously lost and not going to make the opening act of the show. This night has turned into a total shit show of a nightmare circus I can’t escape from.
The bar comes into view. It’s a biker bar. I know this by the row of motorcycles parked up front and the lack of cars. Matt pulls his BMW into the lot and has barely parked the vehicle before I am unclicking of my seatbelt and scrambling out. I wasn’t kidding. That Hard Lemonade has gone straight through me and my bladder is ready to explode.
A sign on the front says: Roadhouse.
Tina is chasing after me. “Cam, wait up.”
I should pause and wait for my friend, but I am super pissed at her right now. She told me that Matt’s cousin was home on a furlough from the military. I ignore her plea and keep walking. As soon as I am about to walk through the front door someone comes sailing through the glass window. Loud music and laughter filters from inside the bar. Going inside is probably a terrible idea. I look down at the bear of a man who is laying on his back groaning and holding a cut on his forearm. My need to relieve my bladder presses once more, and I decide I would rather go inside than piss myself.
I walk in and don’t look anywhere except for a sign pointing to the bathroom. I ignore the looks and whistles as I maneuver through the crowded bar. I can hear Tina muttering a polite excuse me as she follows me. I find the single stall bathroom at the back of the place near the pool tables, quickly close the door and lock it before she can come in after me.
“Come on, Camreigh. I’m sorry.” Her palm slaps the door, and I pretend not to hear her. My focus is on taking care of business. Sweet relief filters through me, and I let out a sigh. Tina is knocking on the door. “Hurry up, Cam. This place is um…we don’t fit in here.”
I can see her clutching her pearls in my mind. Tina is a good girl and wouldn’t ever come to a bar like this one willingly. Me though…I like to live dangerously. Sometimes you just gotta take a walk on the wild side. We only live once, and I try to make every single day count. I learned at a young age that life is fleeting, and tomorrow is never promised. My twin brother was killed by a motorist who was speeding through our quiet neighborhood when I was eight years old. It was a tragic and senseless accident. Adam had been shooting hoops with our Dad, and I was jumping on the trampoline pretending I was an Olympic gymnast. It all happened so fast. The basketball bounced off the backboard and went into the road, rolling to a stop across the street.
Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can still hear my father’s blood curdling scream, “Adam, nooo,” as the apple of his eye ceased to exist. Then the thumping sound of his little body being thrown over the car. It all happened so quickly.
A shiver runs through me, and I take a deep breath, returning to the present. The thing about memories is they can creep up on you at any moment and shake you to your core. I dry my hands and smooth my features in the mirror.
I open the bathroom door to find Tina, Matt, and Jeff in a huddle waiting for me. Jesus. I strut on past them, ignoring their nervous expressions. I go straight to the bar, taking up a stool next to some guy whose vest says he rides for a club called Black Rebel Rider’s MC. He glances at me then grins. His teeth dig into his bottom lip like he is amused by me. His hand goes around the tumbler on the bar filled with a sunset colored liquid.
“I didn’t know angels came to shitholes like this.” He moves to knock the drink back, but I stop him.
“I’ll let you in on a secret,” I whisper. “I’m no angel.” Placing my hand on his wrist, I guide the glass to my mouth, sucking down the drink that’s strong enough to make my eyes roll back in my head.
>
“My Mom always told me not to play with fire,” he tells me with a chuckle. “But I’ve always been drawn to the flame.”
“You know what they say. If you can’t stand the heat…”
“Get out the kitchen,” he finishes for me with a gritty voice that is deep enough it vibrates all through me.
“Come on. We need to be getting on the road.” Tina is tapping me on the shoulder.
My new friend slides the empty tumbler to the bartender who refills it immediately and adds a second glass, dropping a few cubes of ice in it. I curl my fingers around the cool drink and down it. I’m going to need it to make it through the rest of this night.