Southern Sunrise (Southern 4)

“I’ll take two Bud Lights with lime,” the blonde says to me.

“And I’ll take your number,” the brunette next to her says, laughing. “Or you can take mine.”

I shake my head and turn around to get the two bottles of beer, twisting off the caps and putting it down. “Twelve fifty,” I say. “And thanks for the offer.”

She grabs the beer and hands me a napkin. “Just in case you change your mind.” She turns around and walks away, and nothing inside me moves. Not one single part of me is alive. I grab the napkin and toss it in the garbage.

“That’s brutal,” the blonde from before says.

I shrug my shoulders. “It is what it is,” I say. “Can I get you anything else?”

“I guess your boots under my bed is out of the question?” She winks at me.

“Unless you knock me out cold and take them off my feet,” I say halfway down the bar.

“Well, then.” She puts money down on the bar. “Have a good night, Ethan. Glad to have you back.”

“Who is that?” I ask Scott, who fills me in on the woman who moved here four years ago. She and Mom are friendly, which is how she knew about me. “She’s a cougar.” He motions with his head toward the group of cowboys that train at the arena. She slides up to one of them, and they don’t stand a chance at it. His eyes go cross-eyed when she whispers in his ear. I put my hands on the bar, and I just shake my head and laugh.

“Hey there,” I say to Brett when he walks up to the bar. “Fancy seeing you here.”

When I went into the arena this morning, I didn’t expect the old boys to be there, but apparently, it’s a Saturday thing. He just looked at me and didn’t say a word. It was only after a couple of hours that he finally spoke to me. “What you did was fucked up.” He didn’t even start out with small talk.

“I’m aware,” I told him. He and I were always friendly when we saw each other, and we saw each other more than we wanted to. With Jenna and Emily being best friends, it was hard to avoid it.

“It wasn’t good.” He didn’t have to tell me what I knew. “Took her a long time to get out there.” He was about to say something when his phone rang, and I knew right away it was Jenna. “Motherfucker,” he said when he hung up. “We’re going to the bar tonight.” He looked down. “You still love her?”

I didn’t know if I should answer him. I thought about it for one second before my mouth spoke for me. “With everything that I am.”

“Thought so,” he said. “Don’t fuck this up.” He looked around. “I want her to be happy. I want to see the sparkle in her eye that she used to have with you. I love that woman as if she is my sister, and I want her to have what Jenna and I have.”

“She told me she loves him.” The words burned in my stomach. The minute she told me that she loved him and walked away from me, I had no choice but to sit down. I wasn’t ready for it then, and I wasn’t ready to think about it now.

“I reckon she thinks she does,” he said, shaking his head. “He doesn’t deserve her. Fuck, I don’t even think you deserve her.”

“No question there. I don’t,” I told him, taking a sip from the water bottle I picked up. He agreed with me, and for the rest of the day, we didn’t talk about it.

“What can I get you?” I ask. Looking over his shoulder, I see Jenna throw up her hands and grab Emily’s hand as they get on the crowded dance floor. Brett looks behind me at them and shakes his head.

“I’ll have twenty beers and four shots of tequila,” he says and looks over to make sure Jenna is okay, and no one is next to her.

“I’ll bring them over to you,” I say. “Go stand guard.” He doesn’t say anything else before he walks away to the dance floor. My eyes can’t stop looking at her as she twirls and her hair follows her. It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile like that. I want her to smile like that all the time. I put the beers on the tray and carry over the ten beers first and then go back for the other ten.

I place the tray in the middle of the tall table that the boys are standing next to. They all smile, and one hands me a beer. “Thanks, but I have more drinks to get.” Walking back and getting the shots, I wonder who the fuck those are for. I don’t have to wait long because Jenna is grabbing them off the tray before I even put it down.