Sidecar Crush

“Sure, I remember,” Otto said.

“He’s with me,” I said, patting Kelvin’s arm. “Maybe we could not do… whatever you’re about to do. You two go enjoy your evening, and we’ll stay out of your way.”

The bigger man kept his arms crossed and looked Kelvin up and down, a mean scowl on his scruffy face.

Otto narrowed his eyes. “He ain’t worth the trouble anyway.”

“These people are insane,” Kelvin said.

I leaned closer to Kelvin. “Maybe stop talking.”

Otto turned back toward the bar. His angry friend pretended to lunge at Kelvin, then laughed when Kelvin flinched. But thankfully, he backed away too.

“We’re leaving,” Kelvin said, his voice sharp.

I sighed. Of course we had to leave now. I didn’t know what he’d done to piss those guys off, but I had a feeling they wouldn’t give him a pass a second time. I waved a quick goodbye to Scarlett, Cassidy, and June, then followed Kelvin to the door.

He pushed the door open hard, and Jameson jumped out of the way. Grabbing me by the wrist, Kelvin tugged me toward the car.

“You all right, Leah Mae?” Jameson asked, stepping toward us as Kelvin dragged me into the parking lot.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I said over my shoulder. I twisted out of Kelvin’s grasp and paused. “Just a little trouble inside. We have to go.”

“All right,” he said. “If you’re sure.”

“Get in the car, Leah,” Kelvin said.

“I’m sure,” I said. “He’s just being cranky.”

Kelvin groaned and got in, slamming the car door behind him.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I don’t know what happened in there, but it dinged his pride. He’ll calm down.”

“You sure that’s all?” Jameson took another step closer. “Or do you need help?”

“No, I’m fine,” I said. “Promise.”

“Okay,” Jameson said, but he sounded skeptical. “You look nice, by the way. I like your boots.”

I smiled and opened the passenger’s side door. “Thanks. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

“Are you finished?” Kelvin asked as I got in.

“Finished what? He just watched you drag me to the car. Would it have been better if I’d ignored him?”

“This town is fucking crazy.”

“What happened in there?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I tried to order drinks.”

“Well, something happened,” I said. “Did you step on someone’s boot?”

He scowled at me. “No.”

“What did you order?”

He started the car and backed out. “I ordered a Manhattan, and the bartender asked if I was new around here. I said yes, and she asked if I wanted to try the moonshine.”

“And what did you say?”

“I said if I wanted a redneck drink, I would have ordered one.”

I put my hand to my forehead. “Well, that was an asshole thing to say. And those guys heard you? Is that why they were staring you down like they were about to drag you outside?”

“One of them said, ‘There ain’t no rednecks here,’ and I pointed out that he and his buddy were wearing shirts with roosters that said Bootleg Cock Spurs, which would suggest otherwise.”

“Why would you say something like that?”

He shrugged. “It’s true.”

“No, it’s not,” I said. “This is a nice town full of decent people. You’ve spent the entire week acting like you’re better than everyone.”

“I’m not acting like I’m better than anyone,” he said. “I’ve spent the week working my ass off. For you, I might add. I know you needed to come out here and see your dad, and that’s fine. But Jesus, I’ll be glad to get back to the real world.”

I leaned back in my seat and looked out the window. That was as close to an apology as I was going to get out of him—which was no apology at all. I didn’t understand why he had to be such a jerk about Bootleg. So it was a little different. We’d been lots of places that were different, and he’d never acted like such a jerk.