Dirty (Dive Bar 1)

"Sorry." Vaughan took the guitar under one arm, holding it ready to play. Then he strummed a chord. "She still sounds sweet."

"Course she does. Martins only get better with age."

With a wry smile, he handed the instrument back, taking charge of the pizza. "I don't want to go falling for something I can't afford."

Andre laughed, shook his head.

"Lydia," said Vaughan. "Want you to meet some old friends of mine, the one with the Gandalf-length beard is Pat. He owns that tattoo parlor next to the bar."

"Hi." I raised a hand in greeting and the man gave me a chin tip.

"And this here is Andre." Vaughan gave the man's shoulder a squeeze. "He's the one who taught me to play. Bought my first guitar off him when I was ten. He'd just opened his store."

"Yep," said Andre. "Took all your Christmas and birthday money."

"Typical." Joe set his growlers down on the dining table. "Ripping off small children. Should be ashamed of yourself. Bet you stole their candy too."

Ever so discreetly, Andre flipped him off.

"Oh, it cost me," agreed Vaughan. "That secondhand Epiphone had taken some hits, but you were right. She had a beautiful sound, did the job and then some. I've still got her."

"No shit?"

"Haven't played her in a long time. But I couldn't bring myself to let her go."

They both smiled.

"Anyway," said Vaughan. "I used to work in his shop sometimes after school and stuff."

"The music shop near the Dive Bar?" I asked, sipping my wine. Excellent quality, Rosie was right.

"That's the one," answered Andre, setting the acoustic down on a chair. He wandered my way, looking me over. "Good to meet you, Lydia."

Then he came closer, dropping his voice to a murmur. "Delaney's a dick. That was a lucky escape on your part. You can do a hell of a lot better, honey."

I huffed out a laugh. "Thank you."

The man leaned in, giving me a kiss on the cheek, smiling. Damn, he was smooth. He also wore a very nice aftershave.

"Hey," came a cranky voice. Vaughan was instantly by my side, shooting laser beams at his old friend. "Go easy, man. You only just walked in the door."

"I'm sorry, Lydia," said Andre. "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"No."

The laser beams and frown turned my way.

"Good." After a pat on Vaughan's shoulder, Andre walked away. Next he went to Nell, kissing her on the cheek, and then Rosie. Clearly, it was just his way of being friendly with women he liked. As if I'd suddenly be catching the eye of every hottie.

"You have a lot of good friends in this town," I said, moving the conversation along.

A grunt.

"It's great to get to meet some of them."

"Yeah," he said. "Listen, Andre is a bit of a player and I don't want to see you get hurt."

I covered his mouth with my hand. "Stop right there. You think I'd take up with one of your friends?"

His worry didn't seem to ease.

"I wouldn't--especially after today," I lowered both my voice and my hand. "Remember the part where you kissed me?"

His gaze dropped to my lips. Ye gods, this man. "I remember."

"And the part after when we talked about crazy at first sight?"

"Yeah."

"That wasn't a commitment on either of our parts. I know that. But it was a statement."

His hand slipped beneath my low ponytail, thumb stroking the back of my neck. Shivers ran down my spine. Just that easily he got me all stirred up. Stupid me for not dragging him to the closest mattress earlier.

"Forty-eight hours," he muttered.

"What?"

"I've known you for forty-eight hours." He lowered his face, bringing us closer.

"That's right." This was a safe space. And it was beautiful. "Feels like we've covered a lot of territory in a very short amount of time. Kind of speed-friendship with the potential for benefits."

"Mm."

"And I just want you to know that I don't think less of you for driving a gas-guzzling environmental disaster of a car."

"Thanks, babe."

I screwed up my nose. "You caught me in a weak moment earlier. I didn't really mean to say you calling me babe was all right."

"No?"

"No."

"Sucks to be you." He placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Vaughan," said Joe, clapping his hands together loudly. "Still got that fire pit out back?"

"It's overgrown, but it's there." He gave the nape of my neck one last squeeze, then he took a step back. "You thinking we should get it working again?"

"You read my mind."

"Let's do it," said Andre.

Vaughan looked between Pat and his sister, neither of whom appeared to be particularly relaxed. Nell's smile seemed strained, the wine in her glass disappearing at lightning speed. A muscle jumped in his jawline. "Yeah, let's do that. Leave the girls in here to do their thing."

"Thank you, gentlemen," sang Rosie, the wine in her glass also greatly reduced. "My husband only agrees to baby-sit once every blue moon. I mean to make the most of it."

"Have fun." Vaughan picked up the growlers Joe had left on the table, then moseyed over to the big glass doors heading out back. "Grab some glasses."

"On it," said Joe.

"Coming, Pat?" Andre asked before going out into the early evening.

Without a word, the tattooist followed. Nell's gaze did too. There was love, in all its pain and glory, written over her face. In comparison, what I'd felt for Chris was laughable.

"We grew apart," said Nell, meeting my eyes.

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged and drained the last of her wine. "These things happen, right? Grab the bottle from the kitchen, would you?"

"Sure."

All three of us crowded together on the couch, topping off our glasses.

"Shit, I forgot. Pizza!" Rosie raced into the kitchen, bringing back one of the boxes. "Calabrese, tomato, and basil. My favorite."

"Nice." My stomach rumbled to life and I helped myself to a slice.

"Want me to heat it up?"

"Th

ere's no time for that," I said, taking a bite. "Oh. This is good. Really good."

"Sure about that?" Rosie laughed.

"You just wish you could talk with a mouth full of food, and still look this attractive."

That even made Nell snicker. Score.

"Made them for us before abandoning ship. I'm glad you like my cooking," she said. "Since I see my brother hasn't bothered to stock the house. You'll likely be relying on me for the duration of your stay."

"I'll go to the supermarket tomorrow," I said, pausing to gulp down a mouthful of the very good wine. "Vaughan's been busy."

"Wouldn't matter if he hadn't been," she said, swirling her glass of red. "He won't do anything that feels like settling in here. This place ... it's just too hard for him. Too many memories, I guess. He'll be gone as fast as he can be."

"You really think he's going to sell it?" asked Rosie.

Nell lay her head back against the top of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "All he ever wanted to be was a guitarist, play in a band. He needs the money."

"Shit," whispered Rosie. "I'm sorry."

I ate more pizza and drank more wine. My heart hurt for her, but there was nothing I could say.

"It's like I lost him when I lost Mom and Dad. Now Pat's gone too." Nell sniffed, quickly wiping at her eyes. "Fuck. Sorry, girls. Didn't mean to get all weepy on you."

"It's okay," I said, touching her elbow. "You're safe here, Nell."

"What she said," echoed Rosie, rising to grab an old box of Kleenex from the corner. I really did like her. She was good people.

"I'm the hard-core bitch," said Nell. "I'm not allowed to cry."

"We all cry sometimes. It's no biggie."

"My period's due any day now. Let's blame it on that."

"Done." I smiled.

Rosie shoved the box of tissues at her, then ran off to the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine. This night was going to get messy. Everyone needed to cut loose now and then.

I couldn't help but wonder if this was the only end result of love. Feeling lost, hurting, clinging onto what was left of your life? Thank goodness I hadn't gone through with the wedding. And thank god this thing with Vaughan had an end date. Otherwise, who knew what might happen. I could wind up broken, left in an even worse state than after Chris's betrayal. Because Vaughan could do that. Forty-eight hours in, and already he stirred up feelings I didn't want to mention. We were a train wreck waiting to happen. But, damn, it'd be hard to avoid going down that track. Even if I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

"Considering we work in the same building, Pat's gotten amazingly good at sticking close to the tattoo parlor and avoiding me," she said. "I haven't seen him in weeks. I think that's what caused our split."