“Let’s do that.” I smile, genuinely excited to go. I haven’t been to a show since…well, since my dad was alive. “Where’s The Lamppost, though?” I’ve never heard of it before, and my dad knew of every venue in a two-hundred-mile radius.
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?” He raises a brow. “Give me your number. I’ll text you the address Friday night.”
I’m way too intrigued to say no. I take his phone from his proffered hand. “And how do you know about this place?” I ask as I type my number in, suspicion lacing my tone.
“I know people,” he says cryptically. I can’t tell if he’s pulling my leg or not, so I don’t comment.
“I’ll see you Friday then.” I slap his phone into his palm and he flashes me a smile.
“It’s a date.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he cuts me off, walking away from me backwards. “It’s a figure of speech. Relax.”
Right. Not everyone is hitting on you, Allison. I spin around, heading for my next class.
Class goes by quickly, and then I meet up with Halston to hang out for a little bit before I head back to Blackbear.
“I’m going to start charging you rent,” Lo jokes, and I stop short, ner
ves bubbling in my stomach. “I’m kidding, Allison.” She laughs. “You’re my best employee. I wish everyone was as dedicated,” she says loudly for Jesse’s benefit, who’s sitting at the bar with a plate of food.
“I don’t fucking work here.”
I eye the bowl of suckers next to him, and he follows my gaze, smirking when he realizes my thought process. Instead of handing them to me like a decent human, he slides them closer to himself, daring me to get close enough to take one. We haven’t spoken since the day I overheard him arguing with Lo. He hasn’t been around much, but on the rare occasion he is, he hasn’t so much as looked in my direction.
“Well, you should,” Lo says, her voice monotone.
I leave them to their bickering, walking past the bar toward the back room. But Jesse sits sideways on his stool and throws out an arm, stopping me with the bowl of suckers at my stomach. He raises a brow when I don’t immediately dig in.
I roll my eyes, quickly finding the brownish label I’m looking for, then move past him. I hear him chuckle behind me before Lo’s chastising follows.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lo warns.
I can’t see Jesse’s reaction, and if he responds, I don’t hear it.
“I mean it. Leave her alone. If you fuck this up, I’ll be even more short-staffed.”
She doesn’t need to worry about that.
I don’t hear the rest of the conversation, but when I come back out front, ready for my shift, Jess is gone. I let out a sigh of relief. Or maybe it’s one of disappointment.
* * *
“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU going?” Sully asks as I swipe my keys off the counter. Not having a place of my own is getting old fast. You’d think I’d be used to it after twenty years of bouncing from shitty apartment to even shittier apartment, never knowing when my mom would skip paying rent to support her drug habit instead.
“Not in the mood tonight,” I say, referring to the kickback-turned-party taking place around us. I’m sick of this whole fucking scene. He nods, knowing what I mean. He’s probably the only one who knows the real me.
“Hit me up tomorrow.”
Walking outside, I make a beeline for my truck, not stopping to make small talk with anyone lingering in the front yard. I don’t know where the hell I’m going, but I throw the gear in drive, laying on the gas. I’m on autopilot as I drive through town, wondering how everything got so fucked up. I’ve been staying at Sully’s, not wanting to look Lo in the eye and have to lie to her every goddamn day, but the longer I stay there, the better going home sounds.
I’m about to pass Blackbear and Bad Intentions, and at the last second, I jerk the wheel, skidding into the dark parking lot. Empty. Quiet. Fully stocked with liquor. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.
I park, killing the engine, then jump out, fishing my keys to Blackbear from my pocket as I approach the door. A light shines from somewhere in the back, and I cup my hands on the glass of the door, trying to see inside. When I don’t see anything out of the ordinary, I shrug it off, turning the lock, then I close the door behind me. Someone must’ve forgotten to turn it off earlier. I go straight for the bar, grabbing the bottle of Jack from the shelf. I don’t get the lid off before I hear a faint noise from somewhere behind me. I pause, listening, scanning the dining area.
Quietly setting the bottle onto the bar, I start to move in the direction it came from. Just when I think I’m trippin’, I hear it again. A soft moan. My eyes snap toward the sound and I see something hanging off the edge of one of the booths. Grabbing my phone, I turn the flashlight on, seeing a foot. A woman’s dainty ass foot with black-painted toenails. The fuck? I trace up the body attached to said foot with my flashlight, only to realize it’s Allison. She’s lying on her side, headphones covering her ears, fists tucked under her chin, lips slightly parted.
What the fuck is she doing here? At first, I think she must’ve fallen asleep after her shift, but as I take in the scene in front of me, I know it’s more than that. Her open backpack is on the table with her toothbrush lying on top of a wad of clothes, and her boots with socks stuffed inside are on the floor next to her. I tamp down the urge to wake her up and ask what the fuck is going on and shoot off a text to Sully instead.