Chapter Ten
Friday night was my first shift at Lazy Ray’s. The guys also had a football game, which worked in my favor. While they tossed around a ball and wrestled in the dirt, I would be serving tables. Well, learning to. How hard could it be to shuffle some burgers and beers to a bunch of biker dudes?
Other than Brock and Mads, I hadn’t told anyone about my part-time job, not even Liana and Chandler. For one, I knew like Brock they would try and convince me that a job wasn’t necessary. And as much as I appreciated what they had done for me, I wasn’t comfortable mooching off them for everything. I needed to provide for myself, needed my own money, needed to feel independent. And until I was certain this job stuck, I didn’t want to deal with the disappointment of having to tell anyone I got fired.
I should have known in Elmwood, nothing stays hidden.
Once the guys were on the bus to their game at a neighboring school, I took off in Grayson’s Jeep. I was shocked Brock hadn’t insisted I ride the bus with him to their away game, but since Carter was there, I understood why he hadn’t. I couldn’t imagine being stuffed into a bus with the Elite and Carter. Talk about fucking tense.
Brock assumed I’d be hanging out with Mads and Kenna tonight, but only Mads knew the truth, something she scolded me on, but she also understood. I knew Brock would find out; he always did. I just wanted it to be after my shift was over. I followed the “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than ask permission” motto, not that I needed Brock’s permission for anything. Yet, I was sure the decision would bite me in the ass, but that was in the future. I was living in the now.
And right now, I had a job to secure—money to make.
Quickly glancing out the window, I made sure no one was lingering in the parking lot and changed out of my Academy uniform into something more comfortable for a night of waiting tables. Securing my hair into a messy bun, I hopped out of the Jeep and strolled into Lazy Ray’s.
Ray Graham looked like sex on a stick. All I could think when I first lay eyes on her wasthank God Micah wasn’t here. He would eat her right up. She reminded me of Mads but rougher around the edges, less refined. Her dirty-blonde hair fell in natural waves and always looked like she had just gotten off the back of a motorcycle. Her eyelids were smoky, accentuating the color and shape of her light green eyes that only added to the sex appeal. She wore a pair of ripped jeans similar to mine and a white T-shirt that was tied into a knot just under her breasts.
“Well, if it isn’t Josie James,” Ray greeted, weaving around a table she had just dropped two pints of beer down onto, and strutted toward me. Even her swagger and voice were sexy.
I tensed for a moment before exhaling and smiling. Seeing her face made my life at Public seem like a million years ago. It made me wonder what my life would be like if I had never left.No point in dwelling on what can’t be.“I bet you never thought you’d see me again.” Not that we’d seen a lot of each other at Public. Neither Ray nor I had run in the same crowd.
“Of course, my brother would hire you,” she said, her eyes glancing me over from head to toe. “What guy wouldn’t?”
I shoved my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. “Thanks, I think.”
Her pursed lips fought against a smile. “Lucky for us, in a place like this with prominently sex-deprived older men, your looks work in our favor.”
My gaze did a quick sweep of the place. “Good to know.”
“I swear, guys literally only think with their dicks. I’ll admit, my first thought when Zeke told me he was giving you a trial was that he wanted to get into your pants. Fair warning, he still might.”
“Dammit, Ray! I can hear you,” Zeke called from the bar. Since it was still pretty early in the evening, the pub didn’t have many customers, just a few for an early, after-work beer.
“That’s the point. I’m fucking tired of you screwing my friends,” Ray hollered back. No one in the bar batted an eye, as if they were used to the brother and sister fighting like it was a regular occurrence. And I had a sneaky suspicion it was.
Zeke grinned at me, filling a glass up with ice. “Good thing then that Josie isn’t your friend.”
Ray made a grunt in the back of her throat like she thought her brother was the world’s biggest idiot. “Not yet, she isn’t.” Ray turned her gaze back to mine, rolling her eyes. “Ignore the loser behind the bar. I usually do.”
I’d been on the job for less than five minutes, and I already knew I would love working here. Or at least, enjoy the owners' banter. “Ignoring douchebags is my specialty.”
She chuckled. “I think you’ll do just fine. We’ll try it out tonight and see how you fit. And if you don’t, no strings attached. I’ll pay you for the night and probably never see you again.”
“Sounds like a plan. Just so you know, I appreciate the chance,” I replied.
Ray eyed me as she slipped a pen behind her ear. “I’m not sure why a girl who moved to the upper side of Elmwood needs the chance, but it’s none of my business.”
And my respect for Ray just went up a notch. Over the next hour, Ray went over the basics while the bar was still slow, showing me how the computer system worked, the menu items, what drinks they served, which mostly Zeke would be doing since neither Ray nor I were twenty-one. But Lazy Ray’s struck me as the kind of establishment that liked to bend the rules.
“Welcome aboard, Spunky,” Zeke greeted as Ray showed me where they kept the glassware.
“Zeke, eyes on the bar and keep your damn hands off her,” Ray chided. “We are not mixing business with pleasure… again,” she added.
Zeke’s lips twitched. “Whatever you say, Ray.” He winked at me.
I shadowed Ray most of the night, helping out when I could. A few hours in, the place got so busy that I didn’t know how they managed to pack in so many people. At that point, I had no choice but to jump in and take as many tables on my own as I could handle, and when the rush ended, it felt good—I felt good, exhilarated.
“Pretty crazy, huh?” Ray asked when we finally got a moment to breathe and take a break. She sunk into one of the bar chairs. I took the one beside her. A moment later, Zeke set two open beers on the bar.