I have no fucking idea what it means, though. I wonder if I ever will.
“Any place is probably better than Ohio,” Allie says, jarring me from my thoughts.
I turn to respond as a whirling dancer almost takes out my tray. Thankfully, it’s empty. I pull it to my chest as the blonde looks at me, her nose in the air, and demands that I “Watch it!”
“Sorry!” I say, trying to look apologetic, but it’s hard. I didn’t do anything wrong. Still, Allie constantly reminded me earlier in the week that the customer always has the right of way, even if I think it’s not my fault.
The blonde, who’s wearing a strappy, short, bright pink dress, glares at me and then whirls back in the other direction, leaving Allie and me laughing. “She’s wasted!” Allie says.
My laugh doesn’t last long. The mention of Ohio and someone being wasted has me thinking about the life I left behind. I’d gotten out of Ohio as quickly as I could, but I miss my mom and am afraid of what I left her to deal with alone.
The face of a middle-aged drunk with greasy, dark hair cut in a mullet wearing a wife-beater comes to mind, making a chill pass down my spine. My mother has no idea what happened whenever her head was turned.
I hope I never see that bastard again.
Shaking it off, I respond to Allie. She grew up in California, so she has no idea what life is like in some parts of the country. “Yeah, I really love it here,” I say. “And as soon as I can get into a nicer apartment, it’ll be even better.”
“Keep getting tips like that, and it won’t be long,” Allie says as we reach the bar and I can take the money out of my apron again. I glance at my watch and see that I only have two more minutes. I’ll see if Carter has anything else for me to do before I go.
“Silver Towers is right by where you live, right?” Allie asks, bringing my mind off my money.
“Silver Towers?” I repeat, not sure what she’s talking about.
“Yeah, those nice apartments. Hunter owns those, you know? You should see if he can get you an apartment in there—for a deal, of course. Those rooms are so fucking expensive.” She rolls her blue eyes.
“I doubt I can afford that yet,” I tell her. “Besides, I’ve never even met Hunter.”
“He’s cool. You’ll like him. He can be…moody.” She shrugs, and I wonder what that means, but I don’t ask.
“Well, my shift is up, but I’m going to make sure Carter doesn’t need anything,” I tell her. “Thanks so much for all of your help.”
Allie gives me a quick hug. “You did a great job tonight. Keep hustling like this, and you’re going to be shadowing the new hires before you know it. Get home safe.” She heads over to talk to Lexi and Sadie with a pep in her step, and I wonder if she ever has a bad day. Allie wears her optimism like a second skin. Maybe if I spend enough time with her, it will rub off on me.
With a quick wave, I walk away from her and see that Carter is swamped, even though the other shift of waitresses is coming on. I lean on the bar. “Need anything else?”
He turns to me slightly wide-eyed, like he’s surprised I’m asking. “Sure. Take this whiskey to Betty Lewis?”
“Betty Lewis?” I perk up at the mention of the starlet’s name. “You don’t have to ask me twice!”
Carter sets the glass on my tray with a thankful smile and goes back to work. I see the woman across the club, and I’m so excited to get to meet her, I’m not paying attention to where I’m going at all. I feel like my entire body is tingling. She’s so beautiful and talented. I’ve seen all of her movies.
With my eyes locked on the flawless face of the raven-haired beauty, I don’t see the twirling blonde girl until the very last second. As quickly as I can, I turn to get out of her way and run smack-dab into a brick wall that shouldn’t be in the middle of the dance floor.
My tray flips, the whisky flies, and the brick wall yells, “Awww, fuck!”
I look up into piercing blue eyes and mutter my own, “Aw, fuck.”
CHAPTER3
HUNTER
“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me!”
I can’t help but curse as the sharp scent of whiskey soaks into my clothing. This night is definitely not going as planned. The jacket I put on over my shirt in the vehicle to hide Jonathan’s blood splatter is now covered with sticky liquid, and the waitress in front of me is staring up into my eyes like she’s never seen a human before.
“I’m so sorry!” she says as she grabs a rag from her apron and runs it across my jacket and the front of my shirt before I can jump back out of her reach. All she’s doing is rubbing it in with her nasty rag that’s probably already wiped down a thousand surfaces. I don’t grab hold of her to stop because, in my present mindset, I might squeeze too hard, and even though part of me wants to hurt her, I know that’s just my own devil whispering in my ear.
“Why don’t you fucking watch where you’re going?” I growl at her, staring into wide, jade-colored eyes. I sort of remember having seen this redhead around before, but I have no idea what her name is. She’s obviously new. Otherwise, she’d know better than to be carrying her tray like that through the dance floor. She should have had her arm on the other side. Allie needs to do a better job of training these new girls.