“Tell the owners I said thanks,” I say, tossing back the drink. “So how long have you been sleeping with Katie?”
“I wouldn’t say he’s sleeping with Katie exactly,” I hear a female voice behind me say. Katie appears at the bar with an empty tray. She’s petite and fair-skinned with jet-black hair cut short, a pixie cut, I think it’s called. She’d never waitressed before we hired her, but she’s one of our best employees. Not everyone can manage the chaos of working late hours at a busy bar, but Katie never gets flustered by a drunk customer or forgets an order. She’ll be a good doctor—she knows how to handle people. Be sweet but don’t take any shit, I’ve heard her tell the other staff more than once. “That makes it sound like a thing. We’ve just fucked a few times,” she says. “Cash said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“As long as it doesn’t become my problem,” I say.
“It won’t,” she says. “This organic chemistry class is just a beast and Cash has been kind enough to help me take my mind off it every once in a while.”
“You have to take another one in the fall, right?” Cash says.
“Yes,” Katie says, smirking. “But I might have the hang of it by then, so I promise nothing.”
“Just remember I’m here if you need me,” Cash says. “I’d hate for you to lose your scholarship.”
“Thanks for your concern,” Katie says. “Now can I please get three Jack and Cokes and a vodka tonic?”
“Katie, what do you think of Cassie?” Cash says as he scoops ice into a couple glasses.
“The fill in? She seems nice,” Katie says. “Pretty quick learner.” She grins at him. “Why, you thinking of helping her survive organic chem, too?”
He sets the drinks on Katie’s tray. “Asking for a friend,” he says, nodding at me.
“Cash, are you trying to start something?” I say.
“Are you?” Katie says. “With her?”
“Don’t you two need to go fuck in a car somewhere?” I say.
Katie looks at Cash as he puts the drinks on her tray. “Methinks the Ryder doth protest too much.”
“What she said,” Cash says, walking away to help a customer at the other end of the bar.
“She’s hot, you’re hot,” Katie says. “Do it.”
“Thanks,” I say. “But I didn’t ask for any opinions.”
“But you’re interested in her,” Katie says.
“I’m interested in a lot of people.”
“Name one.”
I face Katie, leaning back as I cross my arms. “I own this bar. I have a name in this town. I could fuck anyone in here I want.”
“Yeah, you could,” she says. “But I have a feeling the only one in here you want to fuck tonight is Cassie.” Katie takes the tray and goes off to serve her customers, her words lingering in my imagination.
So maybe I am interested in Cassie. Maybe I’d like to bend her over the desk in the back office, push those tight, black jeans to her ankles, pull her panties to the side with my index finger. Maybe I’d like to kneel between her legs and lick at her * like it’s my last meal until she comes on my tongue like it’s her last night on earth, her voice loud, her muscles quivering. Maybe I’d like to hear her throat raw with my name.
There’s only one way to find out.
CASSIE
CH. 9
I set down martinis in front of three women at a reserved booth. “Thanks,” one of them says. She’s pretty, one of those girls who looks polished even in just a ponytail and jeans, which she wears with a white t-shirt and black leather motorcycle jacket.
“Do you want to start a tab?”
“You can put it on Jackson’s,” she says. “I’m his sister. I figure he owes me a few drinks.” Owes me. It makes me think of what Ryder said earlier this week, about whether Jamie would do for me what I’m doing for him—or more specifically, that he thinks Jamie wouldn’t do it.
But here’s Jackson’s sister assuming her brother will cover her debts. Granted, a few drinks isn’t nearly the same as ten-thousand dollars. Still, maybe that’s what family is for—accounting for us when we can’t account for ourselves. Reciprocity: In return for being your sister, you pay for my night out. Though it’s true that I can’t recall Jamie ever picking up a check.
Jackson’s sister takes a sip. “I would never say this to Cash,” she says to the girl next to her, a brunette in a black mini skirt, “but the boy can make a dirty martini.”
“Why wouldn’t you say it to him?” Cash appears at the table, his V-neck t-shirt showing off his toned body, a bottle of Stella Artois in hand. He sits next to Jackson’s sister. “Because there’s more dirty where that came from.”
She pops the olive in her mouth. “Don’t you have a bar to tend?”
“I’m on break.”
I look at Jackson’s sister. “Lucky you,” I say.
She laughs. “The new girl’s a fast learner.” She puts out her hand. “I’m Shelby.”
“Cassie,” I say, extending mine.
“Nice to meet you. This is Avery,” she says, pointing to the brunette, “and Ruby.” She gestures to the third girl, a beautiful redhead next to Avery.