I got the job as soon as I’d turned twenty-one. I needed the money, and it paid well for a part-time job with hours that didn’t interfere with school or dance. It also didn’t hurt that I usually got to work shifts with my roomie Charlotte since she was the one who’d gotten me the interview. She was the boss’s favorite at The Roost, so I’d been a shoe-in for the job. And I got paid well to flirt all night, so that was a plus too.
Speaking of hot guys, Jackson Silver walked into the bar about an hour before last call. I’d thought about him several times over the last month and a half. Word on campus was that he’d been keeping to himself a lot more. When he came back from Christmas break, there hadn’t been any more rumors about random hook-ups. This was the first time I’d seen him since witnessing his argument with Sasha, which was strange considering how small the campus was.
He sat down at the other side of the bar, so Charlotte took his order and served him a beer and a shot. Then she headed straight over to me as soon as she had taken care of Jackson.
“Did ya see who’s at the bar? Hottie McHot-Pants himself,” she said, nodding her head in his direction.
“Yeah, I saw him.” I replied.
She snorted in response. “Like I didn’t know that already. I could practically feel you staring through my shoulder blades while I was servin’ him. Damn, girl. Something ya forgot to tell me about you and Jackson? Did y’all bump uglies or something after his fight with Sasha?” she teased. “C’mon. Make Momma proud. Tell me you had a wild ‘n’ crazy time and let him do all sorts of nasty things to you. Or at the very least that you’ve been thinking about what I said and are finally open to the idea of dating someone like him. Or maybe him for real.”
I whipped her ass with my towel and didn’t bother responding. Charlotte knew that I wasn’t into one-night stands, and that was all Jackson used to do, maybe extending them to a weekend if the mood struck him. I didn’t bother with the whole love thing, but if I was going to let a guy get that close to me, then I had to at least know and like him.
There was no doubt that Jackson was super hot, but I wasn’t sure that he was very likable, so there wasn’t any use going there. So of course I hadn’t thought about going out with him. That much. Except after watching Charlotte with Shane over break, I couldn’t get her comments about reformed players making the best boyfriends out of my head, and I wanted to kill her for it now.
I glanced over at him one more time before refocusing on my own customers.
The time to close flew by, and the next thing I knew, Charlotte was racing over to me as the bar started to empty out. I figured she was going to beg me to handle cleanup so that she could head back to the dorm to have some private webcam time with her boyfriend back home before I made it back.
“Shit, Kaylie. I fucked up,” she whispered to me as she grabbed my arm.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. It wasn’t like Charlotte to freak out about anything. She was usually so laid back.
“I didn’t realize Jackson had been drinking before he got here. He seemed fine, and now he’s totally trashed. I swear to God I had no idea I was over-serving him. I only gave him a couple beers and one shot, but now he’s totally smashed and I can’t let him drive back to campus. I’m screwed. If something happens to him, I am so fucked,” she lamented.
I glanced down the bar to see Jackson hunched over with his head resting on his arms, eyes closed. Char hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she was screwed, even if she was the bar’s star employee. She couldn’t let him drive if he’d had too much to drink, and our boss would not like the idea of the town’s golden boy going home in a cab from his bar. There was no way that was going to work as a solution to this mess.
“How about this? I’ll just drive Jackson back in his car and you take mine.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Kaylie? I know I’ve been teasing you about dating him, but you don’t know him that well, and the rumors on campus about his tastes don’t really inspire confidence. Especially when he’s trashed. I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you cleaning up my mess by leaving with him even in his condition,” Charlotte worried aloud.
“It’ll be fine, Charlotte. He just needs a ride. Besides, if he didn’t hurt Sasha after the stunt she pulled, then he isn’t going to do anything to me just because I am helping him out with a ride home. Don’t be such a worrywart. I’ll even text his sister to let her know what’s going on so she can check on him in the morning, okay?”