Page 2 of Of Course, Cutie

I groaned again and made eye contact with my best friend. Matteo had repeatedly picked up all of my broken pieces over the last year. I owed it to him to be available to return the favor if he needed it. I let out a long deep breath and admitted defeat. “I’ll be there, boo.”

“Yay!” Matteo bounced on the balls of his feet. “Okay, I have to get to work. Love you!”

“Love you!” I called after his retreating back. Damn-it. I didn’t want to go to his Halloween party. I still had PTSD from the last one. It was my own damn fault for showing up at a party three weeks after my dad’s funeral and consuming 50 mg of cannabis for the first time. Some dude named Isaiah told me it would help.

Boy, was he fucking wrong.

Matteo found me sobbing and puking into his bushes and took pity on me. We liked to laugh about that night now, but at the time, it was terrifying. I was so high that the entire yard was spinning, and I kept forgetting to breathe. And instead of dulling my grief, the cannabis amplified it.

So Matteo found me at my absolute worst and pulled me into his arms, and a life-long bond was forged. I’d do anything for that fabulous little man-boy.

I sighed and stood, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I had one more class today, but I was not in the mood. Instead of showing up for U.S. History, I headed to the parking lot and then drove to my favorite place.

The name of my brother’s bar, ’69, made me snort as I pulled up and parked. I’d laugh at the name every damn time because I would always remember the color of Evan’s face as he adamantly insisted to our mother that it had nothing to do with sex. “Mom! It’s the year of my Camaro! I swear!”

Suuuure, Evan. Like we all don’t know that you’ve been a sex-crazed idiot ever since Sienna came back into your life.

I pushed open the door, and Evan’s gorgeous fiancé greeted me with a smile. “Charlie!” Sienna crossed the empty bar and pulled me in for a hug. “How was school today?”

“Oh, ya know, a fabulous waste of time, like usual. Can I hang here for a bit?”

Sienna nodded and pulled her cinnamon-brown hair into a ponytail. “Yep. We’re just setting up, and Evan’s showing the new bartender the ropes. You can stay until we open.”

“New bartender?” I asked, following Sienna back to the bar where she was folding black cloth napkins into perfect triangles. “What happened to Marla?”

“She’s starting nursing school and needed to cut back her hours.”

“Ah.” I sank onto the barstool beside Sienna and started wiping down the stack of laminated menus to my left. I hung out at ’69 a lot. It was much better than being at home. I stayed close by for college because I couldn’t leave my mom so soon after my dad’s passing. But then my older sister, Bea, and her daughter moved back in after her divorce. Things were chaotic at home, so chaotic that the bar was almost calm in comparison.

“How are you doing, Charlie?” Sienna’s soft, soothing voice brought me back into the moment.

“Fine.” I refused to look at her. If I looked at her, I would cry. The anniversary of my father’s death was in two days.

Sienna nodded and reached over to squeeze my hand. “Evan’s not fine either.” I watched her fold another napkin, furiously blinking my eyes to keep the tears back. She spoke again, “We’re going to do a classic rock night for him tomorrow. We’ll tell Mason to look the other way and let you in without carding you if you want to come.”

I cleared my throat to make sure my voice didn’t crack. “Thanks. That sounds nice.” I let my gaze travel down the bar to where my brother stood, talking with a man. He had his back to me, but he looked tall and muscular, and his arms were covered in tattoos. His longish dark hair was pulled back and secured with an elastic, and he had an incredible ass. Not a bad fucking view from behind. “That’s the new bartender?” I asked, nodding toward the guy.

“Yep. Burke Reid. He just moved to Washington from the east coast to be closer to his kid. Nice guy.”

Right then, Burke turned, and I got a good look at his face. He had a thick brown beard and striking green eyes. Matteo could go on and on about Jonah’s pretty green eyes, but damn. Jonah had nothing on this Burke dude.

Sienna cleared her throat. “You’re staring, Charlie. I know your mother taught you better than that.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the menus. “I’m not staring.”

Sienna laughed. “Oh, honey, you were staring. I didn’t know you were into that badass biker gang look.”

“Beats a pretty boy any day.”

Sienna burst out laughing. “You don’t like pretty boys?”

I raised both eyebrows at her. “What about me has ever given you the impression that I like pretty boys?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“You like pretty boys, though.” I smirked at her and then glanced over at my brother. His light brown hair was perfectly tousled, and he never let his “beard” get past well-groomed stubble.

Sienna sighed and rested her chin in her hands, grinning at Evan. “Mmm… your brother is so damn pretty.”

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