Page 6 of Starting Our Chance

When the fourth tequila shot within the last hour had slid down my throat, Nikki waved off my protests about the cost. “Consider it a business meeting,” she said, smiling up at me. “We are celebrating, and this is the cost of doing business with me—a killer hangover at the desk tomorrow.”

“We work on Saturdays?” I furrowed my brows.

“Sure do, Girlfriend.” Nikki scanned her phone as she added, “We work until the current job is done. Then there are others lined up in the chute. So basically, the work doesn’t end. You good with that?”

“Yes!” It was like a dream come true. I could actually do something productive in this place.

“Good.” Nikki slapped the phone down, grabbed my hands and squeezed as she said, “Hey, don’t be mad but my friends are coming. ”

I squeezed them back. “Not at all!”

“Perfect, okay, well there they are.” Nikki craned her head and waved at someone over my shoulder.

I shouldn’t have spoken so fast. Not when I heard the voice of Nikki’s friend.

Oh, shit. This night just got ten times weirder . . ..

I turned and saw two women, one of them Samantha Bowers. I gave them a genuine smile and said to the snowy-white blonde, “Hi, Sammy! Long time, no see.”

It wasn’t a shock that Nikki and Sammy knew each other; my earlier snooping had told me that Sammy and her husband were big investors with Nikki.

Sammy’s green eyes were liquid wrath. “Nikki, I didn’t know you knew this bitch.”

I did an inner eye roll. Great. I could take the high road, or I could beat the shit out of Sammy. Like the good girl I was, I chose option A.

“Hi, I’m Loretta Jane.” I reached a hand out to the other woman who had followed Sammy. “Nice to meet you. You new to town?”

“Felicity Bowers.” The woman smiled, her ruby red lipstick well-suited to her Mediterranean complexion. What was more striking was that she didn’t seem fazed by the other woman’s surly disposition. However, she did ask, “How did you manage to piss off my sister-in-law?”

“Oh, Sammy Bowers and I go waaayyy back.” I shrugged. “Not sure what she’s mad about now. It’s been years since I’ve seen her, and quite frankly, I’ve forgotten the past and grown up. I’m putting all that shit behind me and would love to start fresh now that I’ve moved back to town.”

“It’s Samantha Peterson, bitch, and you are just as fucking stuck-up as ever,” Sammy bit out. “This bimbo dated your man back in middle school—gave him his first blowjob if I remember correctly.”

“That was Jasmine Larson, Sammy. I never touched Marcus’ wiener.” I looked to the woman who was apparently his wife, and by the looks of it, soon to be the mother of his child. Felicity lifted her shoulders and seemed amused by the whole situation, refusing to feed off her sister-in-law’s aggression. “And you, Sammy, you scored Logan. Wow . . . time flies!”

I wished the men folk were here. I could always make Marcus and Logan smile. It was true I had dated each of them for no more than two weeks total in middle school, and it had consisted of sitting together at lunch and going to one Friday night movie with Logan. But that alone had put a rift between me and Sammy for what remained of that school year, and we had only made up just before summer.

My relationship with Sammy was filled with tumultuous events that were just like that, so much so that I honestly couldn’t think of why she was currently pissed at me. Smiling to hide my nerves, I wracked my brains for a topic of conversation.

Nikki, who had been typing on her phone, no doubt instructing someone on something to do, finally put the damned thing down and sensed the bad air. “Wow, bitches, chill.” She slammed her shot and said it was time to dance. Grabbing Sammy by the hand, she led my old bestie to the dance floor. I instantly observed the anger dissipate and the old shimmering Sammy come back—or as much as she could be given that hint of a baby bump peaking from her mid-section.

Everything was so familiar, yet so new and changed. I’ve missed this.

I wet my lips and hoped like hell that Felicity stayed friendly as I said, “I swear I never touched your man, other than to hold his hand.”

“It doesn’t matter, he’s mine now and not going anywhere.” Felicity nodded to a table of men folk, who I had somehow missed enter the bar. I saw Marcus there, along with Logan. In fact, I realized that most of the men at their table were those I had gone to school with. But some, however, were new to town, just like Nikki and Felicity.

That was when I saw another face—the one face that stood out amongst the herd of men. Duke. His straw cowboy hat was tipped low over his face, but that sharp jawline was unmistakable.

I need to let that man alone. But I might as well tell the sun not to rise.

As I made small talk with Felicity, learning that she also just relocated from New York to the sunny South, I contemplated what it was about Duke that had me all tied up in knots. Because I couldn’t lie, I had flicked between all their faces until I saw his scowling face hidden in the shadow of his hat.

As if he could feel my gaze lingering on his, those beautiful eyes looked across the room and locked onto mine. The frown on his lips wavered, if only for a moment, and I thought a smile was trying to push its way to the surface. It made my insides do a little dance to see it. I knew how sweet that look could be when his eyes softened and his lips turned upward. He didn’t look away. We just stood there, suddenly the only two people in the bar. An ache settled deep in my core as feelings flurried inside me. But Felicity broke the contact by asking if I needed another drink; her tonic and lime was empty. I told her yes, perhaps a little too loudly.

Leaving the hormones and claws on the dance floor, I decided that on our way to the bar we would go say hi to the men folk. It was going to piss Sammy off even more if I got anywhere near Logan, but I grabbed Felicity’s hand and dragged her to the table. My desire to talk to my neighbor made me bold. To her look of confusion, I simply smiled sweet as honey and said, “I’m saying hi to your husband, since I haven’t seen him or his brother-in-law in ages. I don’t want Sammy accusin’ me of anything horrid, so you just come along with me now and mind what I say.”

Felicity laughed and the sound was magical, coming straight from her gut. I liked this woman already, especially when she just shook her head at me and told me to lead the way.

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