Page 4 of Shamrocked
"No. Not at all. I haven't spared a single thought on that dickhead. It's the gargoyle, I'm telling you. I felt the inspiration burning that first day, and it only got worse each day."
"Where did you get him again?"
"An Irish pub calledShamrocked."
She pulled out her phone and typed a few seconds. Shaking her head, she met my gaze. "There's no bar in the entire metro area called that."
I frowned, my stomach turning cold and queasy. "I'm sure that was the name of it."
She came over and leaned down across from me, propping her elbows on the table.
I couldn't bear the concern in her eyes. My eyes filled with tears and I swallowed hard. "I'm not crazy. I swear. It wasShamrocked, with a four-leaf clover in neon lights outside."
"I know you're not crazy," she scoffed, but the lines still creased her forehead. "What happened after I left? Let's retrace your steps."
"Okay." I sniffed. "Yeah."
"So we were at theCrownuntil about eleven o'clock. I left because I had to work. You were hanging out with Morgan and Tammy, right?"
"Yeah." They were our friends from B.M. Before Marriage. Girlfriends I'd lost track of after college. "We had another round, and then closer to midnight, we decided to go to a new club. Tammy said she'd heard great things about it."
"Do you remember its name?"
I scrunched my eyes, trying to remember. "Not exactly, but it was only a few blocks away from theCrown. So we decided to walk."
Viviana frowned sternly. She hated it when I walked around the city streets at night without protection.
"We were laughing, having a grand time. The streets were well-lit and cars were still buzzing up and down the road. It wasn't too cold that night, either. Chilly, but not drag a scarf up around your face cold. We were there in like ten minutes."
"Ten minutes from theCrown," she mused. "Do you remember the street?"
"Perez Parkway. We came to the big intersection with... uh… What's that street?" I knew exactly where I was—but I usually had no idea what the actual road names or numbers were after a few turns.
"Eighty-Eighth."
"Yeah. The crosswalk light was flashing, so Tammy and Morgan hurried across. I was a bit behind, and by the time I got to the intersection, the crosswalk turned red. I didn't think I could make it." Damn my short legs. "I waved them on."
Viviana's eyes narrowed and she started to straighten, pulling up her phone like she'd call them right then and there to give them a piece of her mind. "They left you?"
"The bar was right there, and there was a line. I figured I'd catch up pretty quick."
"But you didn't," she said softly. "Did you?"
"I..." I sighed and shook my head.
"How drunk were you at that point?"
I shrugged. "I could walk and talk fine, but I was buzzed. We were mostly loud and crazy, laughing a lot, you know? But I wasn't staggering, falling-down drunk. I watched the cars a minute, and I needed to pee. Bad. Standing there in the cold didn't help. I started looking around on my side of the intersection, and I saw the neon four-leaf clover just a ways down the street."
Pulling up the map of the city on her phone again, she frowned. "Left or right as you were looking at the intersection?"
"Left."
"You're sure?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I started jogging a little, desperate for the bathroom. The street was darker, but it wasn't far. I mean, I was able to jog there without dying."
"A feat." She chuckled, knowing my hatred of any kind of exercise. Which was why I had thick calves and couldn't wear her killer knee-high boots, not to mention the rest of my generous curves, but oh well. Her laughter died and she met my gaze, her brow furrowed again. "There's no bar showing up on the map."
