An oversized bouncer glared suspiciously at each of us as he patted us down, then he cheerily said, "Welcome to Tommy's" and ushered us inside.
"Gary used to deliver beer here." Bucky looked back at Gary. "Did you get the table reserved?"
"Sure did. It's not the one up front though. Jasmine, the owner, told me she never reserves that one. It's first come, first served."
Bucky stopped a few feet from the entrance and let Gary know how disappointed he was by knuckle punching Gary in the arm.
I glanced over at Colin. "They're your friends."
"Yeah, not always sure why," Colin muttered.
The stage was empty but music was playing through the speakers. Gary waved at a woman behind the bar, the ownerI assumed. She motioned toward a table off to the side of the stage.
Gary led us that direction. "See, Buck, it's not a bad table."
Bucky sat down, then looked at the empty stage. He wasn't impressed. He took the seat that he decided had the best view of the stage. Colin was paying, and my brother was doing pretty damn well, so I skipped the beer and went straight for scotch on the rocks. I needed to get the buzz going fast. Bucky and Gary were not great as companions if you weren't at least mildly drunk.
Our drinks came just as a dancer was introduced. She came out to some heavy metal music and slowly and strategically removed her leather pants and a motorcycle jacket that was covered with silver studs. She was studded right down to the pasties on her nipples and the tiny leather thong that disappeared in between her ass cheeks as she swung around the dance pole.
Gary and Bucky, like many of the other patrons, yelled and cheered as each piece of clothing came off. Bucky turned to Colin with his hand out. "I want to shove some money in the tip jar. Jasmine doesn't let patrons stick money on the girls, but there's a jar and it's my birthday and you're my rich friend."
Colin shook his head and pulled out his wallet. "Not that rich. The next tip is on you."
Bucky raced up to the jar as the woman was picking up her clothes. He said a few words to her. She smiled and thanked him with a wink and an ass wiggle. Bucky's night had been made. He walked back to the table with a leering grin that made us all laugh.
He sat with a plunk. "I'm in love. I'm fucking in love."
"One wink and an ass shake?" Colin asked. "Seriously?"
Bucky turned to him. "Uh, not all of us were blessed with the Wilde seduction genes, so we take what we can get and I'm telling you that woman was into me."
Gary laughed. "Uh, I think she was into that twenty-dollar bill you were shoving in the jar. Besides that, I think Irene is married … to a woman," he added with no small amount of satisfaction.
Bucky's shoulders shrank with disappointment. "Yeah?"
"Yep, I'm afraid so, buddy." Gary finished his last gulp of beer. "I'm ready for another. I'll get this round." He looked at my glass of whiskey with little enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I'll take a beer this time." I picked up the glass and drained it.
Colin watched me. "Slow down there, Ro. We just got here."
"Yep, and I'm already feeling behind on my plan to get slammed."
Gary decided to walk up to the bar and place the order. Bucky was busy staring bug-eyed at the next dancer.
Colin leaned closer to talk through the music. "What did your boss say?"
"No bueno," I said curtly. "No use for a one-handed worker. I've got three weeks to heal, or I'll be back in job search hell."
Bucky pulled his eyes from the stage for just a second. "This is the dancer that I'm fucking nuts about. So fucking hot." He focused back on the stage.
"This isn't just about the job, is it?" Colin asked.
I shrugged. "Part of it. That chick I was into—seems she wasn't into me."
"You really liked her, didn't you? Never seen you like this. But hey, just cuz things are going shitty at the moment, doesn't mean you should start partying like you're immortal, right?"
"If I'd wanted a fucking lecture, I'd have stayed talking to Dad," I said angrily.