The crowd on the floor turns in unison to stare at Boone before erupting into screams and cheers.
“I had so much fun here the other night, I thought I’d come back and do it again.”
Someone starts the chant, and suddenly the bar is filled with people yelling, “Boone! Boone! Boone!”
Hope turns to me, and over the din, she says, “He ishotfor you. Ride that train for all it’s worth, baby girl.”
* * *
An hour later, my ankle is swollen to the size of a grapefruit, and I can’t pretend it doesn’t hurt like hell. I’m limping toward my next customer when Brian drops a hand on my shoulder.
“What the fuck happened to you?”
“Rolled my ankle on the stairs.”
His eyes widen. “When you got the keg? And you’ve been walking on it this whole time without saying a damn thing?”
“It’s my first night. I wasn’t about to complain when I need this job.”
Brian shakes his head like I just told him I slammed my hand in a door on purpose. “You’re an idiot. What good will you be tomorrow if you don’t take care of it?”
“I don’t have a shift until Wednesday. Hope is working me into the schedule, so I need the money from tonight to ... well, I need it.”
“I get it. But you need to get off that ankle. I’ll get Hope.”
He strides away, says something to Hope, and my friend hustles toward me.
“You little asshole, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Really? You know why.”
“Fine, but you’re done. I’ll grab my keys and you can take my truck home. I’ll get a ride with someone else. I’ll be back in two minutes.” She rushes away toward the employee break room and her locker, and I keep serving drinks.
When Hope returns, she hands me her keys. “Are you gonna be okay driving and walking on that?”
It’s my left ankle, so as long as I don’t have to drive a manual transmissionlike my own freaking car, I’ll be fine.
“I’m good.”
“We’ll split all of tonight’s tips at close, and I’ll bring yours home.”
“Give me a smaller share. I’m leaving early.”
“Shut up.”
“Love you.”
“Love you more. Go get your shit and get out of here.”
I duck into the break room and when I come out, I notice one major difference—Boone’s voice is no longer carrying through the bar. Instead, another top country hit is coming through the speakers.
Hope is already hard at work, so I limp toward the back door.
More accurately, Istartto limp toward the back door.
“What the fuck?” Boone’s voice booms from behind me. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Glancing back toward the bar, I see him with a bottle of water in one hand, and security on either side of him.