Rewind (14 page)

“A doctor will be here in about ten minutes, let’s get you over to your bed.”

I tried to protest that I didn’t want the ambulance, but she interrupted me.  “It’s the campus doctor.  I KNOW he’s not a fan of Ronnie’s.”  she said and sat down on the bed beside me. 

Come to find out, when he squeezed me that hard he caused the old blood to be pushed out.  “Sydney you weren’t pregnant and honestly you should be counting your lucky stars that you’re not.  He’s an evil man.”

I thanked Dr. James for coming over and begged him not to tell Ronnie, he crossed his heart and promised that it would stay between the three of us in the dorm. 

~~~~

Theresa and I packed our things up over the next couple of days and Ryan helped carry it to our vehicles.  Ronnie hadn’t called, text or stopped by since that day, so when he approached me at my car wanting to talk about things all I could do was shake my head and walk away from him. 

“Syd, babe, come on.  I’m sorry.”  He jogged ahead of me and tried to stop me.  Ryan and Theresa both stayed beside me. 

“No Ronnie, it’s over.  I’m done.  You need to take care of whatever issues you have and I’m not strong enough to help you through them.  Most importantly I really hope your daughter, Vivian, has a dad that is loving her and caring for her since you hate kids so much.”  I told him.

He narrowed his eyes at me, his jaw muscles ticked, “Fuck you.  You’ll never find somebody that’ll love you like I did.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “I sure hope not.”  I walked away from him and didn’t look back. 

~~~~

“NO WAY!”  I yanked the keys out of my dad’s hands and looked at them.  “Come on let’s go see it.”  I couldn’t believe what he had just told me. 

We drove into town, numerous times mom slapped my shoulder and told me to slow down.  Once we pulled up in front of the building I couldn’t hold back the tears of joy any longer.  Dad and mom had purchased the building, and renovated it for me.  “Get Twisted” was in bright blue and pink vinyl lettering on the window.  “I hope those are tears of joy.”  Dad rubbed my back.  I hugged him and nodded my head.  “Let’s go inside.”

My mouth fell open once inside, floor to ceiling mirrors against one wall, bright shiny flooring for a dance floor.  Against one wall was a massive stereo system with surround sound speakers hanging in the corners and a large one hanging in the center of the ceiling.  Dad pressed his hand against my lower back and guided through the opposite direction down a dark hallway, that opened up into a fully equipped fitness center.  Every kind of weight machine, treadmill, weight lifting equipment, yoga balls, and yoga matts were placed throughout the massive area.  “Ribbon cutting ceremony is set for Monday.  There’s a list of clients waiting for you to call them back, on the front desk.”

“Oh my god you guys, this is wayyyy too much for a graduation gift.”

Dad waved a hand, “Nah you’ll be amazed how many favors people owed me.”

I didn’t want to leave but Theresa was getting impatient waiting for me to show up at her house so we could go out to the bar.  “Oh god I have to have Theresa come see it.”  I started to call her but mom stopped me. 

“She helped get everything in here and get it all put together.”

My mouth fell open, “Wow, she’s good.  You all are real good.”  I told her. 

We laughed and walked out of the building, I stared at it for a few minutes until my dad cleared his throat.  “I’m not getting any younger here.” 

I rushed through the shower, I slipped into my t-shirt dress that was black with silver angel wings printed down the back and the word Angel in cursive writing on the front with red rhinestones outlining the word.  My black gladiator sandals completed the outfit, once I was done with my makeup I pulled my hair up into a messy pony tail and hurried out of my room. 

Dad stopped me before I could make it out the front door, “Whoa, you’re seriously going out in that?” 

I looked down at the dress, it stopped just a couple of inches above my knees, far longer than my cheer skirt.  “Ermm Yes?”

He shook his head, “You are going to be the death of me.”  He mumbled and turned back to the TV. I walked over and kissed his cheek so I could reassure him that I was going to behave.  “You better be.”

The parking lot of the bar hadn’t filled up completely so I squeezed my car in next to a massive black Dodge diesel pickup, making sure I didn’t ding the paint on either of them.  When I got inside the bar Theresa was standing with Bryan at the bar.  She hurried over to me, “Look at you…LOOK.AT.YOU. Rawr!”  she spun me around. 

Bryan walked over and pulled me into a hug, “Even with those fuck me shoes on you’re still pretty fucking short.”

I slapped him on the chest then turned and ordered a beer.  The bartender twisted the cap off and smiled a beautiful smile at me.  The three of us found a booth near the dance floor but far enough away from the speakers we could still carry on conversation without having to scream at each other.  Theresa was beaming with a smile as she handed me a little red gift bag.  I hurried and opened it, I pulled out a hot pink workout top that had the business logo “Get Twisted” across the chest in silver rhinestones.  “I have one that matches!”  I leaned across the table and hugged her tightly. 

We talked about all the work that had went into the building, and I scolded her for hiding the info from me.  “Hey,” she held her hands up, “Have you ever met your mom and dad?” 

I laughed, “I’m so excited!”  I thanked Bryan for helping with all the work. 

“Not a problem, I got a free membership out of the ordeal.  I’m going to be in there lifting but not learning that dance shit.”

He was interrupted by Theresa jumping from the table and dragging me to the dance floor to dance to
All About That Bass
by Meghan Trainor.  People were bumping into each other, dancing and having fun, hands in the air clapping with the rhythm.  Theresa was by far the most animated, bumping hips with everybody and singing to them.  The song faded and started in with a familiar song by Christina Aguilera.  “Look whose here!”  Theresa smiled and pointed behind me.  In walked Ryan. 

“Hey doll I hear you’re hiring?” He said with a grin and started swaying his hips faster with
Candyman
.  Ryan was six foot two, lifted weights and worked out every day, if there was any man I could trust it was him. 

“I don’t know, it depends…you’ll have to show me if you can dance.” 

He bent at the knees so he was eye level with me, “I make no promises.”  He grinned and winked at me then pushed me out and spun me pulling me in against his chest.  We had danced to this song so many times, we could do it blindfolded. 

I stood back and shook my shoulders at him and danced the beginning of the jitter bug dance as Ryan circled me.  People on the dance floor started to move away from us forming a large circle.  We spun each other around, faster, twisting our bodies with the music.  I was lifted and spun around his back and landed with ease.  The last flip was around his arm as the song closed out.  Theresa was whooping and whistling, Bryan stood back shaking his head and smiling.  Ryan bent down and kissed my cheek and walked with us over to the bar.  The male bartender put four shots of Washington Apple on the bar.  Bryan and Ryan both twisted their faces at the sweet apple shot and shook their shoulders.  We each order another beer and walked back over to our booth. 

“So you think you should work for me huh?”  I said to Ryan.

“I think I would be a great addition to your small family business, I’m very trustworthy, always on time.  I’m strong,” he flexed his muscles on one arm, “And I can dance from time to time.”

I took a drink of my beer to hide the smile, “Well…I’m going to have to discuss it with my business partner first.”  I leaned over and whispered “He will be a blast to work with.” She smiled and nodded her head.  “Okay Mister Stone, I want you there bright and early at nine o’clock Monday morning.”  I couldn’t hide the smile anymore when he pumped his fist in the air.  I glanced around the bar at everybody, couples were on the dance floor dancing to the slow country song.  Some were animatedly talking with friends.  Then, my eyes landed on him—and her.  Cade and the beautiful blonde bartender.  She was pressing herself against him whispering in his ear, when he put the beer bottle to his lips his eyes connected with mine.  The music turned into a low hum and everybody around me into a blur.  With his beer bottle stopped in front of his lips he didn’t blink, he finally tipped the bottle back then slowly licked the liquid from his lips.  My heart was thundering in my chest as our eyes stayed connected, when the blonde kissed his jaw he broke eye contact and smiled down at her.  They walked through the crowd and out to the dance floor, she fisted her hands on the front of his cut and swayed to the low thumping bass.  He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers, kissing her with such care I wanted to scream and run out of the bar. 

“Sydney!”  Theresa snapped her fingers in front of my face, “Did you not hear a word I just said?” 

I shook my head, “Sorry, I spaced out there for minute.” 

We talked more about “Get Twisted”, advertising, and contacting the local high schools and colleges.  Bryan stood from the booth and held his hand out to me, “Let’s go dance little lady.” 

A slow Brantley Gilbert song was playing, “I don’t know what went on between you two but he gets pretty fucking moody when your name is mentioned.”

I looked up at Bryan, “Nothing happened.  Nothing at all.” 

“Syd, I’m a man, so is he.  Maybe a line got blurred between you and him when we came to visit.  His attitude was pretty shitty after that.  Maybe you two need to talk, he was pissed and so was I about how fast you ran right back into Ronnie’s arms.”

I looked around the dance floor but couldn’t see Cade or the blonde, “That’s Belle, they’ve been dating for a little over two months.  He’s happy so just leave it be.  I’ve known you for how long?  I know you wouldn’t throw mixed signals but something about you puts him on edge.”  Bryan turned my face to look at him, “Okay?”

“Okay.”  The song ended so we went back to the table, I decided to leave so that Cade wouldn’t be uncomfortable plus I wanted some time to myself.  The last few days had been busy and I was actually starting to wear down.  I hugged everybody and walked out of the bar. 

Belle and I got along great, she wasn’t clingy, she didn’t demand I spend every single second with her.  She did her thing I did mine, some nights she would stay at my place and other’s I would stay at hers.  On the weekends I always went to the bar in case trouble broke out, she was so fucking beautiful men didn’t hesitate to try and grope her.  Her job as a bartender was only part time since she was finishing up her classes to become a CNA at the local hospital.  We got to spend time together but not so much that we were tired of each other.

My mechanic business kept me busy thanks to Lucifer sending clients to me.  He was still trying to get me to patch over but I kept refusing.  The thought of walking into the club and Sydney being there put a knot in my stomach.  I hadn’t heard from her since she sent the blast text out about nationals and Bryan had finally quit talking to me about her. 

“Are you coming to the bar tonight?  They say this is one of the busiest weekends.”  Belle asked from the shop door. 

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”  I said as I wiped the grease off of my hands and walked towards her. 

“Don’t you touch me Cade McAllister!”  she said with a grin. 

“You like it though.”  I teased.

“Mmm yes…yes I do, but I prefer to go into work and not have greasy handprints on my ass.”

I showed her my hands, “They’re clean.”

She shook her head and backed away from me with a smile, “I’ll see you later, save me a dance.”

I laughed, “Later.”

I decided to close up shop and go inside to eat, shower, and get ready to go spend a couple of hours at the bar.  As I was walking inside my phone alerted me of a text message. 

Bryan
:  Hey jackass, since your hot ass woman is working 2nite you going to grace us with your ugly mug?

Me
:  Sure am Princess and you’re buying me a beer.

Bryan
:  Okay lover boy catch ya on the flip side.

I made me a sandwich, ate some chips, loaded my dishes in the dishwasher and started it.  After I showered I went into my office, paid some bills, made out invoices, and stuffed them each in envelopes so I could drop them at the post office before I went to the bar. 

The bar was already starting to get busy when I showed up, Bryan was at his usual spot talking to Belle, when I walked in.  We sat there drinking our beers talking about the MC, my shop, and then he brought her up. 

“You going to at least go check out what it looks like?  It’s pretty bad ass.”

“Check what out?”  I asked and picked at the label on my beer bottle. 

“Ass, I’m talking about the business Sydney and Theresa are going to open.”

“I’m good.”  I told him. 

“Man, why are you such an asshole when it comes to her?  She’s a good person, she just got mixed up with the wrong guy.”  Bryan turned towards me waiting for my answer.