This Regret (5 page)

The hand that has been swirling around Saline’s cocktail glass for the last five minutes stops as she looks up and rolls her eyes. “Please, tell me you’re joking.” She flicks the black straw in her glass with a look of disgust, her overly plump lips twisting up into something unnatural and very unattractive. “This place is becoming such a bore. This is crap! I can’t help it if I have other important things to take care of.”

This is exactly the kind of response I expected from her. So, I took the time to prepare a good comeback. “Look,-“

“Nobody cares Saline,” Jen jumps in, ruining my perfectly prepared speech. “This place isn’t meant to be for your entertainment. It’s your job and because of you, we’re all in the doghouse.

The girls sit next to each other, both of them giving the other a dirty look as if they’re ready to go at it.

“Come on.” Kade looks up from his phone and flashes a cocky grin that would’ve had no effect on me before yesterday. But now, it’s almost enough to make my mouth water. “Calm down, ladies. No one is in the doghouse.” His eyes meet mine, giving me
that same flirtatious look he has been giving me since I found him in my bed the other morning. It’s so distracting and drives me mad. “Don’t worry so much, Phoenix, he’s not going to make you fire anyone. He’s just being a dick.”

Kade’s white t-shirt clings to his firm chest as he shoves both of
his hands into his back pocket. I let it distract me for a moment before I manage to pull myself together.

I shake it off and laugh under my breath. These people are really underestimating Dale, but his patience is running thin these days. “You guys are not getting it. He’s serious this time. Trust me, this is not a game.”

A worried look crosses Jen’s face as she grabs her bottle of beer and presses it to her lips, taking a gulp. She sighs in frustration before setting it down in front of her and pressing her hand to her forehead. “You guys need to stop messing things up. I work my butt off to take care of my family and I will not lose my job because you two keep messing up the schedule. I have a son to take care of. I can’t . . .”

Jen’s words trial off and we all look over to see a sassy looking black-haired woman, with killer legs, wearing a small lacy red dress. She brushes her long, wavy hair out of her face, exposing her big green eyes, while looking around the table. “Everyone sure looks motivated.”

Jen sits with her hand still pressed to her forehead, looking as if she’s ready to explode. Saline is twirling one finger in her hair, bending her straw with the other hand, and Kade is texting on his phone.

I’m not sure any one of them know what the word even means.

“Um . . . who the hell is this?” Saline’s mouth curves up into a grimace, as she looks the intruder up and down, her eyes stopping on her black stilettos. “This is a meeting, dear. The strippers are in the next town over. So-

I hold my hand up stopping her blabbermouth before she can manage to run the new girl off.

The new girl just raises an eyebrow and smirks, obviously not letting Saline get to her.

“This here is Luna.” I pause as everyone gives me confused looks. “I hired her this morning.”

If they weren’t taking me serious before, from the look on their shocked faces, they are now.

Saline shoves her drink across the table before jumping to her feet and giving me a death glare that would probably cause most girls to run away screaming. “Are you kidding me? We don’t need any more bartenders, its slow enough as it is.” She turns to face Luna again. “You can leave. We won’t be needing you.”

Sometimes I wish I had a muzzle for this girl. She never knows when to shut up and take her place. Now, I have to put her in it. “You only have yourselves to blame.” My eyes meet Saline’s as she places her hands on her hips. She looks extremely pissed, but I don’t care at the moment. “You’ve called in nine times this month and today is only the twenty fifth. You screw up again, Saline, and you’re gone. You have one more chance.” I look beside me and point my thumb at Luna. “Plus, Luna has some great ideas to get more business in. She’s staying.”

A snicker comes from Saline’s mouth as she leans in close to Jen. “I’m sure,” she mumbles. “What, those huge tits?”

Luna takes a step so she’s standing at my side. She looks down at her boobs, proudly, before looking back up and shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve already rounded up about fifty people to come in tonight for sex toy bingo.” She gives Saline a menacing look before turning to me with confidence. “The party starts in less than an hour. I brought all of the game cards and equipment needed for the game.”

One mention of the word sex and suddenly everyone figure’s out what motivation means. If I would’ve known that, then I would’ve brought up sex ages ago. Even Saline looks a little curious, now that her she-devil face is gone.

Jen sits up straight and looks up from peeling the label from her bottle. “What is sex toy bingo? I’ve never heard of it.”

Luna raises an eyebrow before pulling a vibrator out from behind her back. “You get a bingo and you win one of these bad boys. Every woman needs a best friend.
Trust me, I have plenty.”

Everyone, including Kade, seems to look satisfied with this a
nswer. Even I have to admit it sounds interesting and it never hurts to try new things.

“That’s a crazy idea . . . but I like it,” I say unsure. “I’m sure this will be the most excitement this bar has had in years.”

For the first time in a long time, everyone seems to look a bit enthusiastic about being at work and I can’t help but to feel a twinge of excitement.

Kade looks at me and lifts his eyebrows. “I think it’s a great fucking idea.” He
pushes away from the table he’s been leaning on and walks over to Luna. “Do you need me to grab the crap for this
sex
bingo?”

Nodding, Luna starts talking while walking toward the backdoor with Kade following closely at her heel.

“Alrighty then.” Saline snatches her glass from the table and brushes past me, but not without stopping to growl at me. Something she does very well. “I can see you know how to pick them. I’ll be setting up the bar.”

It’s an hour later and as Luna promised, the bar is full of customers. I’m guessing none of them are from town because I barely recognize any of the faces.

Luna stands at the front of the bar with a microphone and a box of vibrators sitting next to her feet, while Kade and Saline are working the bar.

The crowd seems to be crawling with hyperactive women that are eager to get the game started, none of them seeming to want to sit still.

“Are you, horny women ready?” Luna asks into the microphone, while running her hand over a vibrator and licking her lips.

A few people scream, but lack the expected enthusiasm.

Luna holds the huge pink love machine above her head and waves it back and forth. “I’m going to ask you again. Are you, horny women ready? These vibrators need some homes and from the looks of it, some of you might just have a good room for one of these bad boys.”

Kade is looking calm, taking care of a group of women that are trying to hurry to get drinks before the game begins. He jumps back, almost dropping a glass, when one of the women in front of him screams and throws her arm up.

“Hell yeah, baby!” She waves one arm in the air while sipping on her drink with the other.

This seems to get a little more attention and I can feel the excitement around me. A room full of crazy, sex deprived women that can’t wait to get their hands on a toy of their own. This has to be about the best game ever. How could it not be?

Luna screams back and starts naming off letters and numbers, but in my attempt to talk to Jen and keep my eye on things, I can barely keep up. “Wait. What did she just say?” I scream loud enough, being sure, Jen can hear me.

Jen leans over my board and points at the last spot called out. “B 25.” She laughs as a girl with a stick figure, bumps into her spilling her drink. “Man, it’s crazy in here tonight.” She places a chip on her card and speaks again without looking back up. “Nathan’s been acting strange lately.”

That isn’t surprising. He’s been acting strange for the whole two years they have been together. Then after Jen gave birth to Jax, he started acting even stranger, if that’s even possible. He claims his job keeps him traveling and that’s why he’s never home and is stressed out a lot, but I think it’s bullshit.

“What now, Jen?” I bring my eyes over to meet hers. I’m so tired of her always being hurt and stressed and I w
ish I could just drag her away from Nathan and toss her into the arms of a good guy. One that doesn’t make me want to punch him in the face. “What’s he doing?”

She places another chip on her board as Luna continues screaming out one after another, barely stopping to breathe. “Well, he didn’t come home until two thirty in the morning and he had bruises on his chest.” She pauses and lets out a deep breath. “When I asked him about it, he freaked out and got pissed.”

I place my hand to my forehead and try to choose my words wisely. “He’s an ass, Jen.”

Okay, so not so wisely, but I can’t help it anymore. She deserves so much better.

“Phoenix!”

“What! He doesn’t deserve you. He’s never treated you right. He lies all of the time and is hardly ever home.”

Jen looks up, her nostrils flared, as she runs a hand through her short blond bob. “We have a baby together, Phoenix. I have to make things work for Jax. He’s my life now.”

No matter what I say, it’s never enough to convince her otherwise. Maybe it’s not my place to be telling her, but I know a dick when I see one. Trust me, not all dicks are useful.

“I understand that. That’s the reason why you should leave. Jax shouldn’t have to grow up watching his parents unhappy. It’s better to leave while he is still young enough to not understand what is going on.” I grab Jen’s hand and look her in the eye and it only takes one look into those baby blues to see all of her pain. I know, because they resemble what mine used to look like before I decided to not look back anymore and only think for the future. “You and I are going to take a day away soon and hang out. Just the two of us. You need to get away for a bit. If you won’t leave him for good, then just leave him for a day and breathe a little. Don’t even think about telling me no.”

A small smile crosses Jen’s face before she turns away and grabs for another chip and twirls it around in her
fingers. “Okay, I could use a day out.” She pokes me in the arm before placing her next chip. “But, it’s not to get away from Nathan. It’s for my own pleasure.”

I throw a chip on my board and look across the room at Kade wondering how he’s holding up with all of these crazy women. He glances my way and smiles, giving me goose bumps “Sure, I’ll take that. As long as your ass in mine for the day.”

One very happy, overly excited woman screams bingo and starts bouncing up and down. Luna calls her up to claim her prize before continuing with the game.

The woman looks at her vibrator excitedly, holding it out for the other women to see and from the look on
her face, you would think she just won the lottery.

“Now I have one less reason to need my husband,” she shouts, making most of the women shout back in agreement.

It only takes a few more minutes before I hear bingo again and when I do, it’s coming from right next to me. “Bingo!” Jen shouts. She grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet, almost causing me to trip. “This one right here has a bingo.”

My eyes widen as I
look down at my card to see she’s right. I have been so busy daydreaming for the last twenty minutes that I haven’t even been paying attention. Lucky me, I guess.

All eyes are on me as I make my way up to Luna and she hands me a package with a purple vibrator, similar to the pink one that she held up earlier.

“Enjoy. I have that same model at home. It works wonders, trust me,” she whispers before grabbing another one from out of the box while pushing her lips out into a pout. "Okay, ladies. This is the last one so you better step up your game. These batteries are super charged and ready to do their job."

A few boos come from the audience as I make my way through the herd of people, everyone eyeing me as if they're about to jump me and steal my prize. I hurry through them and back over to mine and Jen’s table. Now,
getting beat up over a vibrator would be quite the story to tell to my grandkids someday. If I were to have any.

“I hate you.” I nudge her in the side before placing my gift on the table. “Did you see their eyes? They were about to take down over this.” I hold the vibrator up and laugh. “I have to pee. Do you need to go?”

Jen picks up the package and scans it with curious eyes. “Wow! This looks complicated.” She shakes her head. “No. I’m fine and I’m sure you’ll be safe to go alone.”

I push my way through the crowd and shut myself inside the quietness of the bathroom and into one of the stalls.

Afterwards, I am leaning over the sink with my hands still in the water when I feel a hand grab my wrist and pull me away from the sink.

I fall into Kade’s chest with my hand twisted in between our bo
dies. “Do you really think you’ll be needing that toy?” he questions, raising an eyebrow. “Then again, I can always use it on you.”