She picks up her glass. “Few more of these and why the hell not?”
Reid scrubs a hand down his face. “I’m going home early. I knew I shouldn’t have come in tonight. I told Summer that listening to people try to sing all night isn’t a fun time, but you know her.”
Anna wraps an arm around him. “Aww, come on now, Reid. You can do a duet with me. It’ll be great. Where is Summer anyway? I haven’t seen her in ages, and I think we’re due for a catch-up.” She looks at me and explains, “Summer is Reid’s babe of a wife. She’s great; you’ll love her.”
“She’ll be here in an hour or so,” he says, glancing down at his watch. “She keeps trying to come to work, and I keep telling her to stay home. We finally agreed on her only coming in during peak time and then going home to relax.”
“Excellent,” Anna says, looking to me and Lana. “We should make this a weekly outing, girls. Karaoke night at Knox’s Tavern! We can bring Faye next time. She’ll love this shit.”
We all cheer.
“Try to keep your men at home,” Reid suggests, raising his eyebrow at Anna. “Generally where you are, they follow, and with them comes even more trouble.”
“Oh, please, we’ve all been so good,” Anna says, waving her hand in the air. “Nothing’s been going on recently. I know you keep up to date with the gossip, Reid, so you would know.”
“Men are such gossips,” I throw out there.
“It’s true,” Lana agrees.
“I own a bar,” Reid says drolly. “People like to talk. Unless it involves me or mine, I generally don’t give a shit, but yeah, I do hear a lot of stuff. That doesn’t mean I repeat it though.”
Anna nods her head. “True. Hey, you know, you should host a ladies’ night with shirtless male waiters and male strippers.”
“You’d probably make a heap of money,” Lana says, grinning. “We could come here for all the bachelorette parties.”
“Maybe you could take your shirt off too,” I blurt out.
Lana and Anna start laughing. Reid stands up and walks back to the bar, his shoulders slumped.
Poor guy. I wouldn’t want to deal with us either.
“Another round?” I ask, which is greeted by more cheers. I walk to the bar with a smile on my face. Some things don’t change; these two always knew how to have a good time. There’s something nice about going out with friends who actually care for you, ones who won’t leave you stranded at the end of the night. The only good friend I have is Tia, but one of us usually stays home with the kids, so we rarely get a night out together.
“Can I get three screwdrivers, please?” I ask Reid’s twin.
He smiles, eyes crinkling. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
His friendly demeanor gives off a completely different vibe than that of his brother. Reid makes you sit up straight; Ryan makes you want to relax in the chair.
“Thank you,” I tell him as he starts to make the drinks. I open my bag and pull out a fifty-dollar bill.
“It’s on the house,” he tells me, waving away the money.
“Oh, no, I can’t,” I say, feeling a little awkward, but he just winks at me.
“Anna and her friends get free drinks. It’s one of the rules,” he says in a no-nonsense tone.
“That’s a terrible business decision,” I advise him, which makes him laugh.
“It is, but sometimes life isn’t always about business, is it?” he says, eyes shining with humor.
“I guess not,” I reply. “But I’d still feel better if you let me pay.”
He just shakes his head. “Come on, I’ll help you carry the drinks.”
He takes two glasses in his hands, and I carry the third back to the table.
“What great service they have here,” Anna teases as Ryan places the drinks down. He sits down in the same place Reid did.
“Best bar in town,” he replies with a smirk. “Haven’t seen you in a while, Anna. You’ve been ditching us for Rift, haven’t you? That hurts, Anna.”
“You should be happy about that,” Anna says, bringing her glass toward her. “Less drama for you.”
Ryan shrugs his broad shoulders. “Those sound like Reid’s words. I like it when things get a little interesting around here.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Anna murmurs, lifting her glass in the air. We clink our glasses together, then take sips. “Ryan, you met Bailey, right?”
“Met her, didn’t know her name,” he says, nodding his head at me with a smile. He then looks back at Anna. “Where did you find this one? I always see you out with the same people, now all of a sudden you have a new friend?”
“Why does everyone say that? Bailey is an old friend. We went to school together, actually,” Anna replies. “And she’s Rake’s ex-girlfriend. So he doesn’t need to know she was here.”
Ryan grins. “See? Trouble. My lips are sealed. It’s not like I talk to Rake unless he comes in here anyway.”
“I’m telling you just in case,” Anna says, stirring her drink with the straw.
“Well in that case, noted. And how have you been, Lana?” he asks, turning his attention to her. “Punch any women in the face recently?”
Anna slaps his arm. “Dude, don’t speak ill of the dead.”