Page 22 of Bastard Bartender

“Just curious,” Marie says, and I know exactly where this is going. “When’s your birthday?”

“May 30. Why?”

She looks at me with an I knew it expression. “You make so much more sense now. You’re a Gemini. Playful. Flirtatious. Independent. Nosy.” She eyes him, making him laugh.

He turns to me. “Do I want to know more about what it means to be a Gemini, or is the second half of that list all the bad things?”

“Yeah, she knows a lot about the signs, so unless you want a full reading, you’d better leave now.”

Marie tries to hit my arm, but I scoot away from her just in time.

“On that note, if you’ll excuse me, I have drinks to make and an R to find for you.”

“Wait. I still have to find a decent Q.” I pout.

“I think it’s safe to say, you gave enough time to the worst letter in the alphabet.” He winks and then saunters off to help patrons.

Marie laughs at his antics, and I find myself giggling.

Hmm … maybe I do giggle.

Marie’s phone vibrates, so she takes it out of her bag and looks at it with a grin. “Sammy is checking in. He said to be good and don’t forget to have fun.”

“You have the sweetest boyfriend. He’s always looking out for you.”

“Oh, no,” she corrects as she looks at her phone again. “That comment was for you. To me, he says, Try to keep your top on and don’t accept free drinks from anyone. Lock the door when you come in and wake me up with a kiss.”

“Aww. That’s adorable.”

She lets out a sigh. “Yeah, I know. There aren’t many men who would be okay with their girl going out all the time with her single friend whose sole purpose is to meet a new man.”

“Sammy is a rare find. You should marry that man.”

“He keeps asking.”

“And you keep saying maybe.”

The wry smile she gives comes off coy. “It’s a big commitment. I love him, but I don’t know if I’m ready to be the Suzy Homemaker type.”

“Trust me, Sammy knows he is not getting Suzy Homemaker,” I tease, and she lifts her drink and clinks it with mine.

“Fuck no, I’m not. At least, not yet. I’m not wasting my twenties, being saddled down. I want to live, let loose, and have some fun! Now, let’s find you an R!”

As we drink, I watch her shimmy dance in her seat to the music that’s on overhead. Week after week, Marie is out with me, not for her own prowl, but to help me on mine. She just wants to talk, drink, and have fun with her friend. She always makes sure I’m safe and never leaves me alone. She’s a good friend, the kind that could easily be taken advantage of because of how easygoing she is.

“You know what?” I say as I put my glass down. “I think it’s time you and I just have some fun, minus the guy search.” In the back of the lounge is a pool table area with sofas all around. There’s no one there, so I nod over to them. “Wanna play?”

Marie is off her seat faster than a kid who has spied an ice cream truck. “Hell yes, I do!”

We walk to the back, hoping no one snags the pool table before we get there. She places money inside the machine on the side of the table, and it releases the balls while I grab two sticks. Marie uses the triangle to rack them and takes extra time to make sure certain ones are in a specific spot.

“You’re not a ringer or anything, are you?” I ask as she removes the triangle and then snags a pool stick from me.

“Fuck yeah, I am.” She eyes the cue ball with the gaze of a sharpshooter, pulls back, and shoots. Two balls go in, both solid. She lifts her pool stick up and blows on it like it’s a smoking gun. “Did I ever tell you I was on the billiards team in high school?”

“I didn’t know high schools even had a billiards team.”

She saunters over to the opposite side of the table. “They called me the Ball-Breaker.”