Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) Read online

  Sleeping around had become the norm for me lately. I had never been a one-night stand guy until I moved to Nashville and began to work at the bar. Bartenders are apparently pretty irresistible to women, and it's hard to turn so many beautiful women down when they come on so strongly. The problem was that I had grown tired of the whole charade. I started giving in to these women to get over my feelings for Mary Jane, and it worked to a point. What I wanted was a girl to spend my life with now. I'm almost twenty-four years old, and I'm ready to settle down.

  Next morning I woke up alone. Bailey left a note with her panties saying that she'd be back for them one day. Balling them up, I tossed them into the closest trash can. Next time I see her at the club I'll let her know that was a one-time adventure.

  Today would now be the first day of getting my life on track. No more one-night stands, no more pining over Mary Jane. My friends and their happy marriages were shoved in my face nearly every day it made me want the same in life.

  "Good Morning ladies," I exclaimed, walking into the kitchen where Angel and Macy were eating cereal. They both grunted a response. "You two are grouchy in the mornings."

  "We can't all have gymnastic sex at all hours of the night." When these words came out of my fourteen-year-old sister's mouth, I spit coffee all over the back of the wall.

  "What?" I screeched as I wiped my mouth.

  "You and Bimbo were super loud last night. I also had the lovely experience of seeing her bouncing her way naked into the kitchen for a nighttime snack."

  "Her name is Bailey and I'm sorry. I didn’t realize how loud we were being."

  "So you got this one's name? Well, that's something I guess," Macy said sounding disappointed in me. It made me rethink my actions of the last few months and how this change was the best thing for both of us. Remembering this moment would help me stick to my decision.

  "I'm sorry Macy. It's been a hard time for me lately. I'm making a change though. There won't be any more one night stands for gymnasts or anyone. I promise. In fact, I met a girl at the bar last night who seemed pretty sweet. I'm hoping she comes back, and I get to know her better."

  "You deserve a good girl, Tristan. You're a decent guy, and I know that raising me hasn't been easy for you, so I get that you're sowing your wild oats."

  "Whoa, sis. Where did you hear that phrase?"

  "Doesn’t matter."

  "Yes, it does. You're fourteen and too young to know anything about sowing oats."

  Angel rolled her eyes and decided to put in her two cents. "Chill T, she's a teenager. They know more about oats than we do most of the time. I know I knew more about it than my parents."

  Placing my hands over my ears, I yelled out, "Augh. No, do not compare my sister to you, please."

  Angel stood up looking offended. "I didn’t know you thought so low of me. I'll never insult her that way again, trust me."

  "Macy, can you give us a minute?" Macy left the room as I asked. Angel was slamming things around the kitchen. "I didn’t mean it that way, Angel."

  "How did you mean it?" She turned to face me, crossing her arms over her chest in anger. "I'm not sure how you'll talk yourself out of this one."

  "You're the first one to admit that you sleep around, Angel. I want more than that for my sister. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I'm sorry."

  Angel kept her angry stance as she thought it over for a moment. "You're right; I do admit that. You're forgiven. Be careful with your words next time, please." Her words went from understanding to an undertone of hurt. I felt terrible.

  Stepping forward, I wrapped my arms around her in a friendly hug. "I promise, Angel."

  "And you're not exactly Prince Charming either, not lately at least. Find you a decent girl, T. You deserve it and Macy wants you to be happy." Angel kissed my cheek before walking away leaving me with my thoughts.

  Chapter Four

  Boys will be boys

  The bar emptied by two in the morning. Derrick, Ashton, and I were taking inventory to place the next order for supplies. Ashton lifted a case of liquor to fill up the bar shelf, and it appeared to weigh nothing when he hoisted it over his shoulder. I tried to mimic the motion and only managed to lift the case to the height of my waist. "Damn, Ash. You're like the freaking Hulk or something. I can barely lift this thing."

  Ashton gave a gruff chuckle, "Well that just means you don't want to make me angry. Maybe you should come to the gym with Derrick and me some time. I've been helping him with weight training; I could do the same for you."

  "Sounds like a plan. Maybe it will help me get a great girl like Gracie if I have guns the size of yours."

  It was Derrick's turn to laugh, "Good luck getting arms like those trunks Ash carries around. I swear we have the same DNA but somehow he is a beast. I've been working out for years and still can't get the size he is unless I want to take some drugs that shrink my boys, and I refuse to take drugs."

  "How did you get to be so big, Ash?"

  "When I lost the love of my life, I began working out non-stop to take my mind off the grief."

  "Wait, what? I thought Gracie was the love of your life?"

  "She is, I didn't know that at the time. I was in love with a girl named Addison. She died during a convenience store robbery as she was there buying cigarettes."

  "You get a massive set of muscles, good looks, money, and two great loves. Do you hoard four-leaf clovers or what? Where does all the luck come from?"

  "I wouldn't call it luck. My first love was murdered, and my wife and I got together after she was brutally raped and abused by her ex-boyfriend. Things like that can make a guy question if he brings bad luck upon those he's around," Ash replied sadly.

  "Sorry, man. I can see what you mean. Still, you two have fantastic women. Tell me the secret to finding that. I've been doing the one-night stand thing since I moved to Nashville, and it's getting old. I'm a terrible influence for Macy too. Since I know two real life Prince Charmings maybe you can tell me the secret?"

  Ashton grabbed three beers out of the cooler and motioned to the circular table in the bar. "Let's have a beer and talk." We popped the tops on our beers, and each took a swig before Ashton began. "Gracie and I were best friends. Cameron introduced us while she was dating Hudson." His voice grew angry as he spouted the name of Gracie's ex. "I was in love with her pretty quickly, but she fought her feelings for me. He 'd broken her, made her feel like she wasn't worth being loved, and it convinced her to stay and ignore the signs of his inevitable abuse. She finally allowed herself to give in to her feelings for me, and when she broke up with him, he went crazy. You know the rest of the story. My point is that there is no secret. Patience, understanding, friendship, those are the things that can lead to a happy life. That's what worked for me at least."

  "You know my story, " Derrick began. "Hell, you were part of it. I'm not sure I was patient enough at times. It was difficult, but in the end it all worked out. I think the moral of these stories is that everyone's is different. There is no consistent formula to falling in love. There's no true happily ever after or anything else that fairy tales teach us. Love is work, in the end the payout is greater than anything else in life. You'll get there, T."

  "Another beer?" I offered. Both gave a nod of agreement, so I ran to the cooler and pulled out three more bottles. "I suppose you two don’t know the meaning of life either?"

  They both laughed at my sarcastic remark. I hadn't had many bosses that I could call friends. Most of the jobs I had before came with supervisors who felt the need to boast their superiority over their employees. Derrick and Ashton Collins were content letting their employees run things most days. They treated us like equals. Our friendship has grown stronger since I began to work for them as well. When I first accepted the job, I thought it would be the opposite; I'm glad I was wrong.

  "Have you considered Angel?" Derrick inquired.

  "Considered Angel for what?" I asked perplexedly.

  "Girlfriend material. You
two live together and seem to be pretty good friends. Any chance for romantic feelings there?" Derrick's eyebrows rose with curiosity as his took a long sip of beer and waited for my answer.

  "Angel is a knockout; there is no doubt about that. She has that firecracker attitude, a big heart, a sexy Latina accent, and her body is pretty amazing. As much as I adore her, I feel like we'd never work as a couple. We've been living together for a while now, and we fight worse than siblings."

  "Do you love her?" Ashton brought out the heavy question.

  "I'm not in love with her. I care about what happens to her though. Where'd this come from, did she say something?"

  "Nah. You know how girls want everyone to be in love like they are. Mary Jane and Gracie both have been itching to find love for Angel, and they were considering the possibility of you and Angel together," Derrick replied casually.

  "If I thought it would work, I'd try it. I don't think Angel's the one for me though. As cheesy as that sounds."

  "It doesn't sound cheesy. People know when they've found that right person, which also means people know when they haven't," Ashton offered his words of wisdom.

  Derrick's phone rang; he didn't appear panicked when he answered. "Hey baby, are you having trouble sleeping?" He laughed quietly at her response. "I'll be leaving here in about twenty minutes. I'll stop and get you a frosty and fries on my way home. I love you too."

  "Pregnancy cravings already?" I asked.

  "MJ cravings. Her weakness is to have fries with a chocolate frosty. She doesn't eat it often, but she said she really wants one right now." He glances at his beer and shrugs, "At least I only drank a little of it. I'm going to get on the road and get home to my girls. You two ready to head out?"

  Ashton stretched and yawned, "Yep, I have a couple of girls waiting for me at home as well." They both looked over at me and laughed at the same time. Ash offered an explanation, "Technically you have two girls at home too. You aren't as different from us as you think."

  "You have a point. Unfortunately, one is only a friend, and the other is my sister. Not quite the same. I'm heading out though too. I'm exhausted, and I hear the bed calling my name from here."

  The house was eerily quiet when I got home. As usual, I leaned my head against Macy's door to listen for sounds. I could hear her snoring and knew she was fine. Angel had a habit of not coming home at night, so I peered into her room and was shocked to see her wrapped up in her comforter. Once I got home, I wasn't tired anymore. Instead, I sat up and watched a movie until I fell asleep.

  The curtains in the living room had been left open so shortly after falling asleep; the bright sun awakened me by shining through the white blinds. With a grunt, I rolled over and covered my face with my arm. That solved the light problem, and I was drifting back to sleep when the screaming of a blender began. Grumbling once more I pulled a throw pillow over my face to drown out the noise. Next came the smell of burning eggs which is not a pleasant smell at all.

  Trying to sleep had become ineffective. I stood up, stretched my back until it cracked, and lifted my shirt to my nose to cover the foul smell from the kitchen. The shirt smelled like a mixture of beer and cleaning fluids, so it wasn't much better of a smell. I pulled it over my head and walked into the kitchen barefoot and dressed in only jeans.

  Macy stood at the sink scraping burnt eggs down the garbage disposal. I walked up behind her to help and noticed she had her earbuds in. When she turned around, she screamed, and her hands shook enough to spill hot coffee all over my chest. "Shit!" I screamed out and grabbed a hand towel from the stove bar to wipe the hot liquid off my skin.

  "I'm sorry, T!" Macy cried out. She wet a washcloth and pressed cold water against my skin to keep me from burning. I grabbed it from her hand and finished getting the spots that hurt. "Don’t sneak up on me, T."

  "Next time don't use earphones, a garbage disposal, and a blender all at once and you might have heard me. What are you doing in here?"

  "Trying to cook breakfast. I was trying a new recipe, and it didn't work out. I thought you'd still be in bed."

  "I fell asleep on the couch."

  "Oh. Sorry," Macy apologized as she realized how loud she'd been with me sleeping in the adjacent room.

  "No worries, squirt. I'm going to head upstairs to catch some real shut eye though. Don't worry about breakfast for me. Make something simple. There are frozen waffles, strawberries, and syrup. Go nuts a little today."

  "Ok, want me to wake you up in a few hours? We could have a movie day?"

  "Give me at least five hours of sleep and I'm all yours, kid."

  The next five hours I gained some restful sleep for a change. When Macy woke me, I felt refreshed and ready to sit up for a bit. We sat down to watch a movie when Derrick called asking if I could work. Macy was disappointed but seemed to understand that I had to go.

  Chapter Five

  Chivalry isn't dead

  “Hey there, pretty lady,” I said as I spotted Lanie at the end of the bar again.

  “Hi, I spoke to you last week,” she said as though she was only another face in the crowd. She had no idea that her face had starred in a few very vivid dreams of mine.

  “I know. I’m glad to see you back, Lanie. You only got through the two jerks this year and had two more stories to tell me.” It was apparent by the shocked look on her face that she didn’t expect me to remember her name or story. “Did you think I’d forget?” She stumbled over her response, so I saved her by leaning down close to her ear and saying, “I told you, not all of us are jerks.”

  Someone yelled out “Bartender” so I excused myself to go tend to the individual whose speech was thoroughly slurring at this point. “Did you know we have a special that if you have a certain type of car key, you win a free drink?”

  The guy took the bait, reached into his pocket and slammed his keys on the bar. “Sheck ‘ems out, besha I gots one,” was how it came out of his mouth that reeked of whiskey.

  Grabbing his keys, I said, “You don’t have the magic key. However, you did win a free sober ride home!” Sometimes they argue with me or get angry. This guy looked excited; he cheered before dropping his head to the bar to take a nap. I motioned for Bobby, our bouncer, to come get him.

  We had a special room to the side of the door for our sober rides pickup. We called it the drunk tank. It’s a room with three plush couches for them to pass out on comfortably. Each sofa had a wastebasket next to it ready to assist in sobering them up. Whenever a customer was too sloshed, we confiscated their keys. Then we'd figure out which car was theirs, provided they have a keyless remote entry, so we don’t tow it, and we send them off to sober ride. It’s a lot of work but worth it to save them from getting on the road. Occasionally we ended up with an overnight guest that had to be babysat by security until they awoke feeling crappy the next day. We would send them off the next morning with a bottle of water and a dose of ibuprofen.

  “What would you like to drink?” I asked Lanie when I returned to her end of the bar.

  “Beer please, whatever your favorite is. I’m trying new things.” I reached into the cooler and picked out my favorite brand, popped a bottle cap off then slid it down the bar to her. She brought the cool bottle up to her plush pink lips and took a long taste.

  “How was it?”

  She pulled the bottle away, placed her hand against her mouth to catch a drop that slipped down her chin. My body reacted and I wanted to capture the drop with my lips. There’s a definite attraction to this woman. “It’s good.”

  “Did you have another bad date, is this your bad date getaway now?”

  She grinned, “No. I like this bar. I love that you do so much to make sure people get home safely.”

  “My bosses father was killed not long ago by a drunk driver. And I mean bosses, plural. The owners are brothers. After his death, they spent extra money investing in a sober ride business. They wanted to make sure they weren't responsible for anyone else losing a loved one. We do our b
est to keep an eye out on people who are leaving here to make sure they aren’t driving. We’ve even had to call the cops on a few of our customers that got behind the wheel wasted.”

  “Wow, that’s very responsible.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a guy rough handling a woman. “Excuse me a moment,” I said to Lanie before turning and yelling, “Hey Marcus! Keep an eye on the bar!” Pushing my way through the crowd, I tapped the guy on the shoulder.

  He turned around angrily, “What?”

  “You need to keep your hands off the lady or get out of the club.”

  With a step towards me, he puts his nose against mine, “Who’s going to make me?”

  A hand slammed down on his shoulder, and a gruff voice said, “That would be me.” When the man turned around, he looked up at my friend (and boss) Ashton. I’m no scrawny guy, believe me. However, Ashton was over six foot five and solid muscle. I know he’s complete mush inside, but he is intimidating to look at nonetheless. “This is my club. Ma’am, are you with this guy?” She shook her head no. “Good. That means that you’re bothering my customers, which means you’re bothering me. You can leave her alone, or you can just leave. Make a choice. If I see you manhandle anyone else in here, I’ll call the police. You got it?” The only response received was a grunt before he stalked away.

  “Thanks,” the woman said, batting her eyes at Ashton. She ran her hand along his bicep and said, “Can I repay you?”

  Politely, he moved her hand from his arm and replied, “I’m flattered, but I’m a very happily married man. My friend Tristan here is single though.”

  She went from hurt by rejection to checking me out for a moment. Before she answered, I pointed toward the bar and said, “I have to get back to my station. I’ll be behind the bar if you need me.”