MJ’s POV

“MJ, what the hell are you doing? Get your ass out of bed and let’s go!”

I groaned and pulled my nice warm comforter up over my head. There was no way it was time to get up yet; I swore I just closed my eyes. This was one of the many curses of being a bartender. We stayed up until three or four in the morning and then slept the day away, only to get up and start it all over again. That three o’clock alarm always came sooner than I expected and I never felt fully rested.

“Twenty more minutes…” I groaned, pinching my eyelids shut to block out the orange glow of the sun.

“You’re going to make us late for work!”

“No,” I whined as my best friend pulled my warm comforter off me, exposing me to the bright California sunshine. “Please give me just ten more minutes!” I reached for a pillow but Dice pulled it out of my hands.

“Mia Johnson, get your ass out of this bed before I dump this bucket of ice water all over you!” Dice warned and I knew she wasn’t joking. I had made that mistake when I first got hired at Johnny’s Saloon with her and tried to sleep in. The bitch poured that same bucket of ice water over my head. Knowing I couldn’t escape into dream land again, I groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “That’s a good girl,” she chastised, patting my head. “We leave in fifteen so get moving.”

I blinked a few times as I watched the fiery little redhead leave my room on her next mission. Dice, or should I say Lucy, had been my best friend since grade school and had been busting my balls for as long as I could remember. She was a hard ass who always spoke her mind and she had no problem telling me what I had done wrong in my life, including dating Malcolm. He was my lousy ex-boyfriend who would constantly berate me and expected me to serve him.I was stupid to think that he actually loved me when he started coming home later and later from work, smelling like roses. It was Dice who finally convinced me that he was using me and to dump his sorry behind. Too bad that wasn’t the last that I’ve seen of him. Malcolm didn’t like being told no and had his mind set on getting me back.

I rolled over out of my bed and grabbed my cell phone from my night side table before heading into the bathroom. I didn’t have time to take a shower but at least I could make sure my hair and makeup looked decent. I quickly plugged in my flat iron just as my phone vibrated with a text.

You looked beautiful last night. Can’t wait to watch you work that ass tonight. –M

I rolled my eyes at the message, knowing that the guy was stalking me. He had been sending me text messages and following me around since I broke up with him weeks ago. How many messages did I have to ignore before he realized that I wasn’t going to come crawling back to him? Sure, I had loved him at one point but that was before he broke my heart. I wasn’t about to go tell Dice that he was following me around because I didn’t want to start any drama. I avoided drama like the plague and always tried to stay out of any disagreement. I just didn’t like the pressure and the anxiety of it all.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my long blonde hair, my blue-eyed reflection staring back at me. “I look like a hot mess,” I mumbled to my reflection. I quickly ran the flat iron through my hair, applied a new layer of makeup, and pushed most of my blonde mop to one side. “This is going to have to do.” I let out a sigh and applied some 12-hr bright red lipstick.

“MJ, LETS GO!!” Dice screamed from the bottom of the stairs. I raced into my closet and pulled on a pair of ripped skinny leg jeans, a black v-cut tee, and my black combat boots before flying down the stairs. As soon as I reached the bottom step, I posed with jazz hands and a smile in front of Dice. “You’re an idiot,” she scoffed with an eye roll.

I guess someone was in a bad mood this morning. “I’ll be ready to go here in a sec, just let me grab some cof—“Before I could even utter the word ‘coffee’, Dice pushed the to-go mug in my hand and headed out the door. “Thank you!” I called, following her to the car . I honestly didn’t know what I’d do without her; she was always looking out for me and making sure I had my act together.

“Get the fuck out of the way and learn how to drive, asshole!” she screamed as we flew down the street. I swear that the car had just been on two wheels as we went around the corner. “I swear, fucking people need to learn how to drive,” she mused, a twisted smirk falling over her lips.

“Dice I’m sure you could slow down,” I cautiously suggested as she flew through a red light. “We’re not late yet.” I took a small sip of my coffee, letting its dark rich flavor liven my mood.

“I’ve got a fucking orders meeting with Johnny that started ten minutes ago,” Dice sighed, running her fingers through her dark hair. “I told you that yesterday. GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!”

I sunk down into my seat and chewed on my bottom lip. How could I forget that? It was the same every Thursday night. I’ve fucking sucked lately. “I’m sorry…” I said giving her a sheepish smile. “Don’t let me drink Vodka with the regulars anymore,” I chuckled, earning a small smirk form the hard ass next to me.

“You were pretty much eye fucking that guy at the end of the bar last night.” Dice now had a cigarette between her smirking lips. “I could see you were drinking to impress him?”

I bit my lip harder as I looked down at my twiddling thumbs, thinking about the dark eyed stranger that stared at me all night. I had seen him at the bar before but he had never been the one to order the drinks. Plus, last night was the first time that I had seen him there alone since I started working there three weeks ago. I couldn’t get the image of his flawless jaw line, muscular physique, and those stunning chocolate eyes out of my head.

“Hello, earth to MJ? Did you hear a fucking word I just said?” I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality. “Did you catch his name?” Dice had a raised brow and an amused smirk on her face as she watched me out of the corner on her eye. Did she know something that I didn’t know?

I swallowed thickly and took in a deep breath. “No, I didn’t catch his name but he was going hard on the Scotch.” A small smile pulled at my lips as I recalled how carefully he took a drink. Everything about that man was sexy and just looking at him made me feel alive.

Dice laughed and hit the steering wheel with her palm. “You’re such a typical bartender. Always remember the drink and not the name.” I rolled my eyes as we pulled into the parking lot.

“Anyways, his name is…ha I’ll let you figure that one out. It will be more amusing for me when it all comes crashing down in your face,” she chuckled as she got out of the car.

“What do you mean ‘when it all comes crashing down in my face’? Who was that guy?” I asked, starting to feel the panic rising in my chest.

“Calm down,” Dice laughed. “Just have fun and you’ll find out. Besides, he and his friends have the back room rented out tonight. You’ll get your chance.” With that she turned and walked into the bar, leaving me standing in the parking lot having a mini panic attack.

You’ll get your chance? What the did she mean? I was so confused and irritated. God, I hated when Dice said shit like thatto me. Didn’t she know from all our years of friendship that it freaked me out? I hated surprises and anxiety. I swear sometimes she said this shit to me just to get a rise out of me. Just last week she told me she had a surprise for me when I got home and I got all worked up through my shift, fearing what she had done to our apartment. It ended up she moved the couch to the other side of the living room, making me want to kill her in her sleep. Dice liked to piss me off on purpose.

I sighed and walked into the dimly lit bar and immediately went to my station after clocking in. It was Friday night and it was sure to be a ball buster, considering that both back rooms were rented out for parties. I wasn’t at all excited even though I couldn’t get brown eyes out of my head. Would he come up to the bar again tonight and want to talk? What would Malcolm think if he reared his ugly face? Why did I care anyway? I was a grown woman and I could move on at any point in time and I didn’t have to answer to him anymore.

“You’re late, MJ,” said the voice of Max, the head bartender.

I bit my lip and pushed my hair behind my ears. “I’m sorry…Its my fault. My alarm didn’t go off and I promise it wont happen again,” I said but he just chuckled.

“It better not because the customers will ask where you are,” he teased and I felt a small blush fall over my cheeks. He was an older guy and he was constantly trying to get me to smile. I just didn’t have the heart to tell him that I wasn’t into him not to mention I kind of liked the attention.
The early evening moved quickly as I stocked up my station at the bar and the regular patrons started to come in. I slid three beers down the bar to them before they could even wave hello. I didn’t have to ask, I knew their order. It was the same for most of the people that came it and I always received good tips for my memory.

“Look who it is,” Dice whispered in my ear as she nudged me in the ribs, appearing out of nowhere. “There’s your prince charming and his thugs,” she sneered as I turned around to look towards the door.

There he was, Mr. Dark Eyes, dressed in a v-cut black tee, dark denim jeans, and some kind of designer boots. He looked like pure walking sex and I couldn’t help but let my jaw drop slightly as he shot me a wink.I bit my lip as I watched a sexy smirk fall across his lips as he passed me, following after the tall gangly looking guy with handcuffs tattooed on his neck.

“You’re drooling,” Dice taunted with a knowing smirk. “I’ll give you that table to go get their order.”
“No, I think I’m okay—“ I said, feeling my heart start to race in my chest. How the hell was I going to be able to take their order? I didn’t know if I could actually utter a sentence in front of them.

“Oh, no, you’re going,” she insisted, handing me an order pad and shoving me in their direction. I swallowed thickly as I looked back over my shoulder at Dice who was laughing while pouring a pitcher of beer.

As I walked over to the table, I watched as the muscular guy with amazing dimples leaned over to brown eyes and whispered something, pointing in my direction. What are they saying? I have to look awful and petrified. The both burst out into laughter as I approached the table, unconsciously chewing my bottom lip.

“Wh-what can I get you guys?” I stammered out in a shaky tone, looking over the five sets of eyes that were now staring me down like fresh meat. Oh, god, I think I’m going to be sick…

“I think we’ll have four pitchers of whatever’s on tap and a bottle of Jack and Patron,” said the guy with piercing green eyes to my left. God, why were they all so attractive. I fidgeted slightly as I wrote the order down on the pad.

“Can I get you anything else,” I asked, my eyes locking with the dark-eyed god. He smirked and ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he looked at me.

“Yeah, a glass of that scotch,” he said, undressing me with his eyes.

“Coming right up,” I squeaked and retreated back towards the bar, my core full of warmth just from his little smirk. “I fucking hate you,” I muttered to Dice as I worked on my order, watching her throw her head back with laughter.

“Better you than me, MJ.”

Notes