Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Parker

Strawberry always smelled sweet. They kept the lights low and plenty of artificial sweet scent in the air, and I had to admit, the effect could be intoxicating. Especially when you’d had a drink or twelve—the University of Port Andrea sorority girls were the ones reporting on that latter part, not me. I’d had a sensible one drink, but Kinsley had a stiff pour and it left me a little floaty.

That, and the fact that Kinsley, standing across the bar from me chatting it up with a customer to my left, was wearing a sleeveless top today so I could see the muscle definition on her arms, and the tattoo of a skeletal dragon along her bicep, because that always helped improve the mood.

At least, it did until Tat had the audacity to remind me of reality.

“Did you have to piss off Gary?” she said, her voice a low rumble.

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean, yeah?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. In the affirmative.”

“I know what the word means, Parker.” She turned to me, brushing her hair back from her face, tossing it over the top of her head like she always did when she was frustrated. I sucked on my straw even though my drink was empty, because I knew it frustrated her more. “He was already running Express out of business when it wasn’t a personal feud. Now he’s going to be going right after us.”

“Good,” I said, sucking on my straw again. She snatched the drink away.

“Quit that. What do you mean, good? If you’re sick of the business, just leave and let me take over.”

I leaned forwards in the barstool and spun it to face her. “I mean, it’s good because things were heading towards a slow, predictable demise worse than a white girl investigating the basement in a horror movie. A new direction might mean things turn out better, but there’s no way they turn out worse.”

She chewed her cheek, staring at me for a second. Finally, she tugged her hair, sinking back in her seat. “I hate when you say something that’s complete nonsense but makes sense.”

I took my drink back and sucked on the straw again. She snatched it away.

“There’s no drink left.”

“There’s essence of drink,” I said, taking it back, but it became a moot point when Kinsley came over and leaned against the bar, picking up my glass.

“Another one for you, Parker?”

“Depends,” I said. “Is there a one in your number?”

Kinsley laughed. She and I both knew it wasn’t really serious—not that I’d say no if she propositioned me, because I was weak for the messy strands of dirty blonde hair and those pretty green eyes, miss high cheekbones and sharp jaw and everything—and it was more of a running joke at this point. “It’s statistically not unlikely,” she said. “Another of the same?”

“Yeah, but drop some cherries in it. How about a number equal to the first digit of your phone number?”

She laughed, pulling out the vodka from the shelf. “That one’s smooth enough I’m almost tempted.”

“How do I get rid of that almost?”

She gave me a smirk as she mixed my drink. “Get ten years older first.”

“Ugh, that’ll take ten years.”

Tat twirled her hair around her finger. “With the amount of time you sit at home rewatching Anyone’s Guess, you’ll burn through those ten years without even noticing.”

“I do not just watch Anyone’s Guess,” I said. “I watch anything with Valentina Jacobs in hopes she’ll somehow notice and go on a date with me.”

“You and me both,” Kinsley said, setting down my drink. “Someone down the bar’s been giving you some looks, Parker. I think you’ve got an admirer.”

I rubbed my forehead. “Tell them I’m in a bad mood and not up for anything tonight.” I paused. “Unless they’re hot. Are they hot?”

“She’s not twice your age, unfortunately,” Kinsley said, nodding discreetly down the bar. I glanced, but out of all the girls I expected to be giving me eyes, Cassie Peterson from that café on Crystal Road with the kombucha was not in the top five. Or top five hundred.

Hell, I didn’t even know she was gay. But there she was, sitting around the corner and nursing a colorful drink with a pretty girl sporting pink hair chatting her up. For her part, Cass looked flustered, her face about beet-red, and I wondered if maybe she wasn’t gay and was trying to figure out how to let Pinky down easy. Cass wouldn’t be the first straight girl to come in looking for a drink without realizing it was a lesbian bar.

Come to think of it, though, I’d seen her with that girl a few times at Hummingbird. Hadn’t I? She looked familiar. Maybe Pinky was her girlfriend? With the amount Cass was blushing, I doubted this was just normal for her.

“Someone you know?” Tat said, scanning patrons across the bar.

“Yeah, kinda,” I said, standing up and picking up my drink. “I’ll be right back. Unless I’m not.”

“That’s helpful,” Tat said, but I ignored her and made my way around the bar, bumping against a handful of other patrons on the way. The music was thumping, that sweet smell of strawberry and perfume filling my nostrils and lingering bittersweet on my tongue, and maybe it was Kinsley’s stiff pour, but Cass looked frustratingly hot.

She’d never not been attractive—she was tall and lean, with a toned body and long, wavy blonde hair. I’d always been weak for sporty blondes. She always dressed well, too—my polar opposite—and with her dark, sophisticated makeup and tube top and dark skinny jeans, she was sexier than I wanted her to be.

She didn’t seem to notice me until I came up next to her, opposite from where Pinky was just about giving her heart eyes, and she jolted when I slid into the seat next to her. “Hey, Cass,” I said. “Didn’t know they served kombucha here.”

“Oh my god,” Cass said, a hand to her chest, looking at me with wide eyes. Pretty blue eyes. I wanted to put sunglasses on her so I didn’t have to like the way her eyes looked. I bet she’d look good in sunglasses, too, though. “Parker. You startled me. Hey. It’s so nice to see you.”

“I’m so sorry for getting in your hair for so long,” Pinky said, face falling as she leaned back. The way she was looking between us, she probably thought Cass and I were a thing. “I’m going to go catch my friend now, but it’s, uh… it’s nice seeing you here, Cassie.”

“Oh… yeah,” Cass said, scrunching up her face as she strained a smile at her. “Really… really really nice seeing you here. Thanks so much for, uh, you know—rolling out the red carpet.”

I watched Pinky go with her shoulders slumped before I said, “You just crushed her heart.”

“Oh my god. I did?” She stiffened, turning back to me with wide eyes. “What did I do?”

“She was hoping you’d tell her to stay. You could have told her you and I aren’t a thing.”

She looked me over quickly. “She didn’t think—”

“Look, I’ve been around the block. I know how these things work. Pinky was giving you the eyes.”

She went red, looking down at her lap. “No way. We just… know each other. There’s no way she’s… uh…”

Ah, bless the innocent heart. I leaned against the bar, giving her a sardonic smirk. “Let me take one guess,” I said. “Baby gay?”

She winced. “Well, I guess at least I can say I’m good at wearing my heart on my sleeve.”

“You’re wearing your heart all across your sleeves, shirt, pants, everything.” I glanced out into the crowds on the floor, but even with her pink hair, I couldn’t catch a glimpse of the girl I’d just scared off. “You could go chase her down. She wasn’t bad-looking.”

“No… uh.” She scratched her head. “That’d be a little weird, I think? She’s kind of a friend of mine from before. I didn’t know she, uh… went here.”

“It’s your first time here, and you found out your friend is a closeted lesbian.”

She let out a sharp breath. “Yeah. I guess so. I wouldn’t have expected it, you know? She was always talking about boys.”

“Eh… people overcompensate to really wedge themselves into that closet sometimes.”

“Yeah. Guess it was weird she always talked about boys but never went out with anyone. And… talked a lot about female models.” She chewed her lip, looking up into the ceiling. “Huh.”

“You realize she was hitting on you.”

She went redder, chewing her cheek. “What? No way.”

“For real. She’s probably one of those types who just loves a newbie. Doesn’t hurt that you’re not bad to look at.”

“Ugh, thank you so much,” she said, glancing over at me, tucking her hair back behind her ear. In the low light of the lounge, giving me that little secretive smile over her shoulder like that, tucking her hair back—she definitely wasn’t bad. Maybe I could have been taking Pinky’s spot.

“I wasn’t really complimenting you,” I said, turning back to my drink. “I was just saying your best trait is your cluelessness.”

“You said I’m pretty.”

“I said you’re not bad to look at. Pretty is several levels higher.”

She laughed, a little nervous noise as she fussed with the ends of her hair. “Is it that obvious I’m new here?”

“New to Strawberry, or new to dating girls?” I waved her off. “Eh… never mind, it’s obvious you’re both. I’d have sworn up and down you were the straightest girl on Crystal Road.”

“I’ve been trying to convince myself of that same thing for a while,” she mumbled. “And… here I am at the lesbian bar, so you can see how well that went.”

I sipped my drink, watching Kinsley chat it up with Tat where I’d ditched her. “Pretty gutsy of you to come alone to a lesbian bar when you’re brand-new to the scene. Most girls like to ease in a little slower.”

She laughed awkwardly. “I’m kind of…”

“Not out?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

I shrugged. “Well, you could do worse than Strawberry. The people here are good sports. What happens at Strawberry stays at Strawberry.”

“Athena told me I might run into you here.”

I took a second trying to fit the words together, like a round peg in a square hole. When I gave up on pegging, which I rarely did, I turned to her. “That raises a lot of questions.”

She beamed. “I’m here all night if you’ve got questions.”

I narrowed my eyes. “The questions were obvious.”

She tossed her hair back. “I’m oblivious, remember? You told me yourself.”

Oh, she was screwing with me. Only I was allowed to screw with people.

Frankly, I didn’t think she’d be able to keep up. That was always the most attractive trait a person could have for me. Maybe Kombucha Girl wasn’t half bad after all.

I rolled my eyes, but I allowed myself a little smile as I went back to my drink. “I see you’ve been gay ten minutes and you’re already refusing to give straight answers to a lesbian. You’re taking to the lesbian scene well.”

“Parker,” Tat’s voice said from behind me, and I turned to where she was leaning over me with an amber drink in her hand. She gave me a pointed look as she slid in next to me. “You can’t run away from me when we’re in a serious talk to pick up girls.”

“I’m not picking her up,” I said. “She’s entirely too tall.”

“I’m only five seven,” Cass laughed. “You’re just short.”

“Yeah… yeah, there’s the rub,” I muttered, before I turned back to Tat. “I was just seeing what Kombucha Girl was doing here. I had no idea she was gay.”

“I am not Kombucha Girl,” Cass said, one hand on her hip. “I don’t even drink kombucha. I just like the café.”

“Oh, yeah?” I turned to her, narrowing my eyes. “What do you get there? Pink unicorn swirl fraps?”

She pouted. “So I like pink sparkly things.”

“Of course you do,” I mumbled. “This is Tatiana, my executive associate for Express. Tat, this is Cassie, but you can call her Unicorn Girl.”

“What?” Cass laughed. “I would love to be Unicorn Girl.”

“Ugh, I take it back. Don’t call her Unicorn Girl.”

Tat just shook her head, taking a long shot of her drink. “Parker, you’re like a pinball just bouncing around at random, running into everything, and leaving me always on standby to smack you when you’re about to plummet.”

“Tat gets philosophical and poetic when she’s had a lot to drink,” I said.

“That was not poetry, that was me complaining about you.”

I waved her off. “Fine, then, Unicorn, I’ll ask. Does Athena know you’re gay?”

“Not at all. But she told me I’d run into you here.”

“Athena’s right,” Tat sighed. “Parker spends too much damn time here.”

Cass tucked her hair back, smiling at her. “Hey, whatever makes her happy. Life is about enjoying it with all you’ve got.”

“Of course Unicorn is pulling out cheesy maxims,” I sighed. Cass pouted.

“I’m taking your side, Parker.”

“Were you looking for me?” I said, and immediately Cass was back to nervous, awkward and blushing, looking back down at her drink.

“Er… she said you were looking for a roommate.”

Ah… crap. This had to be a joke.

Cassie Peterson? Unicorn Girl, filling my second room? I’d wake up and find Live Laugh Love signs plastered on our living room and I’d have to demolish the whole complex.

“You’re joking,” Tat laughed breathlessly, looking back to me. “You’re telling me you’ve found two roommates in the lesbian bar, now?”

Cass scrunched up her face. “You already have a roommate?”

“No… Athena was my roommate for a few months. I met her here. That seat over there,” I said, pointing to where I’d been sitting with Tat. “It’s where I’ve got the best view of Kinsley’s biceps.”

“Which is all she ever comes here for,” Tat sighed.

“You need a place?” I said, looking back to Cass.

“Yeah. I could just renew my current lease, but I really want a bigger place. I’m squeezed into a studio right now and I’m tired of having my bed in my kitchen.”

I chewed my cheek. There was no earthly way I could deal with Unicorn Girl here putting up motivational posters, talking about her latest mani-pedi, and stringing fairy lights all across the apartment.

Well, okay, the fairy lights wouldn’t be too bad. But still.

The problem was Tatiana, leaning over me, giving me a pointed look like she knew exactly what I was thinking, and I hated that she did. With how long I’d been complaining I couldn’t find a roommate at the lesbian bar, she’d never let me live it down if I turned down a potential roommate at the lesbian bar.

And besides, for all the grief I gave her, Unicorn wasn’t the worst possible choice. She worked in coffee just like I did, she was gay, and Crystal Road wasn’t too far from our place on Amity Street. Best of all, maybe I’d be able to ask her for status reports on Hummingbird instead of slogging into that hippie-dust café every damn week to check their machine.

And most importantly, I only had half a lease to fill anyway. I wanted to save on rent for these next three months before the contract renegotiations, and then it was only another four months before the lease ended. Worst case scenario, I’d only have to stick it out with her for so long.

“Tell me you’re not going to be as difficult as Thena was.”

She beamed. “I’ll never cause you the tiniest problem. Don’t worry! I’m super easy to live with.”

Ugh, this was a horrible idea. I needed to flag down Kinsley and ask her for a big glass of bleach.

I sighed. “When can you come look at the place?” I said, and I hated the way Cass’s face lit up like she’d just been served a massive, pink, sparkly unicorn drink at her latest trendy café.