Liam
Obviously, I’d struck a nerve with Gwen. She spent the rest of the night—when she wasn’t glaring at me—slamming drinks and food down on tables, but at least she managed to slam the right food and drinks on the right tables. I’d call that progress.
All in all, she wasn’t a horrible waitress. A spoiled selfish bitch, yes, but she worked hard and managed to be somewhat helpful in the process.
I heard the bell above the door jingle and I looked up as Drew walked in, raising a hand in greeting.
“Hey, man,” he said.
“Hey.” I nodded and headed to the tap to pour him his usual. I set a pint of Guinness on the bar in front of him. “Where’s your better half?”
“She’s going insane. The wedding is only a couple weeks out and we’ve only gotten a handful of RSVP’s. I had to get out of the apartment before I lost it.”
I laughed and tossed a towel over my shoulder.
“How’s Bridget doing?” he asked.
“Good. Still laid up, but she’s on the mend.”
“You get someone to replace her?”
I looked toward the kitchen door as Gwen pushed through like a tornado, making it swing violently on its hinges.
“Unfortunately,” I said, tipping my head in her direction.
Drew took a sip of his beer and smiled before turning his attention to the back. As soon as he saw her, he almost choked.
“Shit, man. You okay?”
He coughed and sputtered as he tried to catch his breath, the commotion catching Gwen’s attention. An evil grin spread wide across her face as she made her way toward us.
“Fuck me,” Drew said.
“I’m pretty sure I already did,” Gwen replied, biting her bottom lip with a predatory look in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Before she could answer, Drew turned to me. “What is she doing here?”
“Do you two know each other?” I asked, gesturing between them.
Gwen took a step toward him, her eyes never leaving him for a second. “Intimately.”
I frowned and looked back and forth between them as Drew began to sweat.
Gwen leaned toward him, and he retreated, stumbling off the bar stool and looking everywhere but directly at her.
She rested her hands on the stool he’d vacated, her arms squeezing her breasts together, giving both of us a clear view down her shirt.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked. “How do you two know each other?”
“She can’t work here,” Drew said, a look of panic clear in his eyes. “You can’t work here,” he repeated this time to Gwen.
She straightened and crossed her arms in defiance. “I can and I do.”
I leaned toward them across the bar. “Someone want to fill me in here?”
Drew glared at her, but despite his reaction she seemed amused.
“Drew and I had a little thing a while ago,” she said.
“A thing?” he asked. “You nearly ruined my relationship with Alex.”
“Please.” She scoffed and stepped closer to him with a flirtatious smile. “She never could handle a little competition.”
Drew leaned across the bar, his eyes pleading with me. “Dude, you have to get her out of here. If Red finds out, she’s gonna lose her shit.”
I looked back at Gwen and a moment of panic filled her eyes, but she quickly covered it with a smug smile.
“She’ll just have to deal,” she said.
Drew didn’t respond. He didn’t even acknowledge her. He just raised an eyebrow and silently pleaded with me to help him out.
I needed to get to the bottom of this. Drew and Alex were as much a part of this place as I was. They’d been more than supportive when I bought it from Drew’s father, but I couldn’t fire Gwen just because he asked me to.
“Princess, a word?” I said. “Stockroom.”
I headed toward the back and she turned to follow, but not before she blew a kiss in Drew’s direction, which only made him clench his fists at his sides, his mouth set into a hard line.
I pulled her into the stockroom and shut the door behind us, pacing the floor as I tried to get a handle on the situation.
“You aren’t seriously going to fire me because of him?”
“I’m considering it.”
Her mouth dropped open for a second before her expression hardened and her eyes narrowed.
“Tell me what happened,” I snapped.
She folded her arms across her chest. “I told you. We had a thing. It was no big deal.”
“If it was no big deal then why did he say you almost broke them up?”
“He’s being dramatic. Besides they’re obviously still together so I don’t see what the problem is.”
“They’re getting married. And they are my friends. I can’t have you causing problems with them. I don’t need this Dawson’s Creek drama bullshit in my bar.”
“Dawson’s Creek?” she scoffed. “That show was on like a million years ago. Update your references, Grandpa.”
I took a deep breath and ground my teeth together, trying to keep my cool. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s really not a big deal. Alex and I used to work together, okay? She made up some bullshit to my boss about me and I got fired. I knew she had a thing for Drew but was too chicken shit to do something about it, so I slept with him to get back at her,” she said, shrugging like it was no big deal.
I stared at her, wide eyed. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Of all the childish vindictive shit I’d heard in my life—and growing up in my house there was a lot—it blew my mind that she could do something so low.
“You slept with him to get back at her?”
“It was a long time ago and besides, they weren’t even together. If anything, she should thank me. If I hadn’t slept with him, then she never would’ve had the balls to make a move herself. Seeing us together helped light a fire under her ass.”
“She saw you?”
“She walked in while we were—”
“I don’t want to know.”
I turned away and ran a hand down my face as I tried to process what she’d just said, but I couldn’t get my head around something like that. She actually thought she was justified in her actions. It was insane, but what really bothered me was this strange knot in the pit of my stomach that formed from just thinking about her with Drew. It was bizarre. Almost like I was…jealous.
I shook off the ridiculous thought and turned to face her again. “What kind of person does that?” I asked. I didn’t want an answer. I was just trying to wrap my head around it.
“Excuse me? I didn’t force him into anything. Drew was just as much a part of this as I was. I didn’t just throw myself on his dick you know.”
“I can’t deal with this right now. I have to get back out there.”
“So, that’s it? He walks in here with some bullshit demand and I’m fired?”
“I don’t know. We’ll discuss it later.” I headed out of the stockroom, slamming the door behind me.
When I got back to bar Drew was waiting for me. “Is she gone?”
“Look, man.…I get it, but I can’t just fire her because of some shit that happened before you and Alex were even together.”
“Liam, you can’t be serious. Red is stressed enough with the wedding and this will send her straight over the edge.”
“I hear you, I do. Let me think about it, okay? For now, just keep Alex out of the bar until I can figure out what to do.”
Drew sighed. “All right, I’ll try. But think fast, man. This is not going to end well for either of us if Red finds out.”
I looked toward the back as Gwen emerged from the stockroom. I saw her quickly wipe her hand across her cheek. Was she crying? She looked up and met my eyes for a moment before pushing through the kitchen door and disappearing into the back. I had a feeling the whole situation was going to blow up in my face no matter what I decided to do.