“Who’s your friend here?”

Rich laughed as he reached for a fresh beer that Dinky poured for him. Dinky worked with Finn to keep the bar afloat. Hell, Dinky literally lived in the bar, upstairs, in a glorified closet that he considered to be an apartment.

I noticed the way Olivia sat at the bar. All prim and proper. Her back perfectly straight. Her hands on her lap. Her eyes forever searching left to right, as though she was scouting the damn place.

Rich threw a fist to my shoulder. He spilled beer on himself.

“Huh?” he asked. “She’s pretty.”

“Jesus Christ, Rich,” I snapped. “What’s wrong with you?”

Rich then stumbled and I put my hand out and around the barstool where Olivia sat.

“Don’t mind him,” I whispered to her.

Olivia glanced over her shoulder.

“Hey there,” Rich said.

“Are you here to pour me a drink?” Olivia asked Rich.

I laughed. I pointed at Rich. “You know that means you look worse than Dinky does.”

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Dinky asked. He threw a towel to the bar. He pointed a crooked, yellow stained finger at me. “Your boys bought you round one. I let round two slip for what you did to my truck. And a woman this pretty doesn’t pay for a drink in my bar.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Olivia cut in.

“Now, to be fair, darling, Dinky is out of his mind, but he has a point,” I said. “A pretty girl like you isn’t paying for a drink.”

“I know that,” Olivia said.

Rich snorted, still standing behind us. He was fucking third wheeling me. Not that I had any intentions of anything, to be honest. I threw an offer out there to a pretty stranger and she took it. Well, goddamn me, huh?

She was pretty and cocky, trying to keep her guard up.

“You know that?” I asked.

“Yes,” Olivia said. She reached across the bar for Dinky’s hand. “Make sure you tack everything on his tab. Okay?”

Dinky smiled. “Ain’t that the truth… huh, Gav?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. I reached into my pocket and took out a twenty. I slapped it to the bar. “Here. Keep things moving along now.”

Dinky plucked the twenty off the bar and winked at Olivia.

“No tab?” she asked.

“This guy? Not a chance.”

“Thanks, Dinky,” I said.

Olivia raised an eyebrow when she looked at me again.

“So, where are you from?” Rich asked.

I threw my left elbow and hit Rich in the gut. He made a dramatic oomph sound and spilled even more beer. Some of it splashed on Olivia’s shoulder.

“Goddammit, Rich,” I snapped.

I grabbed for the towel Dinky left on the bar and stood up. I realized just how fucking tall I was over Olivia. More so now because she was sitting. I was like a monster hovering over her. She was in a hoodie, but still, I was sure she didn’t come to the bar to get doused in beer by some drunk moron like Rich.

I wiped her shoulder. “Sorry about that.”

“No worry,” she said. Then she smirked. “What are you going to do about it though?”

I leaned down much closer than I needed to be. “You want me to fight Rich? Defend your honor, darling?”

Her cheeks blushed. “Maybe I do.”

“Be careful what you wish for…”

I tossed the towel to the bar and turned, making a fist. I grabbed Rich by the back of his shirt and wound up for a punch. Rich’s eyes went wide. I grinned. A quick punch to the gut wouldn’t kill the guy, right?

“No,” a voice said.

Olivia grabbed my arm. Her tiny hands against my arm. Barely able to get a firm grip as I had my arm flexed, my bicep throbbing thick, hard as a boulder.

I glanced to my right and she was standing, jaw dropped. “Are you kidding?”

“What?” I asked. “Never been to a small town bar, huh?”

She swallowed hard. From across the bar I saw her friend flirting with the same two guys. Mackey and Ace. Two fucking morons who would do anything to get a woman into bed. Their obsession with the whole two-on-one thing made me wonder if they really didn’t have a thing for each other and just used a woman to make it seem not so obvious.

“Jesus, Gavin,” Olivia said. “I was just joking.”

“She was just joking,” Rich said.

I let Rich go. “Fine. But you’re fired.”

“What?” Rich asked.

“Fired,” I said. “Find a new job.”

I shoved him back.

He stood there, shocked.

“Gavin…”

I shook my head. “See you tomorrow. Asshole.”

I turned and sat down on my barstool.

Olivia was in shock. I patted her barstool. “Sit down, darling.”

She slowly sat. “You fired him…?”

“I own an auto garage around the corner. Rich works for me. The guy he’s shooting darts with? That’s Donny. He works for me too. I have another guy, Hank, but he’s not here tonight.”

“So you own your own business?”

“Yeah, if that’s what you want to call it.”

“I think that’s pretty cool,” Olivia said.

“Really?” I asked. “All the things you could ask and find cool about me, you think it’s cool I run a piece of shit garage that can barely keep the lights on?”

“Oh,” Olivia said.

“Now, tell me about you. And your friend.”

“Whitney?” Olivia asked. “There’s too much to tell and not enough time.”

I looked at my wrist. I had no watch on. “I have no place to go, darling.”

Olivia laughed. “We’re not from around here.”

“Newsflash,” I said.

“Thanks,” she said. “This was actually her idea. To find a new place to come to. For fun.”

I looked across the bar and Whitney was sitting on Mackey’s lap.

“Hmm… fun. Hope she has a good doctor.”

“What? Why?”

I laughed. “I’m kidding. We don’t get many new people in this town.”

“Newsflash,” Olivia said, wide eyed, teasing me.

“Cute,” I said. “Real cute.”

“Is it wrong to want to go out and do something different?”

“No. Not at all. But sitting here… is that really fun?”

“You tell me, Gavin.”

I looked at her. I looked at her friend. I looked around the bar.

I took a drink of my beer and rubbed my chin.

What an interesting night this could become…

“Who’s your friend here?” another voice asked.

It was Stacey.

She was a little more wobbly than before.

Shit.

“Stacey,” I said. “This is Olivia. Olivia, this is my good friend, Stacey.”

“Oh, I’m just a good friend now?” Stacey asked with a drunk smile. “I bet if she didn’t show up, I’d be more than that.”

“Wow,” I said. I looked at Olivia. “Me and Stacey go way back.”

Stacey slipped an arm around me, jealousy oozing from her.

I gently nudged her away. “Hey. You okay?”

“Fine,” Stacey said.

She wasn’t okay.

“I’ll tell Nikki to call you, okay? I know things are bad for everyone.”

“So fucking bad,” Stacey said. Her eyes filled with tears.

I stood and hugged her.

I looked at Olivia and mouthed sorry…

Olivia then rose up. She pointed to the door and mouthed I better go…

She made one step and I grabbed her hand. Soft, smooth skin. Something about her hand like I had never felt before. Like she hadn’t worked a day in her life or something, you know? Her hands so clean. So perfect. Even her nails, it was like she just got them done ten minutes ago or something. My interest was heightened by Olivia. Something told me that under that hoodie and those old jeans, there was another version of Olivia. Even the jeans… old… but they almost looked like those stupid pairs of jeans that were made to look old… and cost a fortune because of that.

Just wait a second I mouthed to her.

She nodded.

I broke away from Stacey. “Hey, look at me.”

Stacey sucked in a breath. “What?”

“It’s going to be okay, Stace. Whatever you’re going through. Just try to keep breathing here, okay? No more drinking tonight. Get some water. Get a soda.”

“Maybe I should get something to eat.”

“Not here,” I said. “Jesus, please don’t get food here.”

Stacey laughed. “I’m not that drunk.”

“There’s that smile.” I wiped a tear off her cheek. “You’re going to be okay, Stace. I know it’s all hard. It’s all fucked up. Okay? Deep breaths.”

“Thanks, Gav,” she said. “Sorry for cock blocking you.”

“Oh, you’re not…”

I looked at Olivia.

She was taking a drink from her mug. Watching her small hands grab the mug. From the side, her features were beautiful and even cute. Cute? Why’d that fucking word come to mind? Just the way her hair was tucked behind her ear and fell to her shoulder. The side outline of her face, her nose.

I shook my head.

“Get out of here,” I said to Stacey.

She then turned and touched Olivia’s shoulder. “He’s a good guy. A really good guy. Like the best guy ever.”

“Okay now,” I said and turned Stacey around.

I put a hand out for Olivia to take. She looked at my hand and then up at me. She had this sexy cocky look to her. Like I was experiencing the jealous bitchy side of her now. Which was interesting since we met all of an hour ago. But that was fine with me. Sometimes it was better to have a little animosity between people. So nothing was confused and nobody dared to linger longer than wanted or needed.

“Stacey, huh?” Olivia asked as she stood up, purposely knocking my hand away.

“Yeah. Old friend.”

“Friend.”

“Jealous?”

“Nope.”

“Stacey is best friends with Nikki. Or was.”

“And is Nikki another friend?” Olivia asked.

“Something like that,” I said. “It’s all complicated.”

“Of course it is.”

I reached for her hand and took it. “What the hell are you really doing here?”

“The truth? I don’t know. But I might as well make the best of it. Plus, you’re a good guy, right?”

“That’s up for debate. Want to do something fun?”

“Sure,” Olivia said.

“Let’s get out of here. Do you need to talk to your friend?”

“Nope. Do you have anything to drink?”

“I’m sure I could figure out something.” I looked to Dinky and gave a head nod. He walked to the bar.

I was fully prepared to pay for an entire bottle of booze, but Olivia did something that surprised me. Really surprised me. She hurried around the bar. She walked to the shelf and grabbed a bottle of vodka. On her toes, her hoodie pulling up, showing a little skin. Damn, leaving my jaw dropped for a second. One second she was holding back, the next second she was stealing booze from the bar.

“What do you want?” Dinky asked.

“You know what… here.” I reached into my back pocket and took out some more cash. I gave it to Dinky.

“What’s this for?”

“Good faith,” I said with a wink.

Olivia was next to me again, the bottle hidden under the hoodie. I then placed my hand to her back and pointed to the backdoor.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Trust me, darling. We’ll have some fun.”

I had no fucking clue where this one night of fun was going to end up.

 

* * *

 

I never thought I’d be giving a tour of the garage to a woman. The way Olivia looked at the place I could tell she was well beyond this shithole kind of town and life. And I never thought I would be setting up soda cans at the end of the lot with the intention of fucking shooting at them. But when Olivia spotted the air rifle, she asked to shoot it.

She held the gun like it was a bazooka.

“Lean over the hood of the car,” I said. “And take your aim.”

I had a spotlight turned on for her to see the soda cans.

It was quickly becoming a strange night for me.

When she leaned over the car, her hoodie pulled up again. I made fists and gritted my teeth. I felt something going through my body that made me wonder just how strange this night would actually end up getting.

Olivia had been sipping vodka from the bottle like it was water. Me? I hadn’t touched a drop of anything but water since the bar. No way I was going to put my life or her life in danger. Plus, I could tell something was bothering her and she was just using my little town and my little garage and my attention for her own comfort.

“I just pull the trigger?” she asked.

I laughed. “That’s generally how a gun works, darling.”

She looked back at me and stuck out her tongue.

Cute.

“Did you pump it?” I asked.

“What?”

I laughed. “Give me the gun.”

I took the air rifle and showed her how to pump it. I gave a quick lesson on what the term air rifle meant. Or BB gun. Whatever you wanted to call it.

She took her position and took a shot.

The gun gave off its pffft sound.

Not a single can moved.

“Nice shot,” I said.

“You do it then.”

I pumped the gun and stood there. I aimed at the first can and knocked it down with ease.

“What?” Olivia yelled. “That’s not fair.”

“No?”

“Give me that,” she said.

She was getting louder and feisty.

She stood with the gun in one hand and then grabbed the vodka bottle with the other hand.

Every man’s dream…

“You know, booze and weapons… they don’t mix well, Liv.”

She froze and looked back at me. “You called me Liv.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Nobody calls me that… ever.”

“Sorry,” I said. “Olivia.”

“No. I like it. I like the way your voice says it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Right.”

“Better than calling me a princess.”

“Why would I call you a princess?”

Olivia laughed. “You’re cute, Gavin. And sexy.”

“Okay,” I said. “You going to take that shot or what?”

Olivia put the vodka bottle on the hood of the car and leaned forward again. The way she spread her legs. Her ass pressing against those wannabe rugged ripped jeans. Little dimples at the small of her back showing.

Fuck.

She lined up her shot and took it.

The gun went off and the ting! of a can echoed too.

“I did it!” she yelled.

She turned and pointed the gun at me.

I jumped at her and grabbed for it. Yeah, it was just an air rifle and wasn’t pumped, but shit, it was still a gun.

“Fuck. Sorry.” Her eyes went wide.

I took the gun from her and placed it on the ground. “Nice shot, Olivia.”

“Call me Liv again,” she said.

“Liv,” I whispered.

She smiled.

We started to inch a little closer.

Very interesting…

She then put her hands to my shirt. A warning to ease back a little? Maybe.

“Hey, why do you have that gun?”

“Cats. Raccoons.”

“What?”

“They get into the garage and cause trouble.”

“You hurt animals?”

“I don’t hurt animals,” I said. “I protect what’s mine.”

“You’re a jerk.”

I laughed. “A jerk? You called me a jerk?”

“You shoot innocent animals,” Olivia said.

“Darling, I don’t kill them. And I usually don’t shoot them. My guys do. And I’m sure they only do it as a warning.”

“Maybe I should shoot you,” Olivia said.

I inched closer. “Try me.”

Olivia smiled and bit her bottom lip. She looked up at me with drunk eyes that had some clear intentions.

I reached up and touched her chin. “So, who the hell are you for real? You end up in this dive of a town in my dive of a bar and now in my dive of a garage.”

“Just looking for something different for the night.”

“Right,” I whispered.

A second later I pressed my lips to hers. Her hands grabbed at my shirt with force, pulling at me. There was a desperation coming off her that I wasn’t sure I liked or not. But I wasn’t going to pass up kissing a beautiful woman. I grabbed for her ass, taking more than a handful and pulling her tight to my body. Her hands clawed at my shirt, wanting to touch bare skin.

Her perfectly kept nails scratched against my dirty skin as I pushed her back. With a quick move, I lifted her and put her on the hood of the car. That poor car. I’d have to make sure the engine was really fixed up. Maybe even have the guys clean the inside and out, free of charge. Little did the owner know what their car was being used for that the night.

Olivia leaned back on her elbows as I kissed her harder, pushing her down. Her left leg hooked around me. I kissed down to her neck, smelling shampoo and perfume that wasn’t anything I ever smelled before. Nobody I had kissed in this town could afford whatever she sprayed on her skin. Her skin was smooth and tasted like honey. I went down and around to the other side. Her hands scratched up my back, trying to dig at me but she couldn’t get through the muscle.

I pulled back and pulled her off the car, holding her. Her legs around my body. I had her eye level now.

“One night, huh?” I whispered.

“Can you take me home?”

“To the city?”

“To your house, jerk,” Olivia said, her words a little slurred.

I felt a little sting of guilt go through me. She was drunk. Not blackout drunk but drunk enough to maybe make a decision she’d regret. I gritted my teeth and growled.

No matter what, I was going to have a sleepover.

 

* * *

 

I made the last turn to head up the dirt road to get to the house when Olivia put the vodka bottle down and put her hands to the dashboard. It wasn’t my place to tell someone when to start or stop drinking but I was going to give her one more sip and then the vodka bottle was going to disappear.

Looked like I was a minute too late as she made a sound and then grabbed for the door.

“Gavin…”

“Shit,” I said.

I slammed on the brakes and put the truck into park.

I hurried to get out and around the truck but it was too late again. Olivia had the door open and was leaning out of my truck. Getting sick.

I grabbed at the door and just stood there. I couldn’t help but laugh. Served me right for trying to take a woman home. Some woman from the city. Probably passing through town, thinking she’d find some rough and tough dirty guy to fool around with.

Olivia looked up at me and frowned. “Gavin…”

“My house is right up the road.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, darling.”

I shut the door and then got back into the truck. I drove a little slower. Olivia was curled up against her door, eyes shut, bouncing with the truck as it navigated across the dirt road.

When I got home, I looked over at Olivia and shook my head.

I couldn’t believe I’d have to carry her into my house.

I scooped her up and did just that. She groaned and rocked her head back and forth before settling it to my chest.

Inside, I carried her to the couch and gently put her down.

Jesse lifted his aged head and turned it a little.

“Don’t worry,” I said to the dog. “She’s okay. Thanks for protecting me.”

Jesse groaned and put his head back down on the arm of the chair.

I sat on the coffee table as Olivia forced herself to sit up.

“Hey, hey, hey,” I said. “You’re good here, darling. I am a good guy. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

Olivia looked right at me. “Why do good people die? I mean… they shouldn’t die. Right?”

I was taken back for a second. That was a question I had asked myself many nights after one too many drinks. The story of Olivia, the strange, beautiful woman from the city, just took another turn.

I reached forward and touched her cheek. “I don’t know why. It sucks though.”

“I’m hot,” she said.

She grabbed her hoodie and started to wrestle with it. I had to admit, it was kind of funny to watch. She managed to get the hoodie up, but she also had her shirt with her. Before I could react, her shirt pulled up over her bra. A perfectly black bra with flower laced trim at the top, a see through pattern halfway down that showed more than Olivia probably intended. My hands instantly began to tingle, knowing damn well she was the perfect handful for me.

I swallowed hard and sucked in a breath as I reached forward and grabbed her shirt.

“Hey, darling, slow for a second,” I said. “You’re stripping yourself.”

I held her shirt as she peeled her hoodie off her head.

Her hair was messy and static like.

“I should have done more for her,” Olivia said.

Her eyes were heavy as her head went back.

I gently took her into my hands and guided her down to the couch. I grabbed the blanket from the back and pulled it over her body.

“I’m sure you did all you could,” I whispered.

I moved and Olivia grabbed for my hand. “Thank you, Gavin. You are a good guy.”

“If you say so,” I whispered.

I then got a bucket and a washcloth for her, in case she got sick again.

I put a blanket on the floor and snapped my fingers at Jesse, making him sleep on the floor. He wasn’t happy, but whatever, I sure as hell wasn’t sleeping on the floor.

I got into the chair and looked over at Olivia.

She was out cold.

Then I started to laugh.

I put my head back and shut my eyes.

Why do good people die?

The question echoed in my head.

And the only way I could get myself to sleep was to answer it the only way I knew how. With the hard truth.

Because sometimes… they just fucking do.