Page 18 of Big Daddy to Go

“Good for you, girl! Where did you meet him?”

“At The Bucket!”

“Seriously?” she asks, her face scrunched up like she smells something bad.

“Hey!” I smack her arm. “You always flirt with the bartender!”

“Well, Ricky works there… that’s different. Besides, he’s adorable.”

I roll my eyes and laugh.

“Don’t be so quick to judge. We go to The Bucket every week.”

Melanie shrugs. “That’s because we’re broke as hell; we aren’t going there with the intention of meeting people.”

“True. But I doubt Kane normally hangs out at dive bars anyway. He was wearing a three-piece suit and took me to the penthouse at Hotel Magnolia.”

“Woo-woo, swanky,” Melanie comments, waving her wrist back and forth.

“This guy, Mel…” I try to find words to describe Kane, but none of them seem to do him justice.

“That good?”

“The best,” I gush. “His face, that body, and oh God, the sex…”

“Lexi,” Melanie blushes at how freely I’m discussing sex as we walk down the street. “Are you going to see him again?”

“No, of course not. What do you think ‘one-night stand’ means?”

“It sounds like you don’t want just one night.”

“Well, I’ll admit another night like that would be more than welcome, but I don’t really have a choice. We didn’t exchange numbers or anything.”

“But you got dolled up tonight just in case he’s here,” she figures out as we get to the bar.

I shrug, “Yup.”

Melanie laughs and opens the door. I step inside. The place is crowded, like it usually is for Friday night happy hour. Melanie and I squeeze our way up to the bar.

“Chugs!” Ricky calls out upon seeing me.

“Chugs?” Melanie questions.

“That’s my new nickname,” I roll my eyes.

“Are you doing vodka again?” Ricky asks with his pierced eyebrow raised.

“No, it’s back to the usual,” I tell him.

“Two beers and a bucket?” Ricky asks, looking between Melanie and me.

“Please!” Melanie grins.

Ricky’s longish dirty-blond hair is pulled into a man-bun tonight, and his sleeves are rolled up, revealing his tattooed forearms. Melanie has a weakness for guys with tattoos and piercings. She’s been low-key into Ricky since he first started working at The Bucket two months ago.

“You got it,” Ricky winks at Melanie.

“Are you going to give me a nickname, too?” she asks, leaning onto the bar.