Page 5 of The Brave and the Reckless (Bravetown #1)

Renee introduced a few other people, and by the end there were around twenty of us up on stage.

Most of us were just here for the summer; two were new permanent hires.

Those two were the only ones that got lengthy introductions that included their job titles– the blonde barkeeper called Adriana, and an older accountant named Donna.

Apparently corporate emails weren’t a thing at Bravetown.

I was just grateful that she hadn’t introduced me as her new Annie Lou.

I still had to mentally prepare for the lecture Sanny would give me for accepting a job that involved climbing on to a horse.

Once we were dismissed, I followed Adriana to the bar.

“You’re Sanny’s sister, right?” she asked and slapped a napkin down in front of me.

“How do you already know that? ”

“Wild Fields is small,” she said, shrugging, “and you two look alike.”

“Not much,” I mumbled, because I almost looked like a carbon copy of our mom, while Sanny was all our dad’s straight lines and height. Contextually though, there probably weren’t many Turkish people in this town. Safe to assume we were related. “So you’re from here?”

“Kinda, yeah.” Adriana shrugged and didn’t elaborate.

She just set my drink down in front of me.

I hadn’t ordered anything specific, just as fruity and girly as possible.

She’d delivered. The drink in front of me was pink and garnished with pineapple and orange slices, and glitter dust swirled around in the cup.

“What do I owe you?”

“Tap your staff pass here.” She held up a little white scanner. “First alcoholic drink is free tonight. Soft drinks are always free for staff members.”

Good to know. That would save me some money. I laid my card against the scanner, but Adriana didn’t give me any sign of it working even after the machine beeped. She just blinked.

“Did it work?”

“It says cast member,” she replied.

“Huh?”

“The display says cast member, not staff member.” She narrowed her gray eyes at me, her freckled nose scrunching up. “Did you steal someone’s pass? Is this your second drink?”

“No,” I said but before I had a chance to explain, she swiped my card from my hand, turning it to read it in the dim light .

“Esra Taner, that’s you all right.” Adriana returned my pass with pursed lips. “You should get that looked into. Different passes open different doors, so you might need it reprogrammed or something.”

“I thought you were new here too.”

“Kinda. Yeah.” This time, she grinned. “Long story that involves a lot of tequila and poor life choices.”

“Sounds like my type of story. Tell me some other time?” I glanced over at our booth, because I still had so much to catch up on with Sinan.

Including my new job. My brother and his fiancée were no longer alone though.

Noah Young, peanut butter and towel officer extraordinaire, had sat down next to Sanny.

Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that he had so valiantly avoided looking at my body earlier.

Whenever Sanny had mentioned his friend Noah who worked with him at Bravetown, he’d forgotten to mention that Noah was tall, like easily 6’3”, had strapping muscles, a sharp jawline and ink-black hair.

Right above his left brow, that hair had one perfect white streak in it.

Not the turned-gray kind, and not the peroxide kind, but a white patch caused by lack of melanin.

I turned back to Adriana. “Actually, do you have peanuts back there?”

“Sure.”

She poured me a small bowl of nuts. It wasn’t exactly a whole sandwich, but hey, it would have to be enough to make amends.

With the official part of the evening over, people were crowding between tables, chatting and laughing, swinging with the music pouring from the speakers. They almost made me spill my drink and my nuts twice by the time I was close to our booth.

“… back to your parents. It’s not your job to keep her out of trouble.” Noah’s voice cut through the noise, halting me dead in my tracks.

“She’s my baby sister. Of course it is,” Sanny replied, and my stomach dropped a little. I was grateful for his help getting a job, but I didn’t need to be kept out of any trouble. I wasn’t looking for trouble. I was looking for some fun. And I was done letting the people around me keep me from it.

“She’s a grown woman,” Noah said, “and she’s obviously careless and irresponsible.”

“Noah,” Zuri pleaded, but didn’t interject beyond that.

“I’m just saying, don’t let her blow through your life like a tornado. You’re trying to build something here.”

Fuck Noah Young and his stupid haughty opinion. Over what? Some bread and a towel? I’d even given the damn towel back. Asshole.

And fuck Sinan for not defending me.

Wild.

Out of control.

Losing my way.

Tornado.

I turned on my heels and headed back to the bar, clanking the peanut bowl back on to the counter. Adriana turned to me with raised brows after serving someone their beer. “What’s wrong?”

“My brother’s best friend is being a total dick,” I grumbled and climbed on to one of the barstools. I shoved a whole handful of peanuts into my mouth. Ha. He wouldn’t get any of them .

Adriana bent over the bar to glance toward where Sanny was sitting. “Noah?”

“Yeah,” I grunted through the nuts.

“Don’t worry. Noah doesn’t really like anyone. He’s more of a mutual-tolerance kinda guy. I’m pretty sure your brother is the only exception because he’s real damn hard not to like.”

I currently despised him, but I could admit that she was right. Sinan was a goddamn ray of sunshine, always had been. He made friends easily, helped anyone who needed him, and never said “I told you so” even if he had given you sound advice before you made your own stupid mistakes.

“What about you?”

“Me? Oh, nobody except Renee likes me,” she laughed, but there was a sad undercurrent of truth to her words. “These people wouldn’t come near me if I wasn’t handing them their drinks.”

“I think we should be friends,” I said, because I was feeling a kinship with my fellow disliked person.

“Sure,” Adriana grinned, “but only if you can hold your liquor.”

I pointed one finger-gun at her and used the other hand to tip my drink back. I gulped down the sugary concoction like it was air and I’d been suffocating. When I set the glass back down, only ice cubes clinked against its sides. “You just found yourself a new friend.”