januarie robinson
- september 23, 2020 -

JOLENE WAS FAR FROM THE party animal of the Robinson family. We all waited for her to tell us she was joking when she decided to spend the evening of her twenty-eighth birthday at The Corner Bar. In my opinion, it was more of her freaking out about almost being thirty than anything else. Proving to herself and the rest of us that she could still keep up with the rest of us 'youngsters' even though we already knew that.

            Naturally, we had to have dinner at mom's first, but after everyone was already stuffed to the brim with Joshua's cooking, those of us who were old enough headed over to the bar. The first thing James did was buy a round of vodka shots. Because as the head manager of the place he knew, nothing gets you messed up faster than shots.

            After the first two rounds, I slid my glass over to Jacob next to me. In my defense, he was twice my size and more than willing to forget the things he had to deal with throughout his normal day.

            I slipped away from the rowdy group once they were two drinks and four shots deep. The Robinsons were extremely big on birthdays. Not only was it all of us, but most of Jolene's co-workers; big guys from Whitman Motors. Being one of the few introverts of the family, it was a little much to sit around a table full of extroverts trying to talk over one another.

            I slumped on a stool and breathed a sigh of relief to be away from all the ruckus, even if it was still across the room.

            Taylor walked up to the other side of the bar. He had this calm demeanor about him that seemed to put everyone around him at ease. This place wasn't always that chaotic, but then again, James was usually behind the bar and not in front of it.

            When he smiled, his lips sat lopsided on his face. Stubble covered his cheeks and jaw. It was hard to argue that he wasn't a handsome man, but being one of James' best friends, it was difficult to see him in any other way than just another older brother.

            "Hey, Red." He leaned against the bar and got close to me, "I don't know if you want it, but some guy walked in about ten minutes ago and just asked to buy your next drink. If you want me to chew his ass out and spit in his face, I can totally do that for ya."

            I instantly sat up, "Really? Who?"

            Taylor stood up and moved away from me, giving me a strange look. I could understand why he did, it was far from my normal response. The Corner Bar was one of the few places I never had to worry about any of that. James and Taylor intercepted most of that kind of thing. He gestured with his head to the back of the bar, past the pool tables at the dart board.

            In the back, throwing darts was Lucas. He had a beer on the table next to him and his phone sitting face up. I watched him throw a dart and then another. Both hitting the middle. I couldn't help but shake my head. Now he was just showing off.

            "You mean the guy playing darts?" I asked, leaning on the bar.

            "That's the one."

            "Yeah," I smiled, "he can definitely buy me a drink."

            Taylor laughed, pulling a glass from the fridge under the bar. The glass frosted when he dumped at least a shot and a half of Pendleton Whiskey in the bottom of the cup. He tipped it sideways and poured Dr. Pepper in through the soda nozzle. When he was done, he took my empty glass and placed the new one on my coaster.

            "Hey," he waved his hand in front of my face. I hummed, turning my attention away from Lucas throwing darts and sent Taylor a lopsided smile, "Keep it in your pants, Girly."

            "I didn't do or say anything."

            He chuckled when I looked back to watch Lucas, "Yeah, but your eyes are practically undressing the poor guy. He doesn't stand a chance against that."

            Scrunching my nose, I shook my head, "They are not." Pulling my phone from my pocket, I opened Lucas' text messages. Thank God I could still text with both eyes open.

Januarie: Are you just going to leave me to drink alone?

            I turned and watched Lucas' phone light up. He was in the middle of throwing a dart when he looked over to the screen. The dart barely squeaked into the double twenty at the top of the board. He grabbed his phone, sliding it open. Smiling, he looked up and glanced back, finding me sitting on the bar stood. I smiled and waved.

            He looked down and typed away before looking back up to me. My eyes automatically went down to my phone when it buzzed in my hands.

Lucas Skywalker: Is that an official invitation?

            I laughed covering my mouth with my hands. I looked up at him and his smile widened. Locking eyes with him, I gestured my way with my head. He turned, grabbed his drink and downed it before walking over with the now empty glass.

            I held up my finger and turned to the bar with a smile, "Hey, Taylor—"

            "Yes, Dear?"

            I shook my head, "Could Lucas get another beer please?" He nodded and grabbed another frosted glass.

            "Should I be impressed or worried that you're on a first name basis with the bartender that also calls you Dear?"

            "Why, jealous?"

            He smiled, "Jealous? I didn't say that..."

            "No, but you're also not two shots and three drinks in either. Hence the next beer."

            "Januarie Robinson, are you trying to liquor me up and take advantage?"

            "Never." I laughed, "Also, Taylor's just an old family friend. We've known each other forever. Normally, he and James run interference on things like this." I grabbed my drink and took a swig, "Thank you by the way."

            He chuckled, "Of course your old family friends with the bartender."

            I shrugged, "Big families know a lot of people. Plus, my dad's family has been in Kensington from basically the beginning. My grandpa even worked for the city." I snapped my fingers and turned to Taylor behind the bar, "Taylor will you call the girls and tell them the children need a ride."

            Taylor laughed, his head falling back before he grabbed the phone off the wall. Lucas looked at me and raised a brow. Smiling, I pointed to the group of adults completely drunk at the large grouping of tables in the center of the bar, "I told my younger sisters to stay up and drive over when I called to pick everyone up. Jacob said he'd be everyone's driver, but that was before James decided to buy eight rounds of shots and he drank all of mine."

            "By the time Jordyn and Josie get here, everything will want to leave anyways."

            Taylor came over and placed a hand on the counter, "They said to give them about an hour and they'll be down." I turned and gave Lucas an I-told-you-so look, "Also, Joe came in about five minutes ago. So far, it's just tap beer, but I'll let you know if anything changes."

            Lucas turned and looked at me. He had these crinkles at the corner of his eyes. I don't know if he was expecting me to explain this other person I knew, "You are a popular one tonight."

            "Not really. It's just people I know because of other people." I smiled, a whole new kind of heat racing to my cheeks, "Joe served with my dad. He lost his vision fighting in the war and ever since they came back, he was just part of the family. When he comes in and I'm here, I pay for his drinks."

            "You can't keep doing that." He shook his head.

            A crooked grin pulled at my lips, "Doing what?"

            "Being a good person."

            "I can't help it...It's who I am."

            "It's who you are." We both stopped and turned to each other. He stared at me and then his eyes moved down, "A dangerous trait to have. People could really fall for something like that."

            "Would that really be so bad?" I breathed.

            Lucas leaned away and grabbed his drink, swirling it around before setting it back down, "I don't understand..." He stared into his fifth beer of the night, "Why do you waste your time on someone like me?"

            "Hey," I planted a hand firmly on his arm and he looked down at it, "what? I don't waste time on anyone, especially you. If I didn't want to talk to you or be around you, I wouldn't. It's as simple as that." His eyes moved up my arm before landing on mine.

            His face fell, "I've made so many mistakes in my life."

            "Like we all haven't?" I smiled, removing my hand and downing the rest of my drink, "What kind of mistakes have you made that are so absolutely terrible?"

            "I'd rather not talk about it."

            "Well, at least tell me this," I rested my elbow on the bar and twisted in my seat to face him, "have you ever committed a heinous crime?"

            He laughed, "What?"

            "You know," I giggled, planting my chin in my palm, "things like armed robbery... murder?"

            Thinking about it for a minute, he looked down and smiled, "Well, no."

            "Then honestly, how bad could they really be?"

            He downed the last of his drink in a single go, "The thing is, you're absolutely gorgeous. I don't understand how you can't see that. But it's not just your appearance. You have this kind heart and amazing sense of humor. And you look at me like maybe there's something here to actually look at, when you could have anyone, you want with the snap of your fingers. I mean, people look when you enter a room and you don't even notice."

            I shrugged; my head was far too clouded to be having this conversation. Especially when I couldn't actually think before I spoke, "How could I? I'm always far too busy noticing you."

            "I've called both of you a taxi," Taylor's voice echoed in my ear. The two of us glanced over for a moment before speaking a thank you. It was as if we'd both just now came to the conclusion that someone else noticed us and for a moment, we just took each other in.

            Panic rose in my throat and I couldn't speak anymore. I stood and stumbled toward, all those drinks I downed as we talked rushed to my head. Lucas grabbed my arm and stood with me, trying to stop me, but he closed his eyes for a second and had to grab the edge of the bar with the other.

            I rested my forehead on his chest and started laughing. His arms wrapped around me and he joined in.

            "I'm sorry." I stepped back and he dropped his arms quickly. Still, we laughed to ourselves. I waved back to Taylor as we made our way outside.

            "I had—" more giggles erupted through me. My hand grabbed his arm and I leaned in, trying to balance myself the best I could, but I still wobbled. Giggling, my other hand found his arm as well, "—A great time."

            His mouth turned into one of those easy smiles he hid so incredibly well from the outside world, "I'm glad."

            "How lucky," my eye wandered every detail of his face, "I am that you showed up." I never wanted to let his arm go. My gaze dropped to his lips and I stepped forward. Moving back, he placed a hand on mine. I watched his eyes move down before slowly coming back up.

            "You should get some sleep." He tilted his head to the side, his smile never leaving his face. I could look at the simple smile for the rest of my life.

            I poked him in the chest, "You too."

            I turned and went to walk away, but his hand grabbed my wrist. He pulled me back and spun me to face him. His hand rested on my cheek and I leaned into it. They were warm and rough and gentle all at the same time. I could feel the scar on his fingers and palm from where he'd once had stitches.

            I looked up at him, but his eyes were already glued to me, "You were right." I mumbled.

            "I don't care anymore," he moved closer, his face an inch from mine. I couldn't tell anymore whether it was the alcohol making my head spin or if it was his touch.

            His other hand came up to cup my face and his eyes finally moved back up to meet mine. His voice was so soft I almost missed the question entirely, "Can I kiss you?"

            "You can always kiss me, Lucas."

            I barely saw him move when my eyes closed and next thing I knew, he kissed me. It was a brief touching of lips, barely even a kiss at all. As he backed away my brain tried to catch up with the rest of me.

            My eyes remained closed, but I still managed to smile. I opened them to find Lucas looking at me, his thumb slowly brushing against my cheek, "So can you." He grinned, "Kiss me that is."

            He turned to get into his cab, but I grabbed his arm. Taking the tie around his neck, I pulled him back to me and into an urgent kiss.

            Something shattered between the two of us at that moment. I wanted him as close to me as I could possibly get and even then, there was too much space between us. My hands ran through his hair. They couldn't seem to figure out where to rest but finally settled on clutching the collar of his shirt.

            He slipped his arms around my waist and lifted me, spinning me around to my back pushed against the cab, attempting to help me stand on increasingly unsteady legs. As we kissed, I felt his beard graze my cheeks and his ever-roaming hands brushed against my lower back before continuing on their journey. I felt him everywhere all at once and my head kept spinning, but I would be damned before I let this stop.

            His hand swept down my side and found a sliver of exposed skin to explore. Fire raced up my body when his hand slid along my side, grazing the waist of my pants and my breath caught in my throat. A flash of white-hot energy zipped through my entire body and I couldn't think of anything, but the feeling of his hands and his mouth. He gripped the top of my jeans and pulled me in.

            I hummed and he deepened the kiss. His hands moved up to my hair. Grabbing the hair tie, he slowly pulled it out. Red curls fell down my back. He dug his fingers into the mess of hair.

            I couldn't hold it back any longer. I laughed into him and I could feel the vibration of it radiate through us both. He smiled into the kiss and toyed with the bottom of my shirt, lifting it up the smallest amount. The night air swept across the exposed skin and a shiver ran through me.

            A horn made us both jump and break apart; breathless and panting. The world came crashing back down on me, the bright colors of the lights and noises of the town suddenly coming into focus, and one incredibly annoyed cab driver.

            Lucas asked the driver to give him one more minute. He moved to whisper in my ear, his beard grazing the side of my cheek. His breath was warm on my neck. It made me want to melt into his arms, "I love you. Get home safe, okay?"