Page 38 of Crow
“Did you guys just get here?” Regina asked as she sat back down on the chair.
“About twenty minutes ago. The place is packed tonight,” she replied.
“It’s usually like this on a Saturday night,” Vinny said.
“I’m glad we found each other. Joey and I were at the bar, but there were just too many people.” Angie took a sip of her drink, loving the way the sweetness of the cranberry mixed with the grainy flavor of the vodka.
Soon, another couple—Carla and Mario—joined their table. Carla was a friend of Regina’s and Mario was Vinny’s buddy. He actually hooked the two of them up, and they’d been a couple for the past six months. Angie had gone out with Regina and Carla a few times before, but she’d never met Mario even though Carla talked about him a lot when the three women would go out to dinner or for a drink.
A huge grin spread across Joey’s face when the couple sat down, and he bumped fists with Mario.
“You know each other?” Angie asked.
“We played football together in high school. I know Carla too. She went to the same school as my sister.”
“I keep forgetting how it is in small towns. When I lived in Denver, I rarely bumped into anyone I knew.”
“Yeah—Alina is a pretty tight-knit community, but it’s big enough where you don’t know everyone like they do in Tula. A buddy of mine recently moved there, and everyone knows his business.” Joey chuckled. “He hates it.”
Smiling, Angie glanced over at the dance floor and saw the woman from the bar swaying to Def Leppard’s “Love Bites” with her arms circled around her partner’s neck.
Angie giggled to herself.I guess she found her man.The woman’s name was on the tip of her tongue.Coco! That’s it.
A toothy grin spread across Coco’s face as her bleary eyes met Angie’s. She pressed closer to her partner and said something in his ear. He spun her around, and Angie’s heart skipped a beat as her eyes locked with his.
Crow.A knot formed in the pit of her stomach—for no good reason—when she realized that he was Coco’s “man.” Looking away, she picked up her glass and drained it.
“Do you want another one?” Vinny asked as he stood up. “I’m going to the bar.”
“Sure,” Angie said, surprise at seeing Crow still reverberated through her. “It’s a vodka cran.”
“What’s wrong?” Regina asked. “You look upset and pissed.”
“He’s here.”
“Who?” Then Regina’s eyes widened. “You mean, Crow?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I admit it’s getting a bit weird, but why are you upset about it?”
“He’s with another woman.”Again.
“Well, we’re at a bar, and you guys aren’t dating or anything, right?”
“No, of course not. It’s just that I’m getting sick of seeing him everywhere I go.” Okay, that was a lie, but she couldn’t tell Regina how seeing Crow with the blonde tore her up inside. Angie knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help the bitterness coursing through her.
Regina laughed. “I don’t think you’re going to change that unless you move away. High Dive’s a popular bar, and I’ve seen a lot of the guys from the Night Rebels in here.”
“You’re right.”Where the hell is Vinny with that drink?
“Did you see that drunk woman from the bar on the dance floor?” Joey asked, laughing. “She was so bombed that the poor guy dancing with her had to practically carry her off.”
Suddenly, the room seemed too hot and crowded—the music too loud.
“I need a breath of fresh air.” Angie pushed back her chair and grabbed her jacket. “I’ll be back in a few.”
Weaving her way through the crowds, she bumped into Vinny, who handed her the drink before ambling back to the table. Gripping the glass in one hand, Angie folded her jacket over her arm and pushed open the front door with the other, welcoming the chilly air that swept over her as she stepped outside. She placed her drink down to put on her jacket, picked it up off the concrete, then leaned against the brick wall and sipped it.
