Beautiful Oblivion

CHAPTER NINE

AT THE HEIGHT OF THE RED’S FRIDAY NIGHT CROWD, Travis Maddox headed for his usual stool at my station, strutting across the bar like he always did: sexy, confident, and in command of the room. Shepley was with him, so was Shepley’s girlfriend, America, and another girl—the one who I assumed he had been talking about the weekend before: the Freshman. I let the guy sitting in his usual seat know he was coming. He and his friend scattered without protest.

Travis straddled his stool. He ordered a beer, drank half of it in a few swallows, and then turned to watch the dance floor. The Freshman was out there, dancing with America.

Three girls were standing behind Travis, hovering like groupies, waiting for him to turn around.

America and her friend returned, smiling and sweaty. The Freshman was a knockout, I’d give Travis that. She had that something special that one might expect from the girl who finally caught Travis Maddox’s attention, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. There was a certain confidence in her eyes. She knew something that no one else knew.

“It’s going to be like this all night, Mare. Just ignore them,” Shepley said.

America snarled, and glanced over at the three women who were staring at Travis and whispering among themselves. I wasn’t sure why America was so angry. They weren’t looking at Shepley.

“It looks like Vegas threw up on a flock on vultures,” America said.

Travis looked over his shoulder to see who America was talking about, and then turned back, chugging his beer. He lit a cigarette and puffed out a cloud of smoke. He looked at me and held up two fingers.

This should be interesting. I pulled two Bud Lights out of the cooler, popped the tops, and sat them in front of Travis.

One of the vultures picked one up, but Travis took it away from her. “Uh . . . not yours,” he said, handing it to the Freshman.

The corners on the Freshman’s mouth turned up just a tiny bit right before she chugged the beer for a few seconds.

“Can you make a—” Marty, Raegan’s regular, began. Raegan was on the other side of the bar, having an intense conversation with Kody.

“Yes,” I said, cutting him off. “Don’t worry, Marty. I’ll get you taken care of.” As I was pouring Marty’s particularly tricky Warninks Crème Egg Shooter, Travis and the Freshman were having a good time on the dance floor, making quite a scene. By the time Marty had finished his shot, Travis had already pissed her off, and she was storming away from him, toward the bar.

She offered me a half smile, and held up one finger. I pulled her a beer, popped the cap, and set it in front of her. She had sucked down more than half when Travis made it back to the bar. No wonder he was so unhappy about his feelings. The two of them were exhausting me, and I didn’t even know her name yet.

Megan, Travis’s tried-and-true Plan B, appeared next to him. “Well, if it isn’t Travis Maddox.”

Megan didn’t cause a lot of drama, but she wasn’t my favorite. In addition to Travis, she had a few other guys that she liked to chase around. But never when they wanted her, and never when they were single. She liked the challenge of taking a man away from his girlfriend, and women like that are the enemy of couples everywhere.

“What’s going on?” Raegan said softly.

Just then, Travis pulled Megan by the hand out to the dance floor, and they proceeded to dry fuck each other in front of God and everyone else.

“Oh, Travis,” I said, disappointed. “What the hell are you doing?”

Travis wasn’t gone five minutes before Ethan Coats swooped in and appropriated Travis’s stool. He leaned in, immediately turning on the charm. The Freshman appreciated the attention. I wouldn’t have blamed her, if the attention weren’t coming from Ethan.

“Oh, that’s not good. Get that slime away from her!” Raegan hissed.

We all knew what Ethan had done, and what he was capable of. We tried to police him while he was at the bar, but not all girls would heed our warnings.

I saw Travis walking back to the east bar, his eyes targeting Ethan.

“I don’t think I’ll have to,” I said.

Travis nearly stood in between them, and after a short exchange, Ethan was walking away with his tail tucked between his legs and Travis and the Freshman were on their way out, both seemingly on the verge of war.

Raegan smirked. “I think Travis Maddox has met his match.”

“I think you’re right,” I said.

A full hour from last call, and I was already ahead in tips for the night. Raegan was in a good mood, despite Kody walking by every so often and stopping just long enough for her to tell him she couldn’t talk.

I looked over to see Trenton take his cover charge change from Tuffy, and I gave him a nod and a smile. With the Maddox swagger no one could miss, he strolled over to the east bar and sat directly in front of me.

“Whiskey?” I asked.

“Water.”

“Water?” I asked, in disbelief.

“I told you. I’m trying to save money.”

“Water it is,” I said.

Trenton took a sip, and then sat the glass down, looking around. “I saw Travis yelling at some chick in the parking lot.”

“Oh? How did that turn out?”

“She yelled back. I don’t know who she is, but I kind of like her.”

“Me, too.”

Trenton stared at the ice floating in his glass. “It’s kind of weird. Watching him try to settle down.”

“You think that’s what he’s doing?”

“He’s talked to you about her, hasn’t he?”

I nodded.

“There you go.”

I watched him for a while. Something was off with him, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. “Anything you want to talk about?”

He pondered that for a moment. “Nah. There’s no point.” He took another sip of water. He glanced behind him and noticed someone standing at the pool tables. “I’m going to head over.”

“Okay,” I said. I shouldn’t have been disappointed that he didn’t seem all that interested in talking to me. Just a few weeks before, he’d come to the Red for drinks, to hang out with his brothers, or to find a piece of ass. But as he crossed the dance floor and picked up a pool stick, his arms flexing as he polished the tip with the cue, a weird feeling came over me.

“What’s up with him?” Raegan asked.

“I don’t know. Glad it’s not just me that noticed.”

“What’s up with you? You had a look on your face when he walked away. Did he say something?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I’m your best friend. I probably already know.”

“It’s hard to explain . . . I . . . just got this bizarre, sad feeling. Like Trent and I aren’t friends anymore.”

“Maybe it’s because you know that he finally believes you’re just friends.”

“Maybe. I mean no,” I said, backpedaling.

“I knew it, bitch. I don’t even know why you try.” She stood behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her chin on my shoulder.

We both watched as a couple of girls who had just arrived walked over to the west wall and hovered around Trenton’s pool table. The pair were obviously familiar with bleach in a box, but as much as I hated to admit it, they were both stunningly beautiful. Within twenty minutes, a third girl joined them. It wasn’t long before she had Trenton’s full attention, and he had her backed against the pool table. She was twirling one strand of her long, brown hair around her finger, laughing as if Trenton were the funniest person she’d ever met. Her cackling could be heard over the music.

“Christ on a cracker, I’m ready to go home,” Raegan said, turning to touch her temple to my shoulder.

“Me, too,” I said, watching Trenton lean closer to the girl’s face.

Even across the room, I could see she had supermodel lips and bedroom eyes. He was looking down at her, smiling. It was kind of revolting how close they were. I’d never seen her before, so she had probably come over from Southwestern State. It was likely that Trenton had never met her either, and less than half an hour later, they were inches apart.

Trenton put his hands on the pool table, and her ass was nestled tightly in between them. She leaned up to his ear and whispered.

Five minutes before last call, a rowdy crowd walked in and came to the east bar calling drinks, even though most of them had already had more than a few. As I began to get back into busy mode, I caught a glimpse of Trenton leading the girl outside by the hand. I instantly felt sick to my stomach.

“You okay?” Raegan called to me, popping the top off several beers at the same time.

“Fine,” I said. I wasn’t sure if she could hear me, but it didn’t matter. She knew the truth.