Play Me That Song

27

I turn back around in my stool, unable to stand the way this girl clings to Beau. I want to storm over there and rip her hand off his arm since they both seem incapable of doing that, but I feel like I don’t have the right. I close my eyes and swallow hard. I can’t get jealous of him flirting with some girl he used to go out with when I keep insisting that we aren’t dating. Technically, he's free to do what he wants.

“Hey, Kenz,” Luke calls out. He waits until I open my eyes again. “You know it’s not like that, don’t you? You know he thinks that bitch is annoying. What?” He asks Emma when she smacks his arm. “She is,” he grumbles, lifting his beer up to take a drink.

“It’s fine. What’s a girl gotta do around here to get a beer?” I ask. I stand up on the bottom rungs of the stool to try to spot the waitress, but that task is almost impossible in this crowd. Beau finally looks my way. I guess at this height I'm hard to miss. He smiles and waves at me, making me feel slightly silly for being jealous. Slightly. He says something to blondie and moves to step away, but she puts her hand on his arm again to stop him. I sit down on my stool with a huff when she leans in way too close to tell him something. Luke cuts his eyes over at me. “I said it’s fine.”

“Fuckin’ amateurs, I swear,” Brantley grumbles from the other side of Luke. Before we knew it, he heads towards Beau and Blondie. “Hey, man,” he says, laying a ringed hand on his shoulder. “How ‘bout you come have a drink with your friends before you go on?”

Beau's face visibly relaxes. “Yeah man, thanks.”

BG pulls Beau away from blondie, who is now starting to visibly pout. “Alright, cool, well we’ll see ya later then Becky.”

“It’s Bethany,” she wines.

“My bad, Brittney,” BG calls over his shoulder as he continues to push Beau our way.

“Damnit, y’all, is BG the only friend I have left?” Beau askes once he reaches the table. “The rest of y’all were just gonna let me suffer over there?”

“Didn’t much look like you were sufferin’ Beau,” Emma says beside me.

“It’s called bein’ nice to people, Emma. You should try it sometime,” he retorts.

“Bite me,” she sneers.

Beau bites the air in front of him, making Emma roll her eyes and the rest of us laugh. The waitress finally appears with a tray full of beers, which interrupts all conversations while everyone clamors for a refill. “Hold on, hold on!” Caroline calls out. “Damn y’all are like animals sometimes. Sorry about them,” she says to the waitress while slipping her a tip. Caroline cuts her eyes at the guys, making them all apologize sheepishly.

“Y’all better save one of those for me!” Chase calls from the stage. “Alright, that’s all I got.” The fangirls whine at the announcement. “I’m going to grab a drink before my friends dry the place, but don’t worry, my buddy Beau will be up here in a moment to keep y’all entertained.”

Chase jumps off the front of the stage and strides over to the table where he graciously accepts a beer from Luke. He smiles as everyone jostles him and congratulates him on his set. Beau slides past the others to stand behind my stool. He puts his arm around my waist and leans in to whisper in my ear.

“That outfit looks even better in person.”

“Really?” He nods, his nose brushing against my neck with each movement. “You don’t think I should have worn…oh I don’t know…cowboy boots with it? Or a tied up flannel?” I ask with a grin, referencing pieces of Bethany’s cliche outfit.