Just a few seconds later, Rafe Montez followed behind Tuffy. He took over for Tuffy as DJ, and frankly was far better. He was quiet and kept to himself, and even though he’d worked at the Red for nearly a year, I didn’t know much about him other than that he never missed a night of work.
“Holy shit the bed, Cami! Debra Tillman told my mom that you were at Chicken Joe’s with Trenton Maddox!” Blia said.
Jorie’s bleached curls flipped from one shoulder to the other when she looked over at me. “Seriously?”
“I was coerced. He showed up at my apartment with a little girl. He told her she could go to Chicken Joe’s as soon as I got ready.”
“That’s kind of sweet.” Blia brushed her long black hair off her shoulder and smiled, making her beautiful almond-shaped eyes turn into thin slits. She was barely five foot two and always wore sky-high shoes to make up for being vertically challenged. Today she wore inches-thick wedges with white skinny jeans and a floral top that scrunched at her midriff and fell off one shoulder. With her beauty-queen smile and flawless saffron skin, I always thought she was destined to be famous rather than waste her time behind the front beer kiosk, but she didn’t seem interested.
Jorie frowned. “Does T.J. know?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that . . . awkward?” Jorie asked.
I shrugged. “T.J. didn’t seem fazed.”
Hank looked past me and smiled, and I turned around to see Raegan and Kody walk in. Raegan was walking quickly, searching in her purse for something, and Kody was a few steps behind, trying to keep up.
Raegan sat down on a stool, and Kody stood next to her. “I can’t find my damn keys. I’ve looked for them everywhere!”
I leaned forward. “Seriously?” Our apartment keys were on that key ring.
“I’ll find them,” Raegan assured me. She lost her keys at least twice a month, so I wasn’t going to stress over it too much, but I always wondered if the next time would be the time that we would have to pay to change the locks.
“I’m going to glue those damn things to your hand, Ray,” I said.
Kody gave Raegan’s shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “She had them last night. They’re either in my truck or in the apartment. We’ll look again later.”
The side door shut, and we all watched the door at the end of the hall to see the last of us, Chase Gruber, stroll in through the employee entrance in his typical attire. The six-foot-six college junior wore shorts year-round. In the winter he wore an ESU Bulldogs hoodie over the random T-shirt, but his short, curly hair was always covered by either a helmet or his favorite red baseball cap. His laces were untied, and he looked like he just rolled out of bed.
Blia’s face lit up. “Radtastic, it’s Gruber!”
Gruber didn’t crack a smile or remove his sunglasses.
“Rough day, Booby?” Kody said with a smirk.
All of the football guys called each other by their last names. To be honest, I wasn’t convinced they knew each other’s first names. Gruber was quickly nicknamed Gruby during practice, and sometime after Gruber started at the Red, Kody began calling him Booby. It was funny last year, but the name had lost its shine, for Gruber and for everyone else but Kody.
Gruber sat on the empty stool next to Blia with his elbows on the bar and his fingers intertwined. “Fuck off, Kody. Coach ran our asses off today because we lost last night.”
“Then don’t lose,” Tuffy said.
Kody chuckled.
“Eat my dick, quitter.”
Kody laughed once and shook his head. It was true. Kody did quit the football team before the season started, but that was because he blew out his knee at the end of the last game of his sophomore year. He suffered multiple ligament tears, one was shredded, and his kneecap was dislocated. I didn’t even know the kneecap could be dislocated, but the orthopedic surgeon said he would never play again. Raegan said he didn’t talk about it, but he seemed to be dealing with it well. As a true freshman, Kody had helped our little university win the national championship. Without him, the team was struggling.
The door shut again, and we all froze. It was too early for patrons, and unless someone followed Gruber, only employees knew to come in through the side entrance. We all sucked in a collective gasp when T.J. appeared. He was holding up a set of shiny keys.
“I went by the apartment. These were lying on the stairs.”
I jumped up from my stool and walked quickly over to him. T.J. took me into his arms and gave me a tight squeeze.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“I felt horrible.”
“That’s sweet, but what are you really doing here?”
T.J. sighed. “The job.”
“Here?” I said, pulling away from him to see his face. He was being truthful, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me more.
T.J. smiled, and then kissed the corner of my mouth. He tossed the keys to Kody, who effortlessly caught them.
Raegan laughed once. “On the stairs? Did they fall out of my hand or something?” she asked in disbelief.
Kody shrugged. “No telling, woman.”
T.J. leaned in to whisper into my ear. “I can’t stay. My plane leaves in an hour.”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment, but nodded. There was no point in protesting. “Did you do what you needed to do?”
“I think so.” T.J. took my hand, and nodded to the rest of the crew. “She’ll be right back.”