Never by Ellery Rhodes

most sagely, patronizing voice I’d ever heard. He grabbed the soda wand and poured some liquid in a small glass and pushed it across the bar towards me. “Water. Trust me, you’ll thank me in the morning.”
    “I don’t even want to remember your face in the morning,” I growled. I pulled out my wallet and leafed through the billfold, head fuzzing already. “How about you replace that with some vodka and we’ll pretend it’s H20?”
    The bartender didn't budge. “Hit me back up in a little bit, alright?”
    He turned to go, but I slammed my fist on the bartop, rattling the drinks around me. “Is my money no good here?” I pulled out another twenty, my voice darkening. “How about you grab that bottle back there—”
    “How about we grab a smoke?” Black interrupted, cutting through the tension as he slid up beside me.
    I looked away, ready to tell him to go to hell, but I realized his interjection was less about us lighting up and more about helping the bartender make a clean getaway. By the time I turned back around, the bartender was gone.
    I hurled my animosity at Blake. “No, I don’t want a fucking cigarette. I’m here to get loaded.”
    Blake’s eyes flashed before he rolled them with disgust. “We could have done that back at the house, where you weren’t a shot away from hulking out on some guy who’s just doing his job.”
    “What I need is another drink—”
    “That’s a last thing you need, man.”
    “Why do you care?” I spat. “I could be passed out on the floor, choking on my vomit, and you’d still be chasing ass.”
    Even with the flashing lights blinking all around us I saw the hurt ripple across his face before he turned back to the crowd. “You want an escape? This room is filled with them.”
    As if the girls could sense his eyes on their scantily clad bodies, four different girls glanced in our direction, every one of them suddenly dancing like they were giving us a private show. One was a leggy blond who was running her hands up and down her body. Another was biting her thumb as she rocked side to side, brown curls gyrating. The third and fourth were rubbing their bodies against each other, one pale with cropped jet black hair and big green eyes and the other with waist length jet black hair. Both had thin, athletic physiques and when one beckoned us with a finger, I knew they were ready to show us just how athletic.
    I tore my eyes from them and wheeled back to the bar, shutting that option down.
    Blake let out a grunt of approval. He was definitely going for the duo. “They’re perfect. One for you, one for me.”
    “There’s not enough liquor in the world to get me to hook up with any of them.”
    “Okay,” he sighed, not deterred. He backed up beside me, elbows on the bar like he was making himself at home. “Well if not them, how about the redhead at five o'clock?”
    I focused on the bottle of Smirnoff glittering in my direction. “What don’t you understand about what I just said?”
    He didn’t respond, but I could tell he was looking at me and as much as I just wanted to ignore him and buddy up to the bartender, I flicked my eyes to him. He was staring at me like I was a complete stranger.
    “I don’t understand how you got so mindfucked over some girl.”
    I could have snapped at him, explained that Juliet was far from ‘some girl’, but there was no point. Trying to get him to understand that there was only one girl I wanted would have been like trying to have a conversation with my empty shot glass—pointless and it just made me look crazy.
    “Well, while you menstruate, I’m gonna go have enough fun for the both of us.”
    I let him go, trying to figure out a way to reach across the bar and help myself since the bartender was suddenly my AA sponsor.
    A cocktail glass garnished with a pineapple and cherry slid in from my right, stopping in front of me.
    “This one’s on me.”
    My throat constricted as I balled my fists.
    Candi.
    I didn’t