The Winner Takes It All (Love in L.A. Book 3) (13 page)

The next thing she knew, she was existing stage right and following the stage manager back to a secondary green room for the performers who’d already finished. Casey was sitting there when she opened the door to the room, but he popped up and moved quickly to sweep her up in a hug as soon as he saw her enter the room.

“That was so good, princess,” he gushed as he kissed her soundly. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Thank you! I thought I did pretty good, too, and oh my God, did it feel incredible. The rush was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I just want to do it again and again and again. I’d go back out there right now if I could and just keep singing forever.”

“That’s because that’s where you were born to be. On the stage.”

“Seems like it,” she agreed happily. “How’d your performance go?”

“It went better than I expected. I knew we had it down, and I wasn’t really worried about us nailing it, but it still felt great to know we did it even cleaner and more precise than I could have hoped for.”

“Yay, I’m so glad to hear that, babe. You know, in spite of all the craziness that’s happened to us since we’ve been here, I’m still happy I got to experience all of this with you.” Annie tilted her head back and kissed him soundly.

“Likewise. You ready to go celebrate?”

“Totally. What do you have in mind?”

“The guys want to hit up this bar called Halo. You up for it?”

“Of course. Is it okay if I invite Erin?”

“Sure. Maybe you can find her another guy to take her mind off of that other dude.”

Annie nodded. “I know—that’s what I am hoping for. She’s such a sweet girl. She deserves a nice guy who is going to appreciate everything she has to offer. She doesn’t need that jerkface.”

“Hey, Annie. Great job out there! You’ve got quite a set of pipes on you,” Chris said as he came up to them, giving Annie a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Aw, thanks, Chris. I heard that you guys knocked it out of the park again. Congratulations!”

“Yeah, tonight was dope. Our shit was so tight! Like we are always on our game, but tonight, everything just flowed so perfectly, it was like we were all the same person.”

“Pure Flow,” Annie said emphatically, making Casey and Chris both smile and nod.

“You know it, girl,” Chris said with a wink. “You coming with us to Halo?”

“Definitely, and I’m going to see if Erin want to comes with us, too.”

“Rock on. More the merrier. You guys down for shots of Fireball?”

“What’s Fireball?” Annie asked with a raised eyebrow. “It sounds dangerous.”

Chris shook his head and laughed. “Nah, it’s whisky, but it tastes just like a red hot—you know, the cinnamon candy.”

Annie looked at him skeptically. “I’m so not a whisky girl.”

“You don’t have to be with this, I swear. It goes down real smooth. Do you like cinnamon?”

“Yeah.”

“Just trust me then. You have to try it.”

“It’s good, babe. I’ve had it before. Just don’t mix it with wine, and if you’re going to mix it with beer, I’d do it with a Stella Cidre.”

“Okay, okay. Enough with the peer pressure already. I’ll try it.”

Chris and Casey both hooted their approval, and Chris even did a little fist pump for her. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Fireball shots all around!”

Once all of the contestants that had been slated for the first night finished their performances, they were finally released for the evening. Annie went up to her room to shower and freshen up. Casey told her to go ahead and eat something light so she wouldn’t be drinking on an empty stomach, so she ordered a Caesar salad from room service and picked over it as she got ready to leave.

They all decided to take an Uber SUV to the bar, and when they arrived, Halo was already packed. Once they got inside, Casey grabbed Annie’s hand and started leading her through the crowd. She reached back for Erin’s hand and held on tight, pulling her friend along through the crowd until they reached the bar. They waited a minute for the other dancers to join them, then Chris started ordering a round of Fireball shots for everyone.

Once everyone had their shot in hand, Casey proposed a toast first to Pure Flow, then to Annie, and then to Erin, for doing what they’d set out to do, giving their all and leaving it on the stage. They all cheered and then threw back their shot glasses in unison.

“Woo!” Annie exclaimed as she slammed her shot glass back down.

“Yeah? You like that?” Chris teased as he grinned at her.

“Yeah, not bad. You’re right. It tastes just like a red hot.”

“Told ya! You ready for another?”

Annie glanced at Casey who just smiled back at her, so she turned back to Chris and nodded. “Bring it on!”

As they waited for the bartender to pour their next round, Annie congratulated some of the other crew members on their performance. The bartender asked what she was congratulating them for, so she explained about the talent competition they were all part of.

“Oh, that’s fuckin’ awesome. Congrats to all of you! Tell you what. This round’s on me.”

“No way! Seriously?” Chris exclaimed in surprise.

“Are you sure that’s okay? Do you need to clear it with your boss first or anything? We don’t want to get you into trouble,” Annie protested. “Hi, I’m Annie, by the way, and this is my boyfriend, Casey. His dance crew is competing as well as myself and Erin, but Erin and I are both solo artists.”

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Avery, and I co-own this bar. So yeah, no sweat, guys. This round’s on the house. Just tell all your friends to check out our bar sometime while they’re in town for the show.”

“Oh for sure,” Annie agreed. “I’m not even a huge fan of bars, but I really love this place. Cool name, too!”

“Thanks, glad you like it. Well, let me know if I can get you anything else.”

“Um yeah, we’ll do this one, and then one more round.”

“You got it, princess,” Avery said with another wink, then started pouring out another round for them.

Annie giggled as Casey frowned at their bartender, who was already busy passing out the next round to everyone. Elbowing him, she teased, “Don’t be jelly because another guy used your nickname for me.”

“It’s
my
nickname for you,
princess
. That’s the whole point,” he growled into her ear, making her giggle.

“The man gave us free Fireball, sir. He can call me whatever he wants,” she said with a teasing smile.

“Is that all it takes?” he asked, smirking at her. “What will you do for
me
if I buy you a shot of Fireball?”

“Why don’t you buy me one and find out?” she suggested as she looked up at him, fluttering her eyelashes provocatively.

Casey immediately turned to flag Avery down, ordering double shots of Fireball for both Annie and himself. She laughed when he handed a glass to her, then clinked it against his and made the motion for “bottoms up” with her free hand. Taking a quick deep breath, she threw back the double shot, then gave a quick shake of her head.

“Whew, baby! Yeah!” she exclaimed, slapping the counter twice with the palm of her hand. “Okay. Bar dancing time!”

Before she could rethink her own actions, Annie hoisted herself up onto the bar and carefully stood as one of her favorite drinking songs,
Get Low
by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, began to play. When she glanced down at Casey’s face, she couldn’t help laughing. He looked shocked that she was up dancing on the bar.

Cupping her hands, she yelled for Erin, finally getting her friend’s attention after repeatedly yelling her name a few times. When Erin looked up, her eyes widening, Annie motioned for her to join her on the bar. At first Erin shook her head vehemently and mouthed, “No fucking way,” to Annie, but Casey helpfully pushed another double shot of Fireball into her hand. Erin gave him a withering look, then shrugged and rolled her eyes before taking the shot glass from him and tossing it back. In another minute, she was climbing onto the bar herself.

Annie glanced over at Avery, curious as to what the bar owner’s reaction would be. To her relief, he was grinning from ear to ear, his approval plain to see. When his eyes met hers, he winked and nodded his head as if to say, “Alrighty then, chick. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

So show them she did. She shimmied and popped and grinded up against Erin and gave the bar quite a show. All of Casey’s crew was plastered up against the bar, waving dollar bills as they cheered and egged them on. They were quickly joined by the other patrons of the bar, both male and female alike, and in a matter of several seconds, the entire bar was singing and dancing along to
Get Low
. Annie and Erin pointed at each other and sang the chorus together, leading the bar through the popular dance moves.

When the song morphed into
California Love
by Tupac, the southern Californians in the New York City bar went crazy, cheering loudly. Annie crouched down and hopped off the bar, quickly followed by Erin.

“That was fun!” Erin gushed as she panted, trying to catch her breath.

Annie gratefully accepted the two cups of ice water that Avery offered her, turning to hand one to Erin as she drank hers at the same time. “So fun!” was all she managed to get out before a hunky blond guy with warm hazel eyes, who was wearing black jeans and a black button-down shirt with rolled up sleeves, sidled up to Erin and introduced himself. Shutting up, Annie finished drinking her water as she listened avidly to their conversation.

“Hey,” was all he said out loud at first, but Annie could clearly see that he was undressing Erin with his eyes as she spoke to her. Considering that he looked like something out straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, she was betting that Erin didn’t mind at all.

“Hey,” Erin said nonchalantly, but her eyes were doing the exact same thing to him.

“What’s your name?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Erin. What’s yours?”

“Traver.”

“Do you come here often?”

Glancing around the bar and then back at Erin, Traver grinned. “Well, yeah. I just started working here kind of recently, so I’ve been spending a good chunk of my time here.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Are you one of the bartenders?”

“Yep. About to relieve my boss from duty, but I still have a few minutes. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Um, sure, if you’d like.”

Traver reached for the empty shot glass that was sitting on the bar next to her hand. He sniffed the glass quickly before setting it back down. “Another shot of Fireball for you?”

“Know your liquor, do you?”

He grinned at her. “Hard to miss that scent.”

“Sure, I’ll take another shot. Can you have one with me, or is that against the rules?”

Traver turned toward the bar and quirked a questioning eyebrow at Avery, who answered by setting out three shot glasses and pouring Fireball into them. Then he nudged two of the glasses towards Traver and Erin and picked up the third glass, raising it to cheer with them.

“Does that answer your question?” Traver asked wryly before tossing back his shot.

“You have a cool boss.”

“Oh, I know it. Both of the guys who own this place are pretty awesome bosses, all in all. I consider myself fortunate to be working for them. They’re fair and pay good money. So what brings you to Halo tonight? You out celebrating or just unwinding after a long day at the office?”

“We’re actually here celebrating the success of our first live recorded show… it’s for this talent competition we’re all in. Tomorrow night is the results show, but we’re partying it up tonight. I think we’re all feeling pretty good about the way the results show will go.”

“That’s awesome. Do you live here, or are you only in town for the show?”

“I’m just here for the show, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be here. It could be weeks, or I could be gone tomorrow. You never know how the audience will vote.”

“Well, here. I’m going to give you my number. If you feel like doing something fun and spontaneous sometime, give me a buzz. For now, I gotta get to work before my boss gets upset. He’s cool, but I don’t like to push my luck. May I?” Traver asked, pointing at her iPhone.

Glancing down at her phone and then back up at him again, she nodded. “Oh yeah, sure. Go for it,” she said, handing it over to him. It only took him a couple of minutes to input his name and number into her contacts, then he handed the phone back to her and winked. “Bye for now, Erin. I hope we get to hang out soon.”

As he turned to walk away, disappearing behind an Employee Only door, Annie smacked Erin’s arm. “Shut the front door. Oh. My. God.”

“Christ on a cracker,” Erin practically shrieked. “Did a gorgeous man just come up to me out of nowhere and put his name and number in my phone? Did that shit really just really happen?”

“Did you really just say ‘Christ on a cracker’?”

“Shut it. Focus, lady. Hot bartender just gave me his digits. What the hell am I supposed to do next?”

“Well, play it cool obviously. If you look too interested, he’s going to lose interest fast. You have to keep things interesting and play a little hard to get.”

“That’s just it. I don’t have time for playing games right now.”

“Doesn’t matter, trust me. You have to play the game. Everybody does, so you have to, too.”

Erin sighed and grumbled under her breath. “Fine, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”