Songbird

Two: Colt

After listening to Cora badger me about the same shit she always badgered me about, the last place I wanted to be was behind the bar she was hanging out at, but such was life, right? Couldn't really call out of an establishment I owned no matter how much I wanted to. Besides, it was six pm on a Wednesday. Not like we were real busy. At least at the moment. It was, however, karaoke night, so that was likely to change within the next couple of hours, and I was already dreading it. 

As I was stocking up the bar, I noticed my delightful sister in the back booth with the pretty brunette I had almost plowed over a few hours ago. I didn't know how they knew each other, and I honestly didn't care. Sure, she was a pretty girl, but in my experience, pretty girls were nothing but trouble, and trouble was something I just didn't need any more of. Ever. No matter how much some weird voice inside my head was telling me differently.

That topic was the exact thing Cora and I had been fighting about and fought about nearly once a week and would probably continue fighting about the rest of our lives. She wanted me to date, I wanted her to mind her business, she told me I was an asshole and I'd never find anyone if I didn't so much as try; I told her good, and yadda yadda, round and round, over and over again. Same shit, different day just like clockwork. I would've paid someone money to make her never bring up my love life, or lack thereof, ever again.

Didn't want one, didn't need one. End of.

"Who's the honey with your sister?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my daze and looked up to find my best friend Carter had suddenly appeared in front of me, leaning on the bar with his usual smug smile.

"You tellin' me you didn't notice?" he asked with a grin as he twirled the toothpick hanging out of the corner of his mouth with his fingers. 

I just rolled my eyes. "I don't know all of Cora's friends, Cart."

"She's new though...I ain't seen her round here before," Carter stated, turning and glancing back at my sister and her friend. I could already tell by the look in his eyes that he was going to be on the prowl tonight. "Something about her feels familiar though..."

"Why don't you go find out and leave me alone, huh?"

Carter turned back to face me and gave a taunting grin. "You are extra cheerful tonight, aren't ya, sweetheart?"

"Fuck off. It's been a long day."

"Aww, come on now. Tell Daddy what the problem is."

"The problem is the people in my life won't leave me the fuck alone," I snapped, giving him a hard, annoyed stare. "How's that for the problem?"

Carter just scoffed, obviously not a single bit fazed by my antics. "You really need to fucking get laid, man. You're all pent up and ragey. I think it would help."

"When isn't he ragey?"

This time I knew who the voice belonged to without even looking. "And here's another one, out to join the fun." I leaned against the counter and turned toward the voice. "C'mon then. You got something you wanna add?"

"What's your problem tonight, Colt?" tonight's other bartender, Nina, asked giving me her sultry smile. The woman had been trying to sleep with me since we hired her. Or maybe she was joking. I was terrible at picking up signals, but either way, I had yet to accept. Not that she wasn't attractive, she was, but like I said: women equals trouble. I had enough going on in my life with the bar, and my kid who was almost a teenager, plus the band... I didn't need any distractions. I didn't WANT any distractions. And Nina Larsen would definitely be a distraction. She wasn't exactly my type anyway. She was a little rougher around the edges than I preferred, and a good ten years older than I was, plus I was her boss. It was a whole ball of 'not gonna happen.'