Unpredictable Love

Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Karleigh's POV

The familiar bartender smirks at me as I take a seat at the bar. "Jack and coke?" He casually asks and I nod.

"I never did catch your name." He adds, as he starts making my drink. My eyes follow the movements of his hands as he shakes and stirs my beverage.

Our eyes meet for a fraction of a second, before I look away. I'm unsure whether I'd like to tell him my name or not, but I've been into his bar several time so I guess he deserves an answer.

"Karleigh." I reply and he gives a small smile.

"Well Karleigh, you must be dealin' with some serious shit cause you sure are in here a lot." He jokes lightly with a smirk. The glare I direct towards him is not joking, if only he knew the shit I was going through.

The Jack and coke he prepared is slid in front of me and I chug it down within moments, a burning feeling being left behind in its tracks. He chuckles and slides me another glass along with two tequila shots.

"Need a drinking buddy?" He offers. I scan the bar and realize we're the only two inside. When I look up at him, his eyes are glued to my shots.

"Sure..." I mumble, sliding him my other tequila shot. We nod in unison, clinking our shot glasses together as we tilt our heads back and let the strong liquor burn our throats. I hiss in pleasure at the warm sensation the alcohol brings to my chest.

"What's your name?" I finally ask the bartender and he chuckles as if I'm missing out on some private joke. I raise my brows at him as if to ask him, what's so funny.

"My name's Tanner." He says, and I giggle. Considering the name of the bar is Tanner's, I don't know why I'd expect anything less. I face palm myself and we both laugh stupidly, probably from the alcohol.

Tanner passes me another drink, and I'm not quite sure what it is, but I don't hesitate to drink it without question. My eyes are starting to glaze over, and the familiar feeling of being heavily intoxicated flows through my body.

Guilt washes over me as I remember how I promised Harry I'd stop drinking.

Fuck Harry. He did this to you. My subconscious scolds me for feeling guilty and I decide to agree with her for once, probably because my judgement is impaired but I don't mind.

Tanner and I stay in the bar drinking together for who knows how long. He mixes us drink after drink and I happily slurp them down. His phone rings and he jumps, glancing over the screen.

"Oh...it's closing time." He drunkenly mumbles and I giggle. We both stand to our feet and I nearly topple over, luckily the bar was nearby for me to catch myself.

"ByeTanner!" I exclaim, my words slurring together. Patting my pockets, I find my cell phone and check the time. The screen is blurry and it takes me a moment for my eyes to settle in on the screen.

It's only 12:30am and I wonder why Tanner closed so early. It then dawns on me that it's Sunday and he closes earlier than 2am on Sundays.

My car lights shine bright as I unlock the car from my keychain. At this point I'm too drunk to realize I shouldn't be driving, and I hum as I back out of the parking lot. I slowly pull out of the lot and drive slow down the street. For a moment, I'm perfectly fine then I realize that I'm seeing two streets. I'm too drunk to worry, so I only luau at my drunken confusion. Which side should I be on? Maybe I'm on a two-way street...

Headlights flash straight ahead and a loud horn blares, startling me. I jerk my wheel, moving the car into the proper lane. My heart is pounding, but not for a second do I consider pulling over to call someone for help.