“You headin’ out?” he asks. I feel the teeth of the keys against my fingers. There’s no way I’m leaving, no matter how bad of an idea it is to flirt with Ray’s daughter. I know the line, but I won’t be able to get my mind straight if I don’t just straddle it a little tonight—get inside her head.

“In a bit. Let me just help out for a while, so I know you’ve got this handled. It’d make me feel better since you’re putting me up and all,” I smile at him, and hand him back his keys.

“Alright then, you can start mixing,” he says, pushing the keys in his pocket and going back to work. I pull a ticket and start mixing on the other end of the bar, but I keep my attention divided on Avery the entire time, just waiting for her to come over. She keeps heading to the corner of the restaurant area—probably to avoid me.

She’s almost in front of me when she locks onto my gaze, and spins around on her heels toward her dad. I’m not gonna lie, I take a good look when she leans over the bar to talk to Ray, and I’m half-tempted to race around to the other side of the bar to check out the view from behind. But something she says catches me off guard.

“Dad, you know he can’t stay with us! Max isn’t going to like it,” she protests, crossing her arms. Her dad waves his hand telling her to calm down, and she spins around and walks back to the corner. Who the hell is in that corner? And who’s Max? Shit, is she married?

Avery doesn’t return to this side of the bar for the next 20 minutes. I saw her hand her orders to another waitress to bring them over a few times, and she actually had her dad bring out some of the plates, just to avoid passing by me on her way to the kitchen. What the hell? It was just a boob grab, and it was a damned accident. If this girl was going to get that bent out of shape, then I don’t need to waste my time with fantasies.

“Pain in the ass,” I mumble under my breath, focusing once again on the drink orders.

“Hey, Cole. That’s Mason, go on in and relieve him,” Ray hollers, nodding in my direction. A big burly dude heads my way, pushing the sleeves up on his one-size-too-small black shirt. He must be the new bouncer. Hell, he’s big—with my luck, he’s Avery’s husband, or boyfriend or…whatever.

“Hey, man. Mason, nice to meet you,” I reach over to shake his hand, hoping like hell he doesn’t crush my fingers.

“Oh yeah, you, too. It’s funny, I feel kinda like I know you, the way Ray talks about you around here,” he smiles, shaking my hand and holding back—thank God!—then taking over on the next drink order. I’m a little surprised by his words, though I don’t know why. I know how Ray feels about me—like I’m his own son. There’s just something about hearing someone else say it.

The crowds are getting thick now, getting ready for the headliner. Back when I was in high school, Ray started pushing Thursday nights, and when I turned eighteen, I was one of his first performers. He fought like hell with the town council over his liquor license requirements when he put me on stage. But Ray’s got a lot of friends in high places in Cave Creek.

I can’t help but look over at Avery’s corner a few more times before I leave. Maybe it’s the challenge, but I just want her to give in once, to come over here before I leave. That way, I can ask her what crawled up her ass and why she cares if I stay at Ray’s house. Or maybe not, maybe she’ll just motivate me to hit the road sooner.

“You know her?” Cole says, leaning into me.

“What, Avery? Yeah…we went to high school together. She hung around the bar a lot when I was here, too,” I say, my eyes glued to her like a stupid tracking beam. I’m so weak.

Cole bends down to get something out of the mini fridge, and comes up with a small glass of chocolate milk. He puts it on a tray with a napkin and two straws and pushes it toward me.

“Thanks, man, but I’m not thirsty,” I laugh. Does he seriously think I’m lame enough to offer to split chocolate milk with some girl? I could go down the street right now to the next bar, and leave a half hour later with three chicks ready to ride me until I kick them out in the morning—and they wouldn’t care that I didn’t know their names. They never do.

Cole nudges me again and nods back in Avery’s direction. “Nah, man. It’s her order. Take it,” he winks.

Well, damn. I’ve been waiting for an in all night, and now that I’ve got one, my hands have turned to jelly, and my heart rate is keeping time with the band—pulsing out of my head.