Urban Fantasy
Chapter 4- Welcome to the Tinderbox
"Tinderbox?" Devin asked, looking at the neon yellow sign hanging off the side of the bar Justin was pointing at. It was a two story building made of fresh brown bricks, a 20ft section of the wall facing the street was made of mesh glass security door that rolled up into the ceiling, allowing people eat at the fenced off tables outside. "Its not the worst name for a bar I've ever heard."
"Well I'm curious." Justin eyed him.
"The place." Devin eyed Justin right back. "Ohhhhhh."
"Didn't even try." Justin shook his head. "My worst, the money shot! And yeah, they had the exclamation point in there."
"H-ha. Knew this place, old hole in the wall down by 3rd. They had the best ranch in town." Devin stopped, adding suspense. "Good &*%$."
"That joint must've really wanted shock laughs. It worked. Good on them. Swarma my Kabobs." Devin could only eye Justin again before the personal trainer shrugged. "It was the only one I could think of."
"Its cool." Devin shrugged back. "Bourbon and bucket."
"Damn." Justin cursed. "That is better."
"Tinderbox is right up there. I can only guess how the bar got its name." Devin smiled, pointing up at the glowing sign. "If you're here to meet someone I'm not going to be your chauffeur."
"Not like that." Justin answered. "Its lumberjack themed, they still haul the stuff down the lakes and rivers."
"You took us to a lumberjack bar?" Devinr raised an eyebrow at the personal trainer.
"Nah-ah. I only go to places where people actually shower. No." Justin shook his head as they walked inside. "But its got great BBQ, Karaoke, and cheap meters... but yeah. People do hook up here on the app."
The inside wasn't all that different from the exterior. Matching exposed brick, rows of booths decorated to look like they were built out of logs with beige cushions, TV's at opposite ends of the bar. The place was filled with people who look like they just hit the age to drink. At the far end of it all was a short stage, an empty piano on one side and a Karaoke machine on the other. There was a skinny guy in an old lord of the rings T-shirt on the stage. His singing was so bad Devin couldn't tell what song was playing, even as the lyrics scrolled down the screen. Surprisingly enough the guy actually had a crowd.
After getting to the actual bar and making their orders, Justin... Look, its been on TV for years now. That one wacky character in sitcoms that when they go into bars they immediately try picking up girls. Hit or miss, the results are always funny. But its one thing to see it on a screen and other to see it in real life. Once you know what you're looking at, its all kinds of hilarious. The antics are about as effective as you'd think. Some girls just stood there, some walked away, some actually gave him their numbers for the sheer novelty of his antics. He was confident throughout all of it and all of it was funny. Having a perfect tan and a personal trainer's body probably didn't hurt.
Justin tried to have Devin included in his hijinks but he quickly talked his way out of it to sit back and watch the shenanigans for the sheer entertainment. Which was better than anything they were showing on the TV's. Funny enough, neither roommate paid for a single drink the whole night. Devin was pretty sure Justin would find a way to stick him as the driver anyway, so he steered clear. As for Justin himself, well his latest stunt spoke for itself.
"I swear man, you're a much better showman than I'll ever be." Devin joked, eating some of his nachos as Justin walked over to him. His shirt practically soaked from the latest drink dumped on him. Though Devin guessed the real reason she did it was to get Justin's shirt wet. "So, you think they'll finally kick you out of the wet T-shirt contest?"
"Meh." Justin shrugged. "The only time I was kicked out of a bar was when I pissed off a jealous girlfriend. Girl knew kickboxing, I shit you not."
"I would'ah loved to see that." Devin nodded as he ate another nacho. As he did, Justin pulled out another matching olive V-neck from his fanny pack and changed right there at the bar. Which got the personal trainer a number of looks from the girls, and a few of the guys. Justin himself just ignored them as he slipped the wet shirt into the fanny pack. "That's your whole shtick isn't it. The walking cat-nip thing."
"Ha. Hey, I'll take some nacho's too man." Justin said to the bartender, who nodded and hung up an order. "The 'class clown' act? Its about getting a good feel for the girls. For me its the best way to spot red flags. You wanna shuffle out the clingy or mean types."
"The girls last night were a wee bit clingy." Devin leaned back on the bar.
"Y-yeah." Justin nodded reluctantly. "You saw those two right? I thought it was worth it."
"Well, thanks for the free dinner and show." Devin raised up his glass of coke. "I didn't think tonight would be this fun."
Just as Justin was about to raise his beer for Devin's toast the bartender slid a drink between them both and nodded to the girl a few booth's down. Turing over to the seat- Devin had to stop himself from doing a double take. She had beautifully shiny blond hair rolling straight down her back. A healthy tan that complimented her smooth skin. The girl wore a bright red shirt that showed off her considerable chest along with a bright orange skirt that did nothing to cover her long curvy legs. Oh, and a pair of brown cowboy boots. The girl waved a hand at them as she held her own drink in the other. The girl looked like she belonged on the nose of a world war two bomber.
"So," Justin asked. "who do you think she gave the drink to? The bartender didn't say."
"Just go talk to her, walking catnip." Devin leaned back on the bar. "Uber money first though."
"I'm flattered," Justin jokingly laid a hand over his chest. "I don't know what's gonna happen. Her place. Mine. Maybe nothing. Who knows."
"Uh-huh." Devin looked back at the girl on the booth who winked at them. "Have fun man."
"Later dude." Justin smiled, handing Devin the cash.
"Any red flags. You think she's a screamer, go to her place." Devin smiled, pocketing the cash. Justin barked out a laugh, eating one of Devin's nacho's as he walked over to the booth. "You're a character man."
Turning back around to the bar Devin back to his nacho's he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, Devin saw the familiar wavy blond hair, cute button nose, and warm green eyes in the picture through the text on his phone.
"I miss you." Devin read aloud. He sighed as he texted back. "I miss you too."
Looking for any kind of distraction, Devin spun around the phone on the bar with his mind. The little device shifting back and forth as a hand of thought flicked it right and left. Sighing, Devin looked around the bar and spotted the karaoke guy. Still on the stand where he last saw him, but he looked like he was done singing as he shut off the machine, shoved a handful of his own chips in his mouth before sliding his backpack on. Almost looked like he was in a hurry. Though he noticed that the guy was eyeing something behind Devin hard.
Turning back to the booth, Devin could see Justin talking to the girl, both of them were smiling as a waiter delivered Justin's nacho's. It was no surprise what the guy was eyeing now. Devin had to stop himself from looking down at the girl's chest when she laughed. Turning back again to the bar, Devin started feeling weird. Maybe it was that he turned into a third wheel. Maybe because someone was now singing 'California girls' at the Karaoke and was somehow worse than the lord of the rings guy... maybe it was the now soggy nachos.
It was because he was alone. Devin hated being alone.
Sighing, Devin paid for the nachos and headed for the door. Texting Justin that he was definitely taking the girl back to her place. Standing on the corner next to a hydrant, Devin pulled out his pack from his back pocket as he hit the uber app on his phone. Just as Devin did, he saw both Justin and the girl walk out of the bar behind him. Justin gave Devin a nod as he walked on toward the van. Devin nodded back shaking his head.
Just as Devin pulled out a cigarette, he spotted the karaoke guy practically jump out of the bar, clearly giggling with a weird look on his face. The karaoke guy shuffled off his backpack as he ran off into the dark alley on the bar's side and out of sight. Tilting his head at this, Devin heard the door to the van close just a bit down the street. Turning over for a look, Devin could see the smiling girl drag a confused Justin away before she whispered into his ear. She must've said something very nice, because Justin grew an eagerly goofy smile on his face as well as she lead him into the same dark alley.
"Nothing weird. Nothing weird about a giggling weirdo crawling over to lurk into a dark alley." Devin said, lighting up his cigarette and taking a puff. Devin shifted his gaze from the bar to the van and then the alley. Letting out the intake with a sigh, the smoke trailed out his nose as Devin shook his head. "Where a nice young couple unwittingly stumbled into. Sounds like an opening of a bad horror story... why am I still talking?"
