Shy Town Girls Read Online Free PDF Page B

lights flashing, music bumping, and crowd surging. I felt
alive.
    “Vodka soda!” Ella yelped down the bar, looking back
at me and giggling. She ordered the drink with the best buzz to
calorie ratio. Nice work. The bartender handed her the drink,
shooting her a seductive wink. She blushed.
    “Bartender just checked you out!” I informed Ella.
She shushed me, embarrassed.
    “That’s the spirit!” Ivy slapped Ella’s back, which
caused her glass to slip from her fingertips, slide down the bar
with a life of its own, and spill all over a curly-haired man
wearing a linen sport coat.
    “What the—” he sputtered turning around to see the
culprit.
    Ella tried to say something, but nothing was coming
out. She stood like a deer in headlights.
    “I’m so sorry,” I said, apologizing for her. Ivy was
holding her stomach, cackling. Meryl was trying not to laugh,
grabbing napkins.
    “Let us buy you a drink,” I said as a peace
offering. Making everyone happy had always been my role and now it
was my job—I was a professional. I knew this guy couldn’t turn down
four pretty women. We officially had the attention of everyone
around the bar. I felt like I should have been embarrassed by my
friends, but I wasn’t.
    “Is your friend okay?” Tacky Linen Sport Coat Guy
asked me, nodding at Ella, who still stood frozen. Ivy pinched her
butt. She quickly snapped back to reality.
    “I’m really sorry,” she stammered. “Do you need more
napkins?”
    “It’s okay. It’s not the end of the world,” he
smiled at her reassuringly. “You know about dry cleaners, right?
I’m Steven.” He reached his hand out to Ella and gazed at her a
little too long. Oh great, I thought, the perfect opportunity for
Linen Sport Coat Guy to hit on her. I was eager to hear which line
he would try. I would have bet that nine out of the ten men
standing around the bar were wishing she would spill a drink on
them.
    Ella introduced him to Meryl and Ivy, evidently
hoping to pawn him off on one of them.
    “Nice to meet you, Steven in linen,” Ivy said. I
chuckled. Ivy continued, “Don’t you know it’s autumn now?”
    “Are you saying my coat isn’t stylish? It’s just
because I don’t have a gorgeous girl like you to dress me,” Steven
said. Oh, gag me!
    “ Yeah okay, buddy. I prefer big boys
who can dress themselves,” Ivy spoke down to him like he was dog.
With a grin, she sipped her drink. The girls chuckled, and the
server brought over Steven’s peace offering drink.
    “ Thank you for this,” he said.
“Maybe you girls can spill on me again some other time.”
    I raised my eyebrows. Could he be any more tacky? Is
single life always this entertaining? Ella groaned as we turned to
make our way through the crowd. “I really hope he didn’t mean that
the way it sounded,” she said in a low voice.
    Linen Sport Coat retreated to his booth where he and
his two friends kept sneaking glances at us. If I had to guess, I’d
say his friends were financial analysts, and Tacky Sport Coat Guy
was working for an insurance company. A server brought over a
bottle of champagne. “From the men at the booth.” I gave them a
wave, praying they wouldn’t come over.
    Ivy poked at her phone. “Ugh. How do I delete this
stupid horoscope app!?”
    I was definitely buzzed as I turned to the group and
asked, “What’s your sign?”
    Ivy looked at me from under her eyelashes, “Really?
That’s like a question someone would ask on eHarmony.”
    “ How would you know what’s on
eHarmony, loser?” Ella giggled at herself.
    I continued, “I used to date this crazy guy in
college named Francis who used to tell me my daily horoscope; I
even let him read my cards once.”
    “ What you dated a psychic? Don’t
tell me you’re into that zodiac hocus pocus. Ella is too. Bunch of
B.S. if you ask me,” Ivy shouted over the noise.
    “ This was during Bobbie’s hippie,
save the world, no showering, backpack Europe days. Francis had
dreadlocks