“Whiskey.”
“Nice.” He raises his eyebrows. “Any particular kind?”
“Nope. As long as it’s dark and it picks me up, it’s all the same to me.”
He points his finger at me acknowledging my request in a sounds good type of way and steps toward the bar. With no competition for the bartender’s attention, he returns quickly, setting both drinks in front of me.
I pick up the tiny glass, pausing when I see I’m doing the shot alone. “Nothing for you?”
“Nah.” He holds up his beer to cheers my shot glass. “I have an important day tomorrow. No hard stuff for me.”
“What’s so important?”
“Big test. I’m finishing my doctorate at USF.”
“Well, Mr. Fancy-Pants Doctor-to-Be, I’ll be here, drinking my whiskey alone then, if you don’t mind.” I tilt my head back and down the amber liquid, which burns all the way through my body.
“No, please, by all means.” He pauses. “How was it?”
I chase it with a beer. “Horrible now, but it will be worth it here shortly.”
“So …” He waits to make sure it’s safe to ask and then goes for it. “What are we drinking to? A broken heart? A fight? A job? Family?”
“All of it. Every single one.” I take another drink.
“Well then, now, I understand why it’s a shot-and-beer kind of night. Want to talk about it?”
I shake my head while I inhale a breath. “Nah, I’d rather hear about you. Tell me, where are you from? Something tells me it’s not here.”
His grin proves I’m right. “And why would you say that?”
“Most guys would pass right by a girl who’s alone and having trouble.”
“Well, my mom raised me right, I guess.” His smile grows as he takes another drink.
“And where is said mom?”
“In a very small town up in Humboldt County. Population: nothing.”
My eyes widen. “And you came to USF for school?”
“Yeah, there’s not really a ton of med school options up in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’d love to live in a small town.” I sigh at the notion. I never thought I’d be living in the city, yet here I am, hating every minute.
He laughs out loud. “No, you wouldn’t. Everyone knows everyone, and don’t even think about trying to keep a secret.”
I grin at him, biting the inside of my lip as I try not to laugh.
“What?” he asks.
“Nothing.” I pick up my bottle to take a drink, eyeing him over the rim.
“Don’t lie to me. What?”
I shrug. “It’s just funny. That’s all.”
“What is?”
“The fact that you said everyone knows your business. I think that trait rubbed off on you.”
“How?” He sits back in his chair, waiting for me to make my point.
“Well, you’re sitting here right now, aren’t you? Wondering what my problems are? You won’t go tell Sandy at the co-op if I tell you, will you?”
A sharp laugh escapes his lips and hits me deep in my chest. A bright smile grows across my face at the sound. It’s been a while since I’ve made someone laugh or even felt they were happy to be in my presence.
“Touché,” he says. “And no, I won’t go tell Sandy. Now, Todd at the gas station though? He has a way of getting information out of anyone. So, if you don’t show him you’re upset, then he won’t ask me if I know anything, and we’ll be good.”
I pick up my bottle to cheers him. “You’ve got a deal.”
We both sip our drinks, not taking our eyes off of each other.
“So, what about you? Where are you from?” he asks.
“Originally about an hour from here. I’ve lived in the city for three years though.”
“Do you like it here?”
“No.” I take another sip, not even contemplating the question.
“Whoa, don’t try to fight those feelings now. Tell me how you really feel.”
I sigh as I set my drink down. “It’s not the life I thought I’d have. That’s for sure.”
“Isn’t that everyone’s life?” he asks so nonchalantly that I’m intrigued.
“Do tell. What’s different in your life than you expected?”
He crosses his arms as he thinks. “Multiple things. I’m about to graduate, and I have no job offers. And I’ve been single almost my entire time here in San Francisco.”
“You mean, you haven’t been the knight in shining armor who sweeps in to save the day of a woman drowning her sorrows in a beer and a shot?”
He lets out another deep laugh, and it lifts my spirits more than the last. “Nope. Definitely hasn’t happened … until you.”
I playfully raise my eyebrows and take another drink, letting that comment sit in the air for a second. “So, if you don’t have any job offers, will you go back home?”
“I doubt it. Not much to go back to. My mom already said she’d move wherever I landed.”
“Seriously? She’d pick up and move her life for you?”
“Yeah, she knows there’s not much work there for me. Family is everything when it’s just the two of us. I want her near me too.”
“Just the two of you? Can I ask where your dad is?”
“He died before I was born. Killed in the Gulf War.”
I suck in a sharp inhale, surprised to hear this so nonchalantly. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
“I mean, I never met him, so …” He shrugs and takes another drink. “My mom moved back home, where they both were from. I was raised with his parents, so I know a lot about him. Over the years though, they passed as well as my mom’s mom, so now, it’s just us.”
“She never remarried?”
“Oh no.” He vehemently shakes his head. “She says he was the love of her life. I’m hoping once I get her out of there, she’ll find someone. It’s kind of hard to date in a town of twelve hundred people.”
My eyes widen. “Only twelve hundred people?”
“Yep. I told you, everyone knows everyone.”
“I’m sorry you never got to meet your dad though. I’m sure he’d be proud to see you’re becoming a doctor.”
“Yeah, it’s a weird catch-22 with that. I attend college for free because he passed in the war. Where all of my friends are in debt up to their eyeballs, I’ve only had to pay for books and my housing while I’ve been in school. I work part-time at the Lazy Bear in the Mission District, so that hasn’t been too hard.”
“That’s a fancy place to work,” I say, impressed he works at a restaurant like that.
“Yeah, pays well too. So, I guess it’s nice that I get to let his legacy live on that way.” He pauses and eyes me suspiciously. “Wait, why am I spilling my guts to you when I’m here to lend you a shoulder to lean on?”
I rest my elbow on the table, placing my chin on my hand, and move closer to him. “Because you’re way more interesting than me, and you’re helping by giving me a chance to forget my problems.”