It makes management positions less about the work and more about the status.
I bring my attention back to the bar. The bartender flips her hair, laughing at whatever the old guy at the end of the bar said to her. She’s been working him since I got here, and the way he casually strokes a finger over the back of her hand, he took the bait. And that’s why tending bar is one of the most sought after gigs for ivy girls.
Her smile falls away the second she turns away, and he watches her ass as she brings my drinks down and sets them on the bar top for me.
“Thanks,” I say, loading them on my tray.
“Whatever, skank.”
My eyes snap up, but she’s already returning to the other side.
What the fuck?
Ivy and townie girls usually ignore each other—unless they think one of us has overstepped. Since I haven’t done shit to her other than show an iota of politeness, I chalk it up to her being a bitchier breed of teal polos and run my drink order, trying to shake it off.
I’m serving my last drink when Ainsley pinches my side on her way by. I give her a quick smile, not wanting to draw too much attention. She might not care about being caught, talking to a townie, but it’s her first year. I’d rather spare her any ivy wrath if possible. Usually they only go after each other over territory—yes, they actually say shit like that—but as a lifeguard, Ainsley already has a strike against her by wearing a skin-tight, high-legged suit all day instead of the regular uniform. No reason for me to add a second.
Once I check the rest of my guests, I grab the bucket to get more ice. As I pass another server, she knocks the bucket out of my hand.
“Hey,” I say, turning around. “What the hell?”
She glances over her shoulder and rolls her eyes.
When I turn back, Cole’s walking over with his brow drawn in.
“Did you see that?” I ask.
He scoops up the bucket and flips it around. “Yep.”
“Thanks.” I grab it from him as a few ivies pass, all staring daggers, and I shake my head. “Okay. Did I personally offend every single staffer or what is everyone’s problem today?”
“The problem is Danielle.” He tips his head toward the redhead I kicked out of Knox’s office Saturday. She walks behind the bar, tightening a black apron around her waist.
“She’s a bartender? I thought she was a tennis pro.”
“They cut back on the female instructors after the housewives complained, so she came back as a bartender this season.”
I only finished the servers’ schedules before Knox’s little field trip to the maintenance room. Not that I would have known it was her on the bar schedule anyway. We only use first names and last initials.
Danielle leans on the bar beside the bartender who called me a skank. They both scowl in my direction, and Cole sighs, swiveling his head back to me.
“She’s telling everyone you’re trying to fuck Cabot. Something about you throwing yourself at him in his office the other day.”
A chill works its way down my arms before it sinks into my belly. “What? That’s not what happened.”
I scan around and notice more ivy and townie hate directed at me. “So, everyone thinks I’m a townie trying to screw my way out of the Heights?”
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think that,” Cole says, a sincerity behind his words.
Of course he doesn’t believe it. Everyone says the same shit about him anytime a guest or ivy fawns over him. All it would take is an "accidental" pregnancy or a well-timed picture for blackmail. While neither of us would stoop that low, the same can’t be said about all the locals.
“It does,” I lie. “Thank you.”
Cole’s face scrunches. “There’s more.”
“Of course there is.” I cross my arms and nod, indicating for him to rip off the Band-Aid.
“She claims they were hooking up the other day, and Cabot said at least if he fucks you for the summer, it’ll save him finding someone to get off in every weekend.”
That time the chill makes it all the way to my toes. Even untrue, it stings.
“So, not only am I trash, trying to trick a guy into knocking me up, but the boss is fucking me out of convenience?”
Cole nods. “Would seem so.”
A brittle laugh escapes me as my head falls into my hand. At least last year only one group was cold to me. Now I have both sides hating me for different reasons, and judging from the past ten minutes, they have no intentions to simply ice me out this time.
I take a deep, steadying breath, and when I bring my head back up, I see a group of servers glaring at me.
Great. Just fucking great.
I dig in my apron, pulling out my open tabs, and hand them to Cole.
“Will you finish for me? I really don’t want to deal with this right now.”
He tucks my receipts in his pocket and takes the ice bucket. “Screw’em, Leighton.”
Cole gives a half-smile, and I force one back, starting to walk away until he grabs my arm. “Not literally, though. That would definitely make shit worse.”
I roll my eyes, and Cole flashes a grin, backing away.
Before another staffer tries to take me out, I head up the hill toward the admin building to finish the schedules. I smile, waving at Millie on the opposite end of the hall when I walk in. She glances around to make sure no one’s watching and then waves back with a wink.
This morning, I dropped off the armful of teal polos Knox left in my locker, and she apologized for not raising him better. Millie accepted me fast and aggressively as a part of the family. And yes, she’s a part of the Cabot family—she’ll fight you if you try to say differently.
I knock on my way into Knox’s office, feeling done with the day.
He glances up from his phone, his brow drawing down. “You decide to take me up on the offer to fire you?”
“Not exactly.” I exhale deeply and walk around his desk. “I asked someone to cover the rest of my shift.”
When I reach for the papers, he sits back and tugs me onto his lap again.
“This arrangement didn’t exactly work out last time,” I say.
“Oh, I think it worked out fucking phenomenally.” Knox runs his knuckles over my cheek, and I grab the papers and climb off him.
“Your little friend, Danielle, told the entire staff we’re sleeping together.” I go to the other side of his desk, dropping into one of the chairs. “Apparently, you told her mid-hookup that I’m what you’re using to keep your dick wet this summer.”
Knox rounds his desk and leans back on it in front of me, staring down at me. “Danielle’s a fucking idiot. I wouldn’t touch her with someone else’s double-wrapped cock. The only person I’ve been with in a hundred-mile radius of Seaside Heights is right fucking here. And if you think this between us is anything other than real, then you can blow me. Again,” he adds with a smirk.
Heat blooms in my cheeks, and I look down at the paper, not finding the situation as funny.