XPLR | Colby Brock

~133~

I've got no excuses. Thanks for reading!

I patted down black skirt as I walked towards the bar a few blocks away from my street. I opened the back door and stepped inside the back room where a few girls were taking a break.

"Evening, Rose," one of them, Julie, said. I smiled at them and put my bag in a chair, and I brushed my short hair behind my ear and voiced a fleeting, "Hey."

"Big crowd tonight," she said as I walked over to join the two girls. "Is Rebecca still out there all alone?" I asked. "Yeah. But I knew you would be here soon, so I'm not worried about it," she said, before going back to scrolling on her phone. I could feel my mood turn, and I just swallowed the sour words before I walked out to go to the bar.

Rebecca was always like that. For lack of any better words, she's a stone cold, narcissistic bitch. I could be more creative, but I don't think she deserves that. She's always leaving Julie and I hung, even though neither of us have been working here long.

Julie turned, and she just smiled wide when her eyes landed on me. "Thank god. A Sunday night, this place is swarming with men," she said, leaning against the bar for a moment before someone tapped her to order a drink. I chuckled at that, and I turned to the young man in front of me waiting to order.

I started to make his drink when Rebecca finally joined us again. She was a gorgeous, with a nice body. Most of the men patrons, and even some women, turned to her to order. Which arguably helped us, but her presence also steals our tips. I sigh and turn to a woman waiting to order.

Colby's been on my mind, all day. Even after Alan came over and we talked about Logan, and what happened between us. I told every detail. But I always found myself reminiscing about the few times I had those experiences with Colby. They were both physically and emotionally much better than my night with Logan. But that makes me feel even worse about the whole situation.

But, God. I miss Colby so much. And here I was thinking I was over him.

Maybe I should call him tonight.

After all, I am still receiving occasional voicemails.

Should I even go out with Logan tomorrow? I'm not over Colby. In fact, there's a deep rooted guilt in my heart ever since I woke up in Logan's bed.

My thoughts are everywhere. I forgot that it's my birthday, until Julie said, "The schedule said you're turning 20 today," she smiled. "You're officially not a teenager."

I rolled my eyes as I made a drink. "Oh boy, I know. So glad I'm growing up," I said sarcastically. She chuckled at that. "Might as well make yourself a drink," she teased. They'd teased me for not drinking too, I just said it "wasn't my style". It isn't. Look what happened when I did drink?

I sighed. Not exactly how I wanted to start my next decade of living. I'm twenty now. I'm an adult. Oh god.

"When's your shift over? Want to go out to eat?" She asked. "Eight, I think," I said. "Are you having a party?"

I laughed at that. "No. Me? Eating out is perfect. I don't know a lot of people here. The only one's I would consider friends are you, a gay guy, and a guy I just slept with," I said. It's easy to be honest about those kinds of things with Julie. "Logan?" She asked. He had come by a few times to visit, on his way to a gig or something. He never drank, he just stopped by to say hello.

There was tension between us, well, not anymore, but do I really like him? In comparison to Colby, he's nothing. Just a friend.

God, Colby...

I was over him. I was. But now... why this? Why is sex always changing the way I feel about him? When it was him and I, I loved him. When it was him and Elena, I hated him. But now that's it's me and Logan... I love him again. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever stopped.

My shift went as it normally did, and when it ended, Julie convinced me to go back to my house. "So we can change. I have some clothes with me, then we can eat," She equated it to. I sighed. But when we got home and I opened the door, there was a confetti pop and a loud, "Surprise!"

I smiled, and I laughed despite myself. I was sleepy and hungry, and glancing at the counter, I saw a strawberry cake. My favorite. Logan came towards me and wrapped his arms around me in a hug, as did Alan and Julie. I giggled at that, and I felt a sudden sense of love and admiration. These were my friends. Not Colby's like it was a Friendsgiving. But now I suddenly missed them too.

Tori and I would've been such good friends.

Colby...

"Happy birthday!" Logan said, then Alan, then Julie. "You guys are the best," I said, smiling at them. "I hope you don't mind us being here," Alan said, "the land lord let us in."

"I hope you don't mind how messy it is," I said. Even though it wasn't very messy, I didn't have much to make a mess with.

They ordered us a pizza, we played a few board games, one that Logan brought. It was my favorite, I had mentioned it once. Gifts weren't a thing between us. I liked it like that anyway. But it wasn't until Julie and Alan left that Logan reached into his pocket and handed me a long box. He just shrugged when I gave him a questioning look. I opened it. It was a charm bracelet, with two charms on it already. A music note and a Rose. I smiled at him, of course, and gave him a hug. "For the record, I bought that before I slept with you," He said in my ear.

He kissed me before he left, and I enjoyed it. But I felt guilty too. Like I was cheating on two guys for thinking of Colby during the kiss.

I was laying in my bed, trying to fall asleep, when my phone buzzed under my pillow. I knew who it was, and I immediately sat up. I didn't know why Colby was calling me at 11pm, but then I remembered, it's only 9pm for him.

I watched it ring for a minute, his picture on the screen, before I clicked answer and put it to my ear. "Hello?" I asked.

There was a beat of silence. Maybe surprise. "Rose. Hey. Happy birthday," he said. He sounded calm.