It was possibly the coolest place I’d ever stepped inside of.
“Grass bar for the win,” Taylor whispered behind me.
“Can I get you ladies something?” the bartender called, breaking us out of our trance.
“Uh, yeah. Definitely,” I said as we made our way to the wooden stools that surrounded the bar.
It wasn’t busy—only a few people scattered around the bar and a couple tables occupied—but it was early yet. The seats had a rough-looking wood grain that had sealant over them to give them a glossy finish. They also had no backs, which I thought was potentially dangerous for drunk people. Like I expected to be soon.
“Do you have any specials?” Taylor asked as she slid onto the stool beside me.
“Three-dollar martinis,” the bartender said.
Taylor put a hand up. “I’m sorry, did you just say three-dollar martinis?”
The man smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“Are you trying to kill people?” she asked.
“What she meant to say was,” I interrupted, “that we love martinis. Can I have an apple one?”
“Sure. And you?”
“Raspberry,” Taylor answered. “Thank you.” Once the bartender walked away, Taylor turned to me. “We’re coming here every day.”
I huffed a laugh. “It’s probably just a special for Fridays.”
“Every Friday, then. I seriously may move here permanently depending on how well he makes this drink.”
“You’re ridiculous. But I am also ridiculous and will totally come here every week with you.”
“That’s what I like to hear. I’d also like to hear about your nervous breakdown today. Feel free to start anytime.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but our drinks arrived. Taylor wasted no time taking a sip of hers.
“Mm,” she moaned. She looked up at the bartender. “Are you married?”
He laughed, a deep rumble that made Taylor squirm in her seat.
“No.”
“Do you want to be? All you have to do is make me these for the rest of our lives.”
His smile grew, and he leaned against the bar. “That’s an interesting proposal.”
“Not the most interesting one I’ve heard in the last month,” I muttered, but they both ignored me.
Though I guess Brody hadn’t actually proposed to Veronica. Whatever. Semantics.
“I’m Jasper,” the bartender said as he extended a hand toward Taylor, who gripped it and shared her name. He then turned to me, and I introduced myself.
Jasper was tall and lean with a smile that looked more like a smirk, dark hair, and blue eyes. He was attractive, and Taylor was doing the art of interested female, twirling her blond hair around her index finger like she was auditioning for a Legally Blonde sequel.
But there was something about the way her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes that made the interest seem hollow.
Thankfully a small group walked in, and Jasper had to go take care of them.
I glared at Taylor.
“What?” she said with too much innocence infused in her voice.
“You’re supposed to only have eyes for me right now.”
“Sorry, doll, but you’re not my type.”
I clutched my chest with a hand. “You wound me.”
“Whatever. I’m only in it for the flirting anyway. I have zero interest in dating right now.”
“Why?”
She waved me off. “We’re not here to talk about me. Spill your sordid tale.”
So I did. I told her everything from how I’d stupidly been working on ideas for the Yard at work to Jake stealing them like a creep and then to Jeff acting like some kind of marketing mob boss threatening to figuratively kneecap Drew’s dream.
When I was finished, Taylor was slack-jawed but silent.
“So,” I prodded, “what do I do?”
“You ladies need anything over here?” Jasper asked.
Taylor smiled up at him. “We’re going to need another round. And shots. Redheaded Sluts. Keep them coming.”
D R E W
Did you know I could float?
I reread Sophia’s text, trying to make sense of it. I was about to ask her to clarify when another one came through.
I also really like tree houses.
We should build one!
Where are you?
Inside grass.
Done with the cryptic texts, I called her.
“Drew,” she answered, making my name more syllables than I thought possible. “The lights are like Tinkerbell.”
“What lights? Where are you?”
“The lights above my head. And I, my fine sir, am in a tree house.”
“Let me talk to him,” I heard someone I thought was Taylor say.
“No, you talk to Casper. Drew’s mine.”
“His name is Jasper, you drunk idiot,” Taylor said. I heard her more clearly that time, so she was either yelling or was closer to the phone.
“You too drunk,” Sophia argued. “Wait. Drunk too you. Oh God. Drew! I think I forgot how to English.”
“Sophia, are you at a bar?”
“Ooh, I like this game. Yes.”
“Can I talk to the bartender?” I asked.
She hesitated. “I don’t think you’re playing right.”
“Put the bartender on. Please.”
“Sigh.” She actually said the word instead of simply making the sound.
I heard some rustling before a guy said, “Hello?”
“Hi, can you tell me what bar you’re at?”
“That depends. Who are you?”
I could respect that the guy didn’t want to easily give up the location of two drunk dingbats, but my patience was wearing thin. Having Sophia obviously wasted somewhere in the city was making my chest tighten.
I was about to answer when I heard Sophia yell, “That’s my boyfriend, Drew. He’s so cute. You wanna see a picture?” There was silence for a few seconds before she said, “Oh, you have my phone.”
“Okay, man,” the bartender said. “We’re at The Treehouse Bar and Grill over on Spruce Street.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
“See you then,” he said before handing the phone back to Sophia.
“Are you coming to have a martini?” she asked.
“No. I’m coming to get you and bring you home. So stay where you are, okay?”
She exhaled deeply. “You’re so nice. I’m sorry I ruined your life.”
Ruined my life?
“Baby, you’ve only ever made my life better. Now wait for me to get there.”
“I’ll always wait for you,” she said, sounding more lucid than she had been moments ago. “Do you think they have a tire swing here?”
Okay, so maybe not so lucid.
“I’ll help you look when I get there.”
“’Kay.”
“Okay. I love you and I’ll be right there.”
“’Kay.”
I hurried back toward Aamee’s room. “Maybe we should stay on the phone till I get there.”
“’Kay.”
Then the line went dead.
I looked down at my phone but, in the interest of time, decided not to call back. I knocked on Aamee’s door.
She pulled it open, looking at me expectantly.
“Can I borrow your car?”
Chapter Eighteen
S O P H I A
I must’ve died. That was the only explanation for how I felt. Though, if I were dead, wouldn’t I feel fine? Unless I was in hell, which was a distinct possibility.
I tried opening my eyes, but they felt as if they’d been glued shut. I tried again and made progress until sunlight burned my retinas, and I shrieked, slamming my eyelids closed. The bed dipped, and a large hand rubbed my back.
“I brought you some water and Tylenol,” Drew said.
“I think I’m a vampire,” I muttered.
“So maybe still a little drunk, then,” he sai
d.
I groaned. “I wish. Where’s Taylor?”
“Still asleep.”
I rolled over and chanced opening my eyes again. We were in Taylor’s and my bedroom, and Taylor was sleeping soundly in her bed.
“I don’t even remember coming home,” I admitted.
“Well, that’s a real shame because it was one of the highlights of my life to date,” he said dryly.
“That bad, huh?”
“I pretty much had to carry you both to Aamee’s car, and then you both stuck your heads out the windows the whole drive home like two demented Labradors.”
“That sounds really embarrassing. I’m glad I can’t remember it.”
“Don’t worry, I took a video. I thought it would be cute to show our future children.”
I snorted.
Drew handed me the water and dumped two pills in my hand. “Take those, and I’ll make something greasy for breakfast.”
“You’re cooking? Because, honestly, I feel bad enough.”
“Funny.”
I wanted to tell him I wasn’t kidding, but I probably deserved food poisoning at that point. Not only had I messed up his plans for the Yard, but then I’d gotten annihilated to the point where he had to come pick me up.
I was starting to wonder if Brody wasn’t actually the biggest mess in the Mason clan.
Groaning one last time, I got up and dragged myself to the bathroom while Drew clanged pots and pans in the kitchen. I climbed into the shower to try to wake up a bit and felt marginally better after freshening up.
With a new pair of pajamas on, I took a deep breath and went to see my boyfriend.
I stood in the doorway for a bit, watching him cook. Breakfast was the only meal he could actually prepare so it was edible, and I liked how he set about the task with confidence. I heard a ding, so he must also have used the toaster oven. He was really going all out.
As much as I ordinarily loved watching Drew and how loved I felt at the trouble he was going to for me, the scene didn’t fill me with happiness. All the guy wanted was a simple life with as few complications as possible, but ever since my family came into his life, he’d had to endure one hassle after another.
He whirled around to attend to the toaster oven and spotted me. “Oh. Hey,” he said with a smile, even though I’d clearly startled him. “Feeling better?”
“A little,” I replied, smiling back.
“Good. I made some coffee.”
I moaned. “I don’t deserve you.” I grabbed myself a cup and then settled onto a stool that allowed the counter to double as a breakfast bar.
His smile grew wider as he busied himself finishing up the cooking. He slid everything onto a plate and put it in front of me. “I don’t think I burned anything.” The pride was clear in his voice, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever loved him more.
He fixed himself a plate and then settled onto the stool next to me. We ate in silence for a minute before Drew spoke.
“So what happened last night?”
“I got drunk.”
He laughed. “Yeah, no kidding.”
I sighed, pushing my fork around my plate. “I had a bad day at work.”
I could tell he turned to look at me, but I kept my gaze on my plate.
“What happened?”
I hesitated a second, trying to figure out where to start.
“Soph?”
I looked at him, and the concern on his face made me start talking.
“Jake saw me working on ideas for the Yard at work. And then yesterday, when we had that meeting I told you about…with Trey Daily? The marketing team suggested a name change, and long story short, Jake gave them your name. Well, not your name. The Yard. And they loved it. When I tried to tell Jeff there was already a bar with that name opening, he threatened to get your liquor license revoked. So I said I was mistaken, and then I got into it with Jake, who basically refused to fix his mess and threatened to tell my bosses that I was using company time to do personal work. It was just…” I rubbed my eyes. “It was a whole mess. And I don’t know how to fix it or if it even can be fixed.”
I’d cast my gaze down again while I’d talked, but when Drew was silent, I forced myself to turn toward him.
He looked…a little stunned. Which wasn’t really a surprise with the way I’d just word-vomited all over him. Which I supposed was better than actually vomiting on him.
God, I didn’t do that last night, did I?
Probably better not to ask.
“I’m…confused,” he finally said. “Maybe start over and take me through things a bit less…frantic this time.”
So I did. I spent the next however many minutes recounting the story, not leaving out a single detail that I could remember. When I was done, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed. But when Drew got up and started pacing, I didn’t think going back to bed was an option.
He was also aggressively raking his fingers through his hair, and I was about to voice my concern for his follicles when he came to an abrupt halt.
“So a famous football player stole our name?” he asked.
“Yeah. Well…he was kind of given it.”
“By someone who didn’t have the right to give it.”
“Right.”
“Why is this our problem?”
My eyes narrowed in confusion because I wasn’t sure how someone could not see how this was a problem. But before I could relay that sentiment, he continued.
“I mean, it’s not like there can’t be two places with the same name. Our place isn’t even its own bar. It’s just a deck.”
“It would probably be fine if the other place you were sharing a name with wasn’t owned by a local celebrity who hired sharks to help make his place a success. But I’m scared of what the people at Margot Nathan might do if they find out, and that doesn’t only affect you. It affects Sean too.”
“What are we supposed to do, then?” he asked.
“You said yourself the deck isn’t even its own bar. Does it even need its own name?”
“You said it did,” he challenged.
“I said that so the deck would have novelty, but it’s not a requirement.”
“But we printed up all those materials and even passed out a bunch of promotional stuff already. And ordered shirts and menus and glassware. Not to mention the sign. Everything has the name on it. That was money Sean invested in the deck because he wanted to support my idea. I can’t just throw it all away.”
“You’ll be throwing it all away regardless if you move forward and get shut down,” I argued.
“What are the odds of that?”
I shrugged, more in frustration than anything else. “I don’t know. I’m not sure it’s a chance worth taking.”
He rubbed a hand over his mouth before saying, “I don’t know that I agree.”
“You don’t agree?”
“No. Rafferty’s is a neighborhood place. Granted it’s not far from Margot Nathan, but no one would really notice the deck if they weren’t looking for it.”
“Jake may be looking for it.”
“Who cares?”
I laughed, but it was humorless. I wanted to say that I cared. If Jake told them that a bar I helped open on company time had the same name as a bar owned by their biggest client, they could ruin me. Sure, they were a bunch of bloodsucking demons from the bowels of hell, but they had a lot of clout in the city. A bad reference from them would kill my marketing career before I even had a marketing career. And from what I’d seen so far of Jeff and Carole, they weren’t above blackballing someone who crossed them.
But I couldn’t say any of that to Drew. I couldn’t make it all about me when I’d gotten us into this mess.
Thankfully Drew was still ranting, so he didn’t notice that I hadn’t answered his question.
“And Daily’s place isn’t opening until the end of the summer. Even if someone told him, we’d have already been up and running for months and be closin
g the deck down due to weather soon after he opens. It wouldn’t even be worth making a thing out of it. Right?”
I shrugged, feeling like I was lifting five hundred pounds with the motion. “I guess.”
He moved to the door and put on his sneakers. “I’ll run it past Sean in the interest of full disclosure. But I think he’ll be on board with just moving forward and letting the chips fall where they may.”
He came over and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Thank you for being so worried about me. But I think everything will be okay.” And with that, he turned and left.
And I remained…unsure of how to tell him I was also worried about me.
Chapter Nineteen
D R E W
“Thanks for coming to help out,” I said to Taylor. “We definitely needed another woman’s touch.”
Brody and I had gotten mostly everything done the last few days, from painting some tables we’d repurposed to stocking the bar with glassware. But every time we thought that was it, more small tasks arose. The girls were so much better than we were at the details.
“Hey,” Aamee snapped. “The Yard opens in a week, and you wouldn’t even have thought to put trash cans on the lawn if I hadn’t suggested it. You’d have garbage and cigarette butts all over the place if I left it up to the two of you.”
“Whoa, whoa, I didn’t mean to leave you out. You and Sophia have done so much. But you’re our girlfriends, so it kinda goes with the title. You’ll be fixing our mistakes and seeing that we don’t fuck things up for the foreseeable future.”
Brody put the last box of liquor bottles on top of the stone bar and looked at Aamee like he was apologizing for something he hadn’t even done yet. “It’s a big job,” he said. “Hope you’re up for it.”
Smiling, she grabbed two bottles of vodka and headed behind the bar to put them away. “Oh, I knew what I was in for from the beginning.”
Sophia was out on the lawn putting up small lights she’d picked out, and Cody and Carter were hanging a hammock…or something…when Xander called them over.
“Now that the alcohol’s here, we should have a drink to celebrate.”
Two Truths & a Lime (The Love Game Book 3) Page 14
