Even the Score

by Beth Ehemann

  The worst. I’ll fill you in over mint mojitos.

  S: Sounds good. I’ll be ready at five thirty, just in case.

  CHAPTER 7

  Andy

  The workweek came to a disappointing end with no new agent in sight. Most of the interviews Ellie had set up completely tanked, and while résumés were still trickling in, I had yet to see one with any real promise. Not only was I grumpy about the long, unproductive week, it was also Blaire’s weekend with Logan and Becca, and those two being gone just made everything a hundred times worse. I loved spending my weekends with my kids. I worked my ass off all week long, knowing that they would be there on Friday nights with open arms, popcorn, and a movie. Nothing was better at cleansing my work palate than goofing around with my kids . . . and for the next forty-eight hours, they’d be gone.

  As I drove home from the office, praying I got there in time to at least say good-bye to them, my cell phone rang. I hit the button on my steering wheel.

  “Shaw.”

  “Andy, Andy, Bo Bandy, Banana Fanna, Fo Fandy—” Viper’s voice sang out.

  “Holy hell,” I interrupted him. “I’ll pay you to never do that again.”

  His loud, deep laugh filled the confines of my car.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Dude. It’s Friday. What are you up to?”

  “I’m heading home from work and getting the kids off to Blaire’s.” Just saying the words out loud made my chest hurt.

  “Perfect!” Viper rejoiced.

  “Huh?”

  “Justin Sutter’s in town this weekend! The Cubs are playing the Twins, and he’s coming by to check out the new bar. You should come!”

  “No way. The kids are gone, I’m gonna stay home and catch up on some sleep.” I felt grumpy and not much like leaving the house. “Tell Justin I said hi, though.”

  Viper sighed. “Did it hurt?”

  I pulled my brows in tight. “Did what hurt?”

  “When you grew a vagina?”

  “Viper—”

  “No, don’t Viper me, you pansy ass. Here—” There was some rustling around and low voices rumbling, and then Brody was on the phone.

  “What the hell do you mean you want to sleep? You can sleep when you’re dead,” Brody argued. “Go home, kiss your kids good-bye, throw on some clothes, and drive the hell over here. You’ll thank me tomorrow, I promise.”

  Viper was in the background, hurling all sorts of insults at me, and I knew that if I didn’t just go for at least an hour, they’d call me all night and harass me anyway. Besides, maybe the distraction of the bar would help keep my mind off the kids being gone. “Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll be there in a while.”

  “You better be,” he warned. “Viper is pretty pumped about Justin coming over, so his adrenaline is off the charts tonight. He threatened that if you don’t show, he’ll make that skinny-dipping in Buckingham Fountain incident in Chicago look like a toddler swimming in a kiddie pool.”

  I walked into The Penalty Box ready to get my hour over with and head home. I should’ve known better.

  Brody and Viper’s bar was a sports fan’s ultimate wet dream. The walls were covered in framed jerseys, signed baseballs, game-winning hockey pucks, you name it . . . every sport and dozens of athletes were honored in that place. Twenty-seven TVs hung from all corners of the room, showing every sporting event that you could possibly imagine, except for when the Minnesota Wild were playing. When Brody and Viper were on the ice, every single TV in the place showed that game, no exceptions.

  As I looked toward the bar through the sea of people, a loud cowbell rang out, and Viper’s head popped up over the crowd.

  “Uh-oh! Look who’s here!” Viper called out from on top of the bar, shaking that obnoxious cowbell back and forth as he pointed at me.

  Several people turned and stared as I lifted my hand in the air and waved quickly before bowing my head and making my way through the crowd.

  “That has to be some kind of a health code violation,” I joked as he hopped down off the bar and shook my hand over the counter.

  “Probably.” He shrugged. “But who gives a fuck?”

  “What’s up with the sign out front?” I asked loudly as I walked around to the other side of the huge, U-shaped bar and took my spot on my usual stool.

  A devilish grin spread across Viper’s face like wildfire. “You like that?”

  “What did you do?” Brody asked as he walked up, raising at eyebrow at Viper.

  “Nothing.” He grinned and shrugged again. “I just thought I’d spice up the new chalkboard, easel-looking thing Kacie bought for outside the front door.”

  Brody’s eyes darted from Viper to me and back to Viper in record time. “Spice it up?”

  “Here, I took a picture.” I laughed as I took my phone out of my pocket. Turning it toward Brody, I watched his eyebrows pull together as he read the sign out front.

  FORECAST FOR TONIGHT . . . ALCOHOL, LOW STANDARDS, AND POOR DECISIONS.

  “Really?” Brody sighed, shaking his head as he stared at my phone.

  “Look.” Viper pointed toward the screen from behind Brody’s shoulder. “I even drew a rain cloud and a thunderbolt. Eat your heart out, Picasso!” He pulled back and grinned proudly.

  Brody shook his head back and forth slowly, still staring at the screen. “I don’t know if I should kick your ass for writing it in the first place or be proud that you spelled everything right.”

  “Hey.” He lifted his hands innocently, palms up. “Just because we’re all married men now doesn’t mean that other people have to behave themselves. This place is crawling with people ready to spend one glorious, drunken night fucking a stranger’s brains out only to never have to talk to them again.”

  “Let’s just hope they don’t start that night too early,” Brody said as his eyes scanned the bar full of people. “We need them to drink all of our alcohol first. I’d really like to keep this place out of the red.”

  “You’re such a worrywart!” Viper punched him in the arm.

  Brody glared at him. “And you’re not enough of a worrywart.”

  “Okay, okay.” I laughed, watching the two of them go at it like an old married couple. “If you two are going to stand here and have a lover’s quarrel right in front of me, can one of you please get me a beer first?”

  Viper’s eyes flew to Brody. “Why the hell are we even back here anyway? We have staff for this.”

  “Yeah, get the hell out of here,” Savannah, one of the main bartenders, said as she flashed a playful smile and pushed them out from behind the bar. “You guys go sit in your booth, and I’ll bring you beer,” she added with a wink.

  Brody and Viper eagerly followed orders, and the three of us walked to the reserved booth in the far back corner that nobody else was allowed to sit in—ever. The large booth was off by itself, and there was an area around it roped off so no one could approach it.

  As Brody and I slid into the dark red seat, Viper frowned, looking down at both of us. “You guys hungry?”

  “Starving,” I answered back immediately.

  “Sweet!” He clapped his hands together loudly. “I’m gonna go ask Ruth to whip us up a couple of pineapple bacon pizzas.”

  “A couple?” Brody questioned.

  “Yeah, one for me and one for you guys.” In one swift motion, he stuck his fingertip in his mouth, then in Brody’s ear before running off toward the kitchen.

  “He’s insane, you know that?” I said as Brody cringed and shoved a napkin in his ear.

  “And disgusting,” he added.

  After he finished wiping his ear, he cracked open a peanut from the basket on the table. “He really is insane, but man, does he bring the crowds in. We had to have security here for the first couple of months. Not bouncers, but real security.” He popped the peanut in his mouth. “Now we have a big sign by the front door that says patrons of the bar aren’t allowed to approach any athletes for autographs or pictures.�
�

  Looking around the packed room, I said, “I guess when you own a place like this, popularity is a good problem to have, right?”

  “It is.” Brody followed my gaze to the crowd. “We’ve been very lucky so far.”

  Savannah walked over and set three tall beers down on the table.

  “Thanks,” Brody acknowledged before she walked away. “So what was your deal tonight anyway? Why didn’t you want to come out?”

  I slid one of the beers over toward me and shrugged. “I don’t know. Ever have one of those moods where you’d rather just stay home alone and sulk?”

  Brody stared at me with a blank stare.

  “Guess not.” I lifted the glass to my lips and took a big gulp of the cold beer. “I just had a long, crappy week at work, and it’s Blaire’s weekend with the kids—”

  “Ahhh”—he cut me off as he nodded—“there it is.”

  “There what is?”

  “Your kids are gone. You’re always in a shitty mood when the kids go to Blaire’s. Every single time.”

  “No, I’m not,” I lied, shaking my head.

  “Yeah. You are.” Without taking his eyes off me, he lifted his beer and took a long drink. “And that’s not a bad thing,” he continued, wiping his top lip with his sleeve. “You’re the best dad I know, Andy, and there isn’t anything wrong with missing your kids. Especially when you know they’re in the dragon’s lair. That’s a scary damn place for any kid. Shit, any adult, for that matter.”

  I lifted my glass in the air. “I’ll drink to that.”

  Brody pressed his lips together in a tight smile, and we touched glasses.

  “Is this the cool kids’ table?” a booming, deep voice called out. Brody and I both looked up as Justin Sutter walked over to our table.

  “There he is!” Brody whooped, jumping up to greet our friend.

  “What’s up, buddy?” Justin wrapped his arms around Brody.

  “Long time no see!” Brody hugged him right back.

  “And this guy.” Justin looked over at me. “I thought you fell off the face of the earth. Where the hell have you been? I only ever talk to you through e-mail these days . . . or to your assistant. You’re starting to give me a complex.”

  “I’m sorry, man.” I shook his hand, feeling deflated that I’d let another client, but more importantly a friend, down. “Life has been so damn chaotic; most days I don’t even remember my own name.”

  Justin held his hands up, stopping me. “Don’t apologize. I totally get it. I was just giving you shit.”

  “Savannah, can we get another beer over here, please?” Brody called toward the bar before he motioned toward the booth. “Here, let’s sit.”

  “This is one hell of a man cave you’ve got here,” Justin said incredulously as he stared wide-eyed at all of the cool sports memorabilia that covered the walls. “And this is obviously the best.” He waved above the booth we were sitting in. On the wall was a framed place setting with a sign under it that read HEAD OF OUR TABLE—MIKE ASHER #88.

  Mike had also been a member of the Wild with Brody and Viper. He had passed away a couple of years earlier after a freak hockey accident that involved Viper.

  “Thanks.” Brody lifted his chin proudly. “We’re happy with the way it all came together.”

  “And Viper’s still doing okay?” Justin asked carefully, looking back and forth from me to Brody. “We used to talk about it, but not so much lately.”

  I stayed quiet and let Brody answer, since he was much closer with Viper than I was.

  Brody tilted his head back and forth. “He has his days. If you ask him, he’ll say he’s fine, but I know that there are times when the guilt still owns him for a day or so. Both the guilt for the accident and for ending up with Mike’s widow.”

  Justin stared down at the table and nodded. “I’m sure it does.”

  “But everything happens the way it’s supposed to, right?” Brody added.

  “It sure does,” Justin agreed.

  “And I’m glad you were able to come check out our place while you’re in town,” Brody changed the subject.

  Savannah came over, set a beer down in front of Justin, and hustled back to the bar. “Me too,” he answered. His eyes were staring down at his glass, but his mind seemed somewhere far away, and I was pretty sure I knew right where it was. “Things have been chaotic for me, too, but a different kind of chaotic. Learning how to live all over again.”

  I watched as Brody reached over and patted Justin’s shoulder.

  “Anyway.” Justin cleared his throat and came back to life, looking up at us with red-rimmed eyes. “Here I am, and here you are, and this beer needs drinking.”

  “That’s what I like to hear!” Viper blurted as he returned from the kitchen, catching Justin’s beer comment. Justin jumped up and they bear-hugged, swaying back and forth. A comfortable silence loomed over the table as we all thought about how our lives had changed in the last few years, each of us shooting out in very different directions. Viper and Justin had definitely bonded over the last year. Grief had a way of doing that to people.

  After Viper and Justin sat back down, Brody picked his glass up and smiled somberly. “To my brothers.”

  I nodded once and lifted my glass into the middle, with Viper and Justin following suit. We were all quiet for a second, only for the silence to be broken by Justin’s chuckle. “While we should be celebrating the fact that there’s a woman on this planet willing to put up with Viper’s shit forever, right now we’re simply celebrating . . . life . . . and how damn fast it can be stolen from us.”

  The clink of our glasses was like a gun at the starting line, and just like that, our night took off.

  CHAPTER 8

  Danicka

  “Shit!” Sadie squealed as she grabbed my arm, nearly pulling me all the way down to the sidewalk.

  I looked down toward her feet. “What the hell are you doing?”

  She hopped on one foot, still squeezing my shoulder for stability. “My damn foot keeps slipping out of my stupid shoe. Heels are not made for drunk people,” she slurred, laughing hysterically at herself.

  Rolling my eyes, I was just thankful we were on our way back to the car. “Come on, crazy lady. Let’s get you home and in bed.”

  “I’m not going to bed.” She shook her head and fluttered her eyelashes at me. “I’m going to mount Corey and make Skyler a big sister.”

  “Oh boy, you might want to rethink that when you’re sober.” I laughed, hooking my arm through hers so she didn’t trip over her own feet . . . again.

  “Ooooh, look at that pretty sign.” Sadie squinted her eyes as we got closer to the chalkboard easel. “Oh my God.” She tossed her head back and laughed way harder than the lame forecast joke on the sign called for. “We have to stop in here, that’s hilarious.”

  “Can we not?” I whined, begging her with my eyes. “This place is owned by a couple of athletes, and it’s like cheering for the wrong team. I can’t, in good conscience, step foot through that door.”

  “Fine.” She pulled her arm away dramatically, waving it around in the air. “Then you can stay out here with the other party poopers, but I’m going in to check this place out. Have fun, Debbie Downer.” She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and stuck her nose in the air as she strutted past me to the door, but instead of looking cool, she tripped up the first step. Before I could make a motion toward her, she recovered and leaned up against the brick wall, giggling as she pointed at the ground. “Woo! If you decide to come in, watch that first step. He’s a tricky little bastard.”

  The loud roar of laughing and talking filled the quiet street as she opened the door. I leaned to my right just a tad, pulling the parking garage sign on the next block into focus.

  Damn. So close.

  I let out a heavy sigh and followed her into the bar.

  “Sadie!” I called out, weaving my way through the thick sea of people.

  Great. Two feet from the do
or, and I already lost her.

  “Sadie!” I yelled louder.

  “Dani!” I followed the sound of my name to Sadie, who was waving me over to a tall pub table in the far left corner. I could only see the tip-top of her head and her arm waving wildly. “Over here!”

  I gently pushed and shoved my way over to her, where she was profusely thanking the three guys that were just getting up. They stopped and stared down at me as I made my way around the back side of the table. I nodded politely as I passed them.

  “Maybe we should stay after all and hang with these two ladies,” drunk guy number one yelled loudly, leaning in close to drunk guy number two.

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” drunk guy number three joked. “These two hotties just made this whole night a lot more interesting.” He set his phone back on the table and smirked at me.

  I watched with a blank stare as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. My eyes slid down to his. “Well, one of the hotties is married, and the other would be more excited to scrape the gum off the bottom of this table than to hang out with you for the evening.”

  “Oooooh,” drunk guy number one and drunk guy number two whooped at the dis to their cocky sidekick. Drunk guy number three opened his mouth to respond, and I held my finger up close to his lips.

  “Don’t. Just walk away with what little dignity you have left. Trust me.”

  Sadie started giggling wildly behind me, with sporadic hiccups mixed in.

  “Let’s go.” Drunk guy number two pulled on drunk guy number three’s sleeve. “She’s not worth it.”

  Drunk guy number three hesitated, staring at me.

  “He’s right.” I shrugged. “I’m not worth it. Not even a little.” With that I waved my arm in the air to get the attention of a waitress nearby. “What do you want to drink?” I asked Sadie, kinda hoping she’d tell me she’d changed her mind and was ready to go home. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the three drunk stooges turn and head toward the front door.

  Thank God.

  “Ooooh, I’ll take a vodka and cranberry.” Sadie blinked at me half a dozen times, trying to focus her eyes.