Not two minutes later the screen door creaks open and the swing next to me squeaks.
“Sorry,” she whispers. “It’s not you.”
“I hope not.”
“I’ve had seven people interview. And out of them, three would work. But when I hire one of them, that means I need to step back from the bar. And it scares me.”
I open my eyes to find her staring at me. “Why does it scare you?”
“My dad came in today. He said after being there when I was off that week last month, it made him realize I was ready. He and my mom are signing ownership over to me.”
“Aren’t you happy about that? Isn’t that all you’ve wanted?”
When we were younger and used to run around and play video games before it opened, she would always tell me Kelly’s Pub would be hers one day. After she had realized she wasn’t going to be a princess, her goals changed and never once has she swayed from them. She’s always known what she wants and does everything in her power to get it. She really is the strongest woman I know.
“Yes …”
“But?”
“But it means I’m the only one responsible. And I’m totally cool with that because I’m so ready for it. I’ve lived there. I’ve worked a ridiculous amount of hours and gotten little to no sleep to get to this point, and now that it’s here, I’m going to be working fewer hours? It doesn’t make sense. I should be working more.”
“Meara.” I angle my body toward her. “Of course, I want to spend more time with you, and I would love nothing more than to be together every possible moment. But if you’re not ready to cut your hours back, I understand. I selfishly expected when I moved back that you’d change your life to be with me more. And that’s not fair to you.”
Her face softens, and she leans closer to me. “I do want to be with you as much as I can, honest. I’m just having some trouble giving up control.”
“It doesn’t matter if we go to bed at the same time every night because when I close my eyes, you’re all I see … you’re all I ever saw. But I refuse to wake up in the morning without you by my side. I’ve missed rolling over to see your drooling face.”
She cracks a smile and lightly punches my shoulder. “I love you. Sorry, I was such a bitch.”
“You’re not a bitch. And I love you, too. Now.” I stand and she puts her hand in mine. “I’m fucking exhausted. Let’s go to bed.”
* * *
I just flipped the sign on the music center to closed and am about to lock the door when an SUV parks in front of the building. Jamie, Gabe, and Mike hop out.
“Holy shit. What are you guys doing here?”
They walk in and we give each other manly hugs as I try not to show my utter shock. I lived on a fucking bus with these guys for seven years. Sleeping with Meara is a million times better, but it doesn’t mean I don’t miss their ugly faces.
“We were in the neighborhood,” Jamie says.
“Thought we’d stop by. See what you were up to.” Mike checks out the place while he’s talking. “I can’t believe you own this now.”
“Yeah, me either. It’s only been a month, but it still seems surreal. Mr. Meyer only teaches once a week, but I’ve already got a waiting list of kids.”
“Do they have hot moms?” Gabe jokes.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“God, you’re still pussy whipped!” He crosses his arms and clears his throat. “Seriously though, this is awesome.”
“Thanks.” I redirect my gaze to Jamie and raise my eyebrows. “What’s up? I talked to you two days ago, and you never mentioned coming here. In fact, I thought you guys were in Michigan.”
A silence passes as I lean against the counter. “What’s going on?”
“Um. Well. It turns out old Jordan is a piece of shit, and when he didn’t show for the performance last night, we kind of lost our drummer.”
Dread rolls through my stomach and I shake my head. “Fuck, sorry guys.”
Please don’t ask me to come back. Please don’t ask me to come back.
“So we had to cancel some shows until we could find a replacement. You’re stuck with us for a couple weeks.” Jamie smiles and I full on laugh.
“Holy shit. I thought you were gonna ask me to come back.” Tears are forming in my eyes and I wipe them away. “Jesus, don’t scare me like that again.”
“We don’t want your nasty ass back.” Mike punches my arm and I push him back. “You gonna show us around or what?”
“Yeah, come on.”
My laughter finally fades when I start talking about the music center. I show them some of the remodeling I did and the new soundproof padding I bought. We laugh at old times remembering being young and full of dreams and how absurd our vision was. As happy as I am to be out of the band and with Meara, I did miss them, so I’m glad we get to hang out for a while.
We decide to go to the pub; Gabe and Mike take off before Jamie and I do. As I’m shutting off the lights, Jamie taps the keys on a piano. “You happy, Liam?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“Me too, bro. Me, too.”
* * *
“Hey sexy, can I buy you a drink?”
“Seriously? Is that—” Meara turns around from behind the bar and her anger is quickly replaced with a huge smile. “Ahh! Oh my God, what are you doing here?” She leans over and hugs Jamie.
“Had some issues so we’re home for a couple of weeks.”
“Wow. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
She looks around the bar and waves at the other guys who are talking to Pierce at the door. “Can I get you a drink? Babe, you want something?”
“Beer’s good. The guys’ll want one, too,” Jamie replies.
“Water for me. Thanks.”
She pours our drinks and has to go take care of someone at the other end of the bar, so Jamie and I grab the glasses and go to an empty table. It’s still pretty early on a Friday night so it’s not that packed yet. After our talk last week, Meara decided that she’d still close on Friday and Saturday nights, but the rest of the time, she leaves around seven. She ended up hiring a friend of Nik’s and he only wants to work nights so she’s able to step back a little bit. It works out pretty good with the schedule I have and most nights we’ve been getting home at the same time.
Mike and Gabe meet us at the table but say they want to play pool, so we head in that direction. I stop at the bar and kiss Meara before meeting them upstairs. The guys all give me shit for being a bitch, but I just shake my head and laugh it off.
After Jamie gets another round, the place starts to pick up. A few fans come over and I step back so they can take pictures with the guys, but they pull me in. “You’ll always be part of the band, Lee.” Gabe throws his arm over my shoulder, and I rub the top of his head. “Aww, thanks, man. I think I might cry.”
We take a few pictures and sign some autographs on napkins. A couple of girls flirt with them and I step back. “I’m gonna go see how Meara’s doing.”
Cough.
“Pussy whipped,” Mike jokes.
Cough.
“Jealous.”
He puts an arm around two different girls and makes a show of looking at their tits. “Yeah, bud. Real jealous.”
I roll my eyes at him and jog downstairs, excited I get to see my woman. It hasn’t been long, but I miss her. Even though I love hanging out with the guys again, I can’t be this close to her and not touch her. It’s almost like sometimes I need to make sure it’s real, that she’s within arm’s reach, because it’s something I craved for so long. It’s something that I will do everything in my power to keep until the day I die.
Chapter 26
Meara
“HEY, LISA. HOW ARE
you?”
“Good. Sorry, I’m late.”
“Woman, please. It’s like five minutes.”
She steps behind the bar and puts her bag in a cabinet. Nik turns and accidentally bumps into her and grabs her arms, their bodies mere inches apart. Lisa’s face flushes at the contact, and she looks at the floor and says thanks.
“No problem.” Nik brushes past her to the other end of the bar and I raise my eyebrows in question, but she avoids looking at me.
“Busy, huh?” She scans the pub and wipes her hands on the back of her jeans.
“It just picked up.”
“I’ll take over if you want to go upstairs with Liam and the guys. Pierce told me they’re here on my way in.”
“Yeah, I’ll go upstairs in a bit when it slows down.”
We dance around each other serving drinks and laughing for a little while. I love nights like this. In fact, this is one of the first few when I feel everything is in place. In order where it should be. Normal and easy.
“What’s that look for?” Nik hits me with a towel and crosses his arms.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about how great everything is right now.”
I glance around and note a couple of changes I’ve made recently. Minor ones like adding little bursts of color with bright barstools and getting rid of the jukebox to make room for a pull-tab machine. While my parents took over for that week, they surprised me by signing ownership to me. Being the majority owner of this place has always been my dream, and now that I have it, I couldn’t be happier.
I have so much to be grateful for in my life. Despite a rough few years and an uncertain future, the outlook for better things to come is within reach. I can feel it in my bones.
Lisa’s at one end of the bar and Nik is refilling the ice while I man the side opposite her. I set a coaster down for the man in front of me. He looks vaguely familiar as if I’ve seen him somewhere before. He’s wearing a Reason to Ruin t-shirt, which is ironic as hell. An obnoxious gauge in his ears draws my attention to his overly styled spiked hair. I see so many people it’s entirely possible he just has one of those faces though and I’ve never seen him in my life.
“Hey. What can I getcha?”
“Lite’s fine.”
“Twelve or sixteen ounces?”
“Sixteen is good. Thanks, babe.”
I ignore his lame pet name and expertly pour his beer. It’s weird because I am so not the type of girl who thinks all that lovey-dovey shit is cute. I roll my eyes when Travis calls Char sweetheart. And when Liam gets all mushy with me, I get embarrassed almost. But when he calls me princess, my heart melts into a big puddle of goo. It means so much to me, that when someone else uses anything other than Meara, especially a stranger, it devalues what’s between Lee and me. So it pisses me off more than it probably should.
Wannabe rockstar exchanges the beer for some cash. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks.”
My sticky fingers quickly become clean as I wash them in the sink and toss the paper towel in the overflowing trash bin. I pull it out of the container and tie the drawstrings. “I’m just gonna run this out.”
“No. I’ll take it, Meara.” Nik grabs it out of my hand and throws it to the ground. “You’re not going out there by yourself.”
“Jesus Christ, I’m not a freaking china doll. I can manage to throw some garbage out.” While I bend down to pick up the bag, I make a show of heaving it over my shoulder. “I’ll be back in two minutes.”
“Woman,” Nik scolds. He rips the garbage out of my hand and shakes his head as he walks away. “Gonna take a piss, too.”
“He’s such a pain in the ass.” I angle my head in the direction Nik just left.
“I think it’s sweet that he cares that much,” Lisa says quietly.
“I know. I know.” As much as I pretend he annoys me, I love the big ole teddy bear.
She offers a weak smile, then walks over, and continues to serve customers. I head to my end of the bar and bend over to grab a new bottle of Jack. As I stand up, I bump into a body, turn around, and look into the eyes of wannabe rocker man.
“You can’t be back here.” I take a step away and he follows, crowding me into the small space between the shelving on the back wall.
I stop inches from my back being pressed against the wall and put my hands out. “Get back.” Though I know I shouldn’t be fearful of him with everyone here, my heart palpitates at an alarming rate.
He ignores my warning and to avoid him touching me, I back into the wall. “I know what he sees in you, but I never understood what you saw in him.”
Because I know the best defense is a good offense, I bring my knee up to nut check him. He easily blocks it, quickly grabbing my hands and pinning them to my side. He presses his lower body into mine, and in an instant, I’m not able to move.
“Hey! What are you doing? Get off her!” Lisa yells and grabs at his shoulder.
He releases his right hand, turns a little bit, and shoves Lisa. She falls and her head catches on the end of the solid wood bar top. She goes from grabbing at bottles to keep herself upright to a rag doll. Blood hits the ground mere seconds before her body does, and I scream and fight to get away. “Lisa! Oh, my God!” He grabs me by my upper arms and shakes me. “Shut up. Shut up.”
Commotion surrounds me as customers begin to shout, and like a beacon of light, Liam appears and his face changes in instantly. The smile and happiness are completely gone and murder materializes in every pore. “The fuck?” Liam’s fist crashes into the side of the man’s head and as his grip loosens, Liam puts him in a headlock and slams him to the ground.
“Shit. Are you okay, Meara?” Lee looks up at me and I nod and quickly scramble toward Lisa. “Lisa! Lisa!” Her body lies unmoving and my stomach bottoms out.
“Oh fuck, I didn’t even see her. Jesus Christ.” Liam gasps.
“Let me go, man.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“What in the ever loving … Lisa?” Nik’s panicked voice vibrates in my ears before he gently pushes me out of the way to tend to Lisa.
I scramble back to press the panic button under the bar by the register and grab a towel. Nik attempts to put his hand under her and move her away from some of the glass that was broken on her way down.
“Don’t move her, Nik.” I kneel next to him, grip his forearm, and press the towel to the cut on her head. “She hit her head really hard.” The white towel fast becomes red, and I add more pressure to try to stop some of the bleeding.
A soft moan comes from deep in Lisa’s chest. “Lisa? Can you hear me?” She gives no response aside from the moaning. The commotion going on around me begins to get louder, but I focus on every rise and fall of her chest. Nik’s normally tan skin is pale and his jaw so tight I’m afraid his teeth are going to break.