Page 5 of Wish You Would

The sarcasm in his voice slid off me like Teflon as I watched the two women. Gigi had picked up another cord and was wrapping it neatly, as if she’d done it a million times. As she did, she held a steady stream of conversation with Halle. I leaned in, as if the meager few centimeters would suddenly allow me to hear what was being said in this noisy bar.

“Do you think they’re flirting?” I asked Simon, my stomach sinking. If Gigi’d decided she was into Halle, too, I stood no chance. That woman had game for days.

Simon sat back, crossing his legs. “Hmm.” He took a long sip from his Sex on the Beach. “It’s hard to say. On one hand, they do seem rather chummy. But…”

“But?” I grabbed his arm. “But, what?”

Without looking my way, he peeled my fingers from his arm and rested my hand on the tabletop, giving it a pat. “But,” he continued, eyes still on the stage. “No sparks.” He shook his head decisively and returned his focus to his drink.

“Sparks?” I looked from the women to him. “What is this, a Taylor Swift song?”

He shrugged. “Everything is a Taylor Swift song.” Pushing his drink aside, he stood. “If you’re not gonna make your move, we can at least dance.” As he said it, the sound system kicked on, the opening beat of some new pop song filling the space. He held out his hand and wiggled his fingers, beckoning me to take it.

With a sigh, I took it. Simon pulled me to my feet, making an attempt to twirl me. I stumbled and crashed into him, like the graceful being I was. My gaze flew to the side-stage to see if Halle had seen. Upside? She had not. Downside? She hadn’t noticed because she was still laughing at something Gigi said.

Clenching my molars against the surge of prickly-hot envy that roared through me, I let Simon lead me to the dance floor.

Next time, I told myself as Simon shimmied my way. I’d definitely say something next time.

3

GIGI

C'EST LA VIE

“All right, kid,” I said to Kai as I locked the door behind the last paying customer. “Good job tonight. You really made the tap your bitch.”

Kai puffed up like a proud penguin and grinned. “Thanks,” they said, shaking their bangs out of their eyes. “I only dropped two glasses.”

I clenched my teeth into something I hoped looked like a smile. It was four, but who was counting? “How about you start putting chairs up,” I said to Kai. “So we can start on the floors?”

Dante chuckled from somewhere in the kitchen. He’d pay for that later. Kai nodded and traipsed away. I shook my head. Kid had enthusiasm, that was for sure. I could only hope it’d carry them through what was looking to be a very steep learning curve.

Letting out a deep breath, I surveyed the empty bar.

Well. Mostly empty.

In the corner booth, one single soul still sat, head buried in a book as Elizabeth Bennett kept watch from her place on the wall. Smiling to myself, I reached beneath the bar and pulled a can of ginger ale from the fridge. Then, I poured it over ice and a shot of honey whiskey, finishing it off with a lime wedge on the rim. Once I finished making the drink, I headed for the booth.

“Oh.” Parker looked up from her book as I sat the glass on the table. “Sorry, I know you’re closed.” Even as she voiced the apology, she reached for her drink, a sheepish smile curving her lips. “Thanks.”

“No problem. You’ll make it up to me with free therapy someday.” I tilted my head toward her book. She was a grad student at Sutcliffe, and often stayed late, studying while we closed up shop. “You’re gonna save me so much money.”

“Of course.” Laughing, Parker closed the book in question, revealing the title: The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. Yikes. “All the free therapy for my favorite bartender.”

Something twinged in my chest as she smiled up at me. I ignored it and pulled out the chair across from her. Kai would be a while as they sorted out the mop sink. “Where’d your buddy go?”

“Simon? Oh, he’s long gone,” she said with a wave of her hand. “He opens the coffee shop tomorrow, so he’s probably coerced my cat into snuggling him, and they’re both sound asleep.”

“Ahh.” I nodded. “Makes sense.”

Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. How had I ever functioned normally before this? Pretty sure I used to be chill. Pretty sure I had been capable of holding a conversation with Parker without getting sidetracked by her smile. But sometime over the last few months, sometime during her late-night study sessions at the bar, my brain had been taken hostage by infatuation. Parker had gone from my brother’s girlfriend’s younger sister, to Parker, the brilliant grad student who studied at my bar a few times a week.

I don’t know when it happened, or how. All I knew was that one day, I brought a drink over to her and she smiled up at me, and…

Welp. I was done for.

It was annoying, it was embarrassing. It was inconvenient as fuck. Her sister would murder me if she knew. Hell, I kinda wanted to murder me. Because Parker? She was way, way too good for the likes of me. She was going to a doctor, for fuck’s sake. Meanwhile, I was a failed musician and an even fail-ier human being.

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