Page 41 of I Did Before I Do

“Hey, Ryker.” Benny nodded at me.

Bradley just raised his eyebrows, expression blank.

Ah, they’d been discussing the expansion of No Regrets.

“Am I interrupting?” I asked, even as I held my hand up to get a waitress’s attention.

“Uh, kind of.” Bradley shifted in his chair, glancing at Benny. Even though they were co-owners, Benny was the one who called most of the shots.

And to my relief, he smiled, shaking his head. “Nah, it’s cool. Ryker knows.”

Bradley looked at me. “You do?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I was a real pain in Benny’s ass until he told me. But I’ve kept it quiet, don’t worry.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay. So, Benny, you want to tell him the good news?”

Benny grinned. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him so happy. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” He turned in his chair, his attention fully on me. “The paperwork went through. Everything’s good. We’re going to start looking for a location and hopefully open in about four months.”

Holy shit.

Holyshit.

“Are you serious? Congratulations, man!” I clapped him on the shoulder, then turned and grabbed Bradley’s shoulder. I gave them both a little shake. “That’s the best fucking news. I’m so happy for you two—for all of us!”

They both laughed. Benny took a long drink of his beer. Bradley shook my hand off his shoulder but continued to grin. “We’re thrilled. So fucking excited.”

“Well, yeah.” I let Benny go as my beer was delivered, and took a sip of it. “You two have really busted ass to make No Regrets something great. And it’s paying off now.” I paused, then held up my bottle. “So, cheers. Or something.”

“Cheers or something.” Benny tapped his battle against mine.

Bradley rolled his eyes but followed suit.

We all downed what was left of our beers and I put my hand up. “Next round’s on me. So, tell me what you’re planning?”

They both started to talk excitedly. Benny was already starting to look at artists he might want to hire; Bradley was in charge of researching equipment. They wanted the new shop to have a sort of biker feel to it and planned to update the decor at our shop to match.

It sounded perfect.

And it was good to see these guys so happy about something. They really had worked hard for this, and they deserved the payoff of seeing No Regrets succeed.

I suddenly wasn’t as upset that Sydney had cancelled our date. It meant I could be here, listening to my friends plan the future of their business.

We were so wrapped up in the conversation that none of us noticed the girl coming closer until her arms were around me.

I gasped, head jerking up.

Emily.

She was a regular at No Regrets. Hot, kind of goth, and covered in ink—all of us had done work for her, and I was pretty sure all of us had hooked up with her. She always wore dark lipstick, a lot of eyeliner, and tight shirts that hugged her tits perfectly.

Last time I’d seen those, Bradley was inking bats on to her underboobs. It was cute.

But she didn’t really do anything for me now.

I looked up at her and suddenly wished Sydney was the one clinging to me.

“Emily. Can I help you?”

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