Page 73 of On The Rocks

“I know.” I followed suit with my own bowl and pressed a kiss to her cheek before leaving. “Thanks for the extra helping.”

“Anytime.”

I went back into the taproom and looked around for Lennon. She was behind the bar in meticulous mode with her closing routine. I didn’t try to get in her space again. I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t end up with one of her stirrers stabbed into my delicate parts.

I stopped at the bar, plucked a mini sword out of her canister, tucked it in my cheek, then held up my hands before turning back to help Dean and Kevon with the heavy lifting. They needed to get the empty kegs into the back for refills from the bottling room in the main orchard.

This was the family friendly night. I could only imagine how crazy the next night would be.

Dean was pushing the big duster broom across the mats in the front, and I helped him out with the front porch. The music piped through the speakers also included outdoors. The rain had dispersed, leaving the air cool and clean.

Dean was singing along to an older Mumford & Sons song. He had a decent tenor and suited the alt rock band. I’d neverbeen the singer for my band in any way, but I could hold my own on harmonies.

Dean’s eyebrows shot up and we sang along together to the driving beat of “The Wolf” then into a well-known Chris Stapleton song. When we finished, we heard clapping behind us.

Dawn, Lennon, CJ, and Brandi were standing in the doorway.

“We heard you from inside.” Dawn made a hot stuff gesture.

Dean leaned on his broom with a grin. “I accept any and all tips.”

They all laughed.

“We’re ready to lock up.” Lennon disappeared back through the door.

“I didn’t know you could sing.” Dean took the other broom from me as we walked up the ramp to the taproom.

Unsure if I should cop to being a musician, I just shrugged. “I’m actually better at guitar.”

“No shit.” He slipped through the big double doors. “I play a bit of acoustic but just fooling around, mostly.”

“I’m game for playing one night, if you’re up for it.”

“Really?”

I was shocked that I didn’t need to lie. “Yeah. I miss playing.”

“Man, that would be cool. None of my friends are into music, unless it’s the juke at Lucky’s.”

I laughed. “Same.” That wasn’t a lie, either. My friends definitely weren’t into music much these days. Marcus had disappeared on his motorcycle, after the break. He hadn’t checked in with any of us in months.

The only one I was still tight with was Baron and he was more interested in the homestead he’d bought in New Mexico. He bought horses, for God’s sake. I knew his old man used to be a rancher, but Baron had never been interested. Evidently, we were all finding new outlets, post-breakup.

Irene...

I didn’t know where the hell she was, nor did I care. She was the powder keg who was responsible for our entire implosion.

Locking up only took a few minutes, and then everyone scattered to their cars. Lennon stood on the porch, with her hands fisted in the pockets of her denim jacket.

“You gonna be mad at me for the rest of the night?” I stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her.

“Why would you tell people we’re involved?”

“Because we are.”

“We fucked, it’s not the same.”

The punch of the word stirred me up. “Yeah, we did. And if you let me take you home to my place again, I’ll fuck that attitude out of you, if you like.”

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