Page 93 of Keep My Heart
‘It is,’ he says, but his tone doesn’t match his words.
‘I bet your parents were thrilled. Their son making partner at a fancy law firm?’
‘Hey! What about me?’ Sawyer says. ‘I opened a freaking brewery last week.’
‘I’m sure they’re proud of you too,’ I say, leaning up to his seat. ‘I heard it’s been getting a lot of business.’
‘Yeah, the past couple nights it’s been packed. This is our first real week of being open. Last week was our soft opening. I didn’t really announce it. I wanted to work out the kinks first.’
‘Who’s running it when you’re not there?’
‘This guy, Wade. I hired him last week. He used to run a bar in Eau Claire. So far, he’s been working out great. The bartender I hired is good too. I need to hire another one if business keeps up like this.’
‘It might slow down in a few weeks,’ Nick says, ‘once everyone’s had a chance to check the place out.’
‘I’m expecting that, but even if I get half as many people as I have now, I should still be okay.’
‘Sorry for the last minute invite,’ Nick says, turning toward me. ‘I just thought if you weren’t busy, you might want to go out.’
‘I didn’t have plans, so yeah, I’m glad you asked.’ I glancedown at my baggy shirt. ‘I just wished I could’ve changed clothes.’
‘I think you look great,’ Nick says, smiling at me.
Is he flirting with me or just giving me a compliment? I’m so confused. Why did he invite me out tonight? And for breakfast tomorrow? Are we just hanging out as friends, or does he want us to be more than that?
We get to the brewery and I see cars lined up all the way down the street.
‘You weren’t lying,’ Nick says to Sawyer as we go inside. ‘The place is packed.’
‘I gotta help serve,’ Sawyer yells above the noise. He hurries off to the bar.
‘I don’t see anywhere to sit,’ Nick says, his hand going to my lower back as he looks around the brewery.
‘We could just stand,’ I tell him.
‘Nick!’ someone yells.
We look up and see Jason waving us over. He’s at a table with Brody and two girls I don’t recognize.
‘Looks like we got a seat,’ Nick says, keeping his hand on my back as he leads me through the crowded bar.
‘I didn’t know you guys were going to be here,’ Nick says, pulling my chair out for me.
I take a seat at the long, high-top table. Nick sits beside me, across from Jason and one of the girls. The other girl is next to me and Brody’s beside her at the end of the table.
‘We were supposed to go to a concert,’ Jason says, ‘but the band cancelled so we decided to come here.’ He smiles at me. ‘Hey, Lyndsay.’
‘Hi.’
He gives Nick a questioning look, like he’s wondering why I’m here with him and what it means. I’d like to know that too.
‘When are you going back to LA?’ Brody asks me.
‘Sunday.’
‘Are you going to the reunion?’
‘Yeah. I wasn’t going to, but I figured as long as I’m here, I might as well.’
