Page 16 of The 7 Rules of Moving On
Kissie knocked back her shot, wiped her lips with the back of her hand, and nodded. “Booze and kissing. That’s it.”
After downing his shot, Ryan slammed the glass on the bar and got to his feet. “I gotta go back to the shop. But, it’s great to see you ladies again.”
Kissie didn’t miss the smile he flashed Dawn. It was the single most ‘you, me, and the nearest bathroom’ smile Kissie had ever seen in her entire dating career. And with how good Ryan was at wielding it, she imagined it usually got him whatever he wanted. Too bad for him, though, because Dawn was taken. Even if Kissie thought Jeff, Dawn’s fiancé, had all the charisma of a paper bag.
“I’ll be back tonight to help out,” Ryan told Trig while they performed a brief but practiced bro-handshake. Two slaps and a squeeze. It was sweet, and for some reason it made Kissie’s neck tingle.
“Bye, Ryan,” Kissie and Dawn said in unison, right before Dawn sneezed.
“Looks like congratulations are in order.” Trig glanced down at Dawn’s left hand.
“Thank you, Hot Bartender,” Dawn replied, grinning down at her ring.
“It’s Trig.”
“It’s Andrew, actually,” Kissie cut in, her speech already a little slurred after two quick shots on an empty belly. “But everyone calls him Trig. Because he loves math.”
“That’s weird.” Dawn’s brow furrowed. “Who loves math?”
Trig had already been smiling at her, but when Kissie winked at him and mouthed, “We do,” his smile leveled straight up to a beam. It was the best thing Kissie had ever seen, objectively. Anyone would have thought it was the best thing they’d ever seen. It didn’t mean anything. She was definitely drunk.
Rubbing at her throat, Dawn said, “Let’s go get settled, then go for a swim. We need to pace ourselves better if we want to last all night.”
“All night?” Trig whistled while making a drink for a round, cherry-cheeked older man sitting at the end of the bar. He reminded Kissie of Santa Claus. “That sounds dangerous. You might want to take it easy, though, because tomorrow night is when the real party starts.”
Leaning forward, Kissie rested her elbows on the bar. “Now you’ve got my attention.”
Dawn slid off her stool. “I’m heading up, Kiss.”
“I’ll be right there,” Kissie replied, her eyes never leaving Trig’s because they were far too big and chocolatey to ignore. “Now, tell me about tomorrow night.”
He leaned forward too, so close she could smell the sweet, smokey whiskey on his breath. There was something that happened to her whenever she was this close to him, something she thought she’d only imagined because it had never happened with anyone else. It was like the air sizzled, like she was one of those plasma balls, strands of red and purple lightning dancing all over her skin. She half expected her hair to start rising.
“It’s our Lonely Valentine’s Singles Night.”
“But it’s not Valentine’s Day yet.”
“Exactly. This way, if the singles night thing works, maybe a few lonely people will find a date for Valentine’s.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “That is perfect. It’sjustwhat I need. Will you be working?”
“Every day but Sunday,” he said, bringing the round man his drink. “How long are you and Dawn staying?”
“We leave Tuesday,” Kissie said.
“You two talking about Singles Night?” the Santa man asked, scratching his bushy salt and pepper beard.
“Why?” Kissie grinned at him. “You looking for a date?”
Santa man chuckled, blushing. “Don’t think my wife would appreciate that. But I was gonna offer to make some cookies for the event. Heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink icing?”
“Ah, man,” Trig replied, his expression pained. “That would be awesome, Billy. But you know I can’t afford anything—”
“On the house,” Billy said, raising a shoulder. “It’s good advertising.”
Trig clapped his hand over Billy’s and squeezed. “Thank you.” Then he turned back to Kissie and said, “Billy owns the bakery in town. It’s one of the best bakeries in all of western Montana. And today, he drinks at my bar for free.”
“Ah, baloney.” Billy’s cherry cheeks turned red as apples while he slapped a ten-dollar bill down on the counter. “You let too many people drink for free. No wonder this place isn’t…” he trailed off, his smile falling. “Sorry, Drew. I didn’t mean—”
