Page 12 of One Touch

“Who runs together?” Lee, the middle Sullivan, walked up with a big smile and a slap to Duke’s back, which earned him a dirty look.

I gestured subtly with my beer. “That one. She’s the King girl. What’s her name again?”

Lee looked over. “Sylvie. She works for Huck at the bakery.” Lee turned to his brother. “You know that.”

Duke shrugged and shifted his body away from the King side of the bar. His elbow leaned against the worn oak bar top as he assessed his little brother.

Unbothered by Duke’s permanent scowl, Lee signaled to a bartender and planted his hands on his hips. “It looked like you got a decent start at Tootie’s today.”

“The crew cleared the place out so we can see what we’re working with. It’ll take a lot of work, but you’ll be happy when it’s done.”

Lee accepted the beer from the server with a smile that made her blush. “Katie still giving you trouble?”

I bit back theof course she isretort that nearly fell from my mouth. He’d seen for himself how she’d acted at dinner. “It’s been fine.”

“I’m happy to jump in on my off days. I have a shift at the fire station tomorrow, but then I’ll be free to help when I can.”

“One night off means you gotta tie one on?” Duke shook his head in disapproval.

Lee grinned. “That’s the plan. Where is Katie? When I texted her, she said she’d probably be up here tonight.”

My back stiffened. After being chided by Tootie, Kate and I had successfully ignored each other all evening, and I didn’t need Lee dragging her over and ruining my buzz.

Duke pointed with his bottle. “She and Annie are already tearing up the dance floor.”

Mischief played in the younger Sullivan’s eyes.

“Lee. Do not embarrass her,” Duke warned, but Lee only wiggled his brows before snagging his beer from the bar top and walking toward the dance floor. I turned to watch him.

“Catfish Kate!” Lee shouted above the music and shot both arms in the air. Kate rolled her eyes and pushed at his chest, but she was grinning at her older brother.

Lee had always been the life of the party and liked to mess with his little sister. As a kid I hadn’t really noticed her. Duke and I would go off and find whatever trouble we could, and we’d left the younger Sullivans to find their own fun.

The unfortunate nickname her brothers had given her was stupid to me even then. Sure, her emerald eyes were a little too big for her delicate features, but it didn’t make her look like a catfish.

Some doe-eyed femme fatale, more like.

Annoyed at the very thought, I downed the last of my beer. “Want another?”

Duke looked at the contents of his own, finished it off, and nodded. “Yeah, what the hell.”

Happy to remain at the outskirts of the bar, Duke and I caught up on life. Duke was running himself ragged managing operations at his family farm. The tourist season also meant U-pick was going strong. The Sullivans supplied a few local businesses, like the Sugar Bowl, with fresh, local blueberries, and the rest were shipped to one of the many packing facilities in the area, to be distributed throughout the country.

On the flip side, I shared with him a few recent builds I’d completed. The multimillion-dollar homes were a far cry from rural farm life, and the slow, easy pace of Outtatowner made it easy to forget that the demands of Chicago were waiting for me two hours away. The rapidly growing unread emails were a relentless reminder of that.

“I’m proud of you, ya know.”

I eyed my best friend and scoffed. “Shut the fuck up.”

“I’m serious. You did it. Went against the grain and followed the path you wanted to take.”

Our closeness meant Duke knew how poorly my parents had reacted to my choice of careers. They were horrified to learn they’d raised alaborer. After a lifetime of feeling disposable, they came around only after I made sure my successes were too big to ignore.

Duke, on the other hand, had his own dreams. Dreams that had taken a back seat when his dad got sick.

Rare emotion was thick in my throat. I swallowed it down with a swig of beer and a nod.

As the evening wore on, one beer turned into three, which turned into a round of playing quarters, and I then lost count. My brain was fuzzy, and my body buzzed with an unfamiliar energy.

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