Sully had, unfortunately, been taking a drink of beer which he promptly sprayed over the bar. “Holy shit,” he got out.
Max looked puzzled. “Margot, as in your mom? Why is that a big deal? She’s amazing.”
Sully was working to catch his breath. “Does she”—he gasped for some more air—“know about Ivy?”
“What’s to know?” Max asked. “I mean she stayed at your house with her daughter, but you all didn’t do any horizontal dancing, did you?”
“Hell no,” I said, pissed. “Addie was there, and that’s not happening anyway.” My cock gave a twitch in my jeans to inform me he was fine with it.
“So, I’ll reiterate. What’s the big deal with your mom coming? Are you worried about the green witch putting a spell on her?”
Sully wiped the beer off his face before speaking. “Margot is going to be all over our boy, here. She’s been waiting for ages for him to settle down. And Ivy comes with a premade grandchild. Oh, Spencer, you’re in for it now. Margot and the green witch are going to be the best of friends.” I was pissed to hear the joy laced through every word Sully spewed out.
A familiar voice came from the opening to our right, loud and clear. “Boys, you are so right. Margot is up in arms. And what’s this about a witch?”
I looked over to see a familiar face that I’d missed for far too long. “Drew?”
Drew moved across the bar toward us, reaching Sully and Max first. There were backslapping hugs as I moved around the bar to greet my brother. Drew was younger by three years, but I’d been looking up to him—height wise—since he hit his senior year. He had two inches on my six two frame, but easily twenty pounds of muscle, if not more. After college he went and joined the US Forest Service’s Hotshot crew. He’d been out West for the past seven years. I know my parents alternated between being proud and worried about him. With that career, I looked up to him in more ways than height.
I finally made it around the bar to these three and grabbed Drew by the back of his arm, tugging him out of the group so I could get my own greeting. Immediately he pulled me in for what felt a bit like being hugged by a bear. “Missed you, big bro,” he said as he gave me a few slaps on the back.
I laughed, pulling back to look him over. “Missed me so much that you came almost a week early?”
A ghost of a look passed quickly over his face which made me refocus. Before I could ask, the relaxed Drew was back and he grinned. “Had to see this Bookstore Ivy in the flesh. Want to elaborate on her witchy nature for me?”
I watched him for a beat or two before asking the question that was making my gut clench. “You okay?” He looked fine, but that didn’t mean anything.
Drew paused, then nodded. “All good, just ready to be around family for a bit.”
Yeah, something was definitely up. Maybe the two of us could share a bottle of Irish whiskey tonight and figure out why he was really here early.
“Been a while since I’ve seen you guys,” Drew said to Max and Sully.
“Too long,” Sully said.
I moved back around the bar as I glanced at my watch. Daryl would be back in here in about twenty minutes. Grabbing a tablet, I looked over at these three fools whom I called friends. “Food?”
“Hell yeah,” Max said. “We can order as we fill Drew in with how you’ve begun to associate with someone who likely is in a coven.”
I shook my head as I pulled up our point-of-sale software. “Nachos?”
Drew looked from Max to me. “Do you all still have those fancy steak nachos you told me about?”
I considered that for a minute. “You mean the ones with filet for the meat?”
“Of course.”
“Yup. Anything else?” I asked.
Sully requested wings with Thai sweet garlic chili. Max put in for a burger, which Drew quickly echoed. I got it all down, as well as my order, and then leaned on the bar so I could hear their conversation.
“…so apparently the woman likes oils and herbs, thus is considered a green witch,” Max summed up.
Drew nodded, then tilted his head to the side just like he had as a kid when he was working through something. “I wonder if that’s all the criteria. If so, half the population in Boulder would fall into that group.”
I smiled, remembering my visit out to see Drew last summer. We’d spent a lot of time in Boulder, even though he lived west of the city. It was a pretty incredible place. Really, the whole state was. Drew had always been into outdoor adventures, and those were everywhere you looked in Colorado.
“So, you’re here to check out Ivy. You sticking around for the anniversary party this weekend?” Sully asked, slapping Drew on the back.
