“Hi, can I get two mojitos, please?”
I nod and move over to the register to punch in her order, then place the card reader on the bench in front of her.
“Well, you’d only need me to be completely satisfied,” the first woman says, while my brother seems happily caught between the attention of the two women.
“Same here,” the second one challenges.
I pull two glasses out and fill them with some lime slices, mint, and sugar, then gently muddle them to start the mojitos, looking up every so often at my brother.
Mason looks down at his watch. “It’s still early. Who wants to go first?”
My face scrunches with disapproval, and by the martini thrown in my brother’s face, I’m guessing these women didn’t really like that one either.
Mason wipes his face, then swivels on his barstool to face me as they stalk off. “Tough crowd.”
“I’m not convinced we’re related if you ever thought that was going to go over well.”
“Hey, it’s happened before! I just read the vibe wrong.” Mason sniffs, fanning his shirt from the drink he just copped.
“You took—actually, I don’t want to know,” I say as I pour in the white rum and then top the cocktails with soda water.
I hand the woman her drinks, and she’s about to walk away before she looks between Mason and me.
“Just so you know,” she says to my brother, “most women don’t want to compete for a man’s attention.”
Mason looks over at her, and with a quick up and down glance, he swivels his seat in her direction and smiles. “Oh, I know how to give a woman my attention.”
She smiles. “Yes, and there’s still an olive in your collar from the last time you did.” She walks away victorious while Mason looks down.
“Why don’t you go sit with Beth and Caleb? Stop causing trouble in my bar.”
“But, I’m so lonely,” he teases.
“I highly doubt it, Mase. You have two siblings you can annoy.” I point my head over to the booth, noticing Tenley has now joined them.
“Look, Tenley’s here.”
“Ugh, girl gossip. I get enough of Beth at work.”
I pause, looking him over. “Do you actually feel lonely?”
Mason is perpetually upbeat. He can make friends in every crowd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the guy down, and even when things don’t go to plan, he’ll find a silver lining somewhere, determined to cheer up the people around him.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs. It’s a busy Saturday night, but looking down the bar, my staff have it covered for a few minutes, so I fold my arms over the counter, leaning closer to him.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Mason shrugs, caught in his thoughts for a moment. “Do you remember Christy?”
“Your high school girlfriend?”
He nods, looking down at his hands. “She got engaged.”
Mason’s twenty-nine, so I assume it’s been a good eleven years since he’s seen this girl. I think they were together for a year, but I didn’t think he was pining after her or anything. He’s certainly acted as if he’s moved on. Especially if the two-for-one invitation from earlier wasn’t a new thing for him.
I take a breath, trying to be sensitive to how my brother might be feeling. “Were you holding out for her or something?”
He looks up at me with shock. “What? No. It’s just that, when we broke up, she said I wasn’t marriage material. I was eighteen, and I took that as a compliment.” He picks up a napkin from the holder beside him and opens it up, then starts rolling it against the bartop.
