Jonah’s eyes bugged. “And you’re thinking about buying one?”
Will laughed. “I doubt I can afford anything on my beer budget. I just thought it would be cool to check it out. Window-shop or whatever.”
“When is it?” Jonah asked. I could see the wheels turning in his head. He had one of those minds that couldn’t think quietly. Everything he did was projected onto his face, through his eyes and in the way his mouth quirked.
“Right now,” Will said. “I was going to see if you wanted to meet me there, but I could drive us.”
Jonah looked at his watch. Then at me. “You going, Liza? You love whiskey.”
Better than I would ever love a man. But I had a shit-ton of work to do today. Our business taxes were due soon, and while we had a fantastic accountant, the tediousness of gathering the essential documents for the bar was left to me, since both of my brothers were entirely inept at handling small details. “I have too much to do today. Otherwise, I would.”
“Oh, come on,” Jonah goaded. “We won’t be gone that long.”
Will gave him a funny look but agreed. “Charlie and Ada are here. We’ll be back before we open.”
A part of me leaped at the chance to tag along with my big brother. That he’d offered to include me made my heart dance. For most of my life, I’d been the annoying little sister who tagged along with her brothers. Another part of me genuinely liked hanging out with Jonah and Will. They’d stopped trying to ditch me a long time ago, and Jonah had become one of my best friends too. Not just Will’s.
But I really did have work to do. Phone calls that had to be made during normal business hours. Orders that needed placing. Events that needed details worked out and dates set. I didn’t mind keeping odd hours alongside my brothers. But the majority of my work had to be done during daylight.
“Really wish I could,” I told them sincerely. “But work calls. Enjoy browsing all the bottles you’ll never be able to afford.”
Will grinned at me. “You never know. My girlfriend is filthy rich.”
A laugh burst out of all of us. We all knew Will would never use Lola for her money, but it was nice to address the awkwardness of it—even as a joke. The bar might sometimes struggle, and the three of us might not be raking in the cash because we split the profits after we took care of the building, the inventory, the advertising, the employees, the small business taxes, and everything else required to keep the doors open. But if Will and Lola got any more serious, he would be living in a different tax bracket than Charlie and I did. It was an uncomfortable and cool thing that none of us knew how to talk about.
“I’ll make sure to let Lola know you want a Civil War-era Old Crow for your birthday then,” I teased.
“Thanks.” He grinned back.
“Probably can’t drink that, though,” Jonah added thoughtfully. “Spend all that money just to stare at something you can never enjoy. Seems like a waste.”
Will dug out his car keys from his pocket and shrugged. “Hey, there’s not a cap on how many bottles of whiskey you guys get me for my birthday. Lola and Eliza can be in charge of the fancy shit. You can gift me the rest.”
Will’s birthday wasn’t until April, so none of us took him seriously.
“You ready?” he asked Jonah.
“I probably can’t today, actually.” He tucked a long strand of hair behind his ear and shuffled his feet. “I need to finish this up with Eliza, and then I promised a few other clients I’d drop by. Sorry, man.” Will looked as confused as I was sure I did. Hadn’t he already agreed to go with Will? And try to rope me into the outing too? He pushed right past our perplexed looks and said, “How long is Lola gone for? We should hang out before she gets back.”
Will nodded, still looking befuddled. “Yeah, we should. She doesn’t get back until next week. What’s your Sunday look like?”
“Free per usual.” Jonah shrugged. “Text me.”
“Yeah, okay. See you later, man.” Will moved toward the door.
Charlie perked up as he walked by. “I’ll go, Will.”
Will shrugged again. “Sure.” He seemed to think better of it and added, “Don’t touch anything, though. We genuinely can’t afford any of it.”
Charlie grabbed his coat off the hook by the front door. “I’m good, dude. I’m off sugar.”
The door opened, bells chimed, and all of Will’sWTFquestions were lost to the outside. I let a smile slip. I would rather die than let my brothers know how cute they could be. But sometimes, when they weren’t looking, I couldn’t help myself.
I turned my attention to Jonah. “I’m heading back to my office if you want to talk.” Maybe the polite thing would have been to wait for his answer, but I had known Jonah for as long as my working memory could go back. He wasn’t my brother, but he wasn’t a stranger either. I saved my manners for people who needed them.
But as I turned around, Jonah put his hand on the small of my back, nudging me in the right direction. For a strong, almost hypnotic moment, I fought the urge to lean back into his massive palm and let my weight settle fully into him.
The urge came out of nowhere, and I instantly had a flashback to my sixteen-year-old self pining after my big brother’s best friend, who only sometimes noticed I was even alive. The memory shamed me from my head to the tips of my toes. And I fought back a fierce blush with all the forced composure I’d learned to manipulate over the years.
