“You make this?” I ask, taking a sip.
He snorts. “Not a chance. Bought it from the market and put it in the blender with ice. Which is necessary since it’s freakin’ potent.”
“Mm,” I hum as I take a long sip. Tangy and sweet at the same time. “It’s good.”
Laiken nods. “Very. They won’t give me the recipe.”
I grin and set it on the small table between us. It’s frustrating that he’s so far away. I can’t reach him. But Mom keeps coming outside so I can live without touching Laiken for a while. It’s not like I’ve lived twenty years without being in his lap at every possible moment.
“How was your shift last night?” Laiken asks.
“I definitely don’t enjoy the bar without you,” I say, frowning. “Is that the new normal now, Mr. Manager?”
“I have a feeling it will be more often moving forward,” Laiken admits.
I scowl, making him laugh.
“Maybe Whiskey Horizons needs a new singer,” he suggests. “You could try out for the band.”
“Ew. I would stab Ben with the drummer stick. Is that what it’s called?”
“I think so.”
“Huh. That’s boring.” I take another sip of my smoothie. “I think you should decide to work with me every night I’m scheduled and do your other managerial duties on the nights I don’t work. Since I only work two nights a week, I think that’s fair.”
“Guess I shouldn’t tell you now that the management groups think I should be working during daytime hours when most other managers are working for meeting and coordination purposes.”
He smiles when I glare at him. “Not cool.”
“Sorry.”
I sigh. “It’s fine. This isn’t a forever job.”
“Have you found any forever job possibilities?”
I shake my head. “No. Admittedly, I haven’t looked. I’ve been enjoying workingwithyou. The job is very different when we work together. It doesn’t feel like work. The night doesn’t drag. But if more and more nights are going to be like last night, then I don’t think I want to stay.”
“I’ll make sure I spend most of your shifts with you,” Laiken promises. “Trust me when I tell you I’d much rather be anywhere you are than somewhere else.”
“Good.”
“Nason asked me again about your secret boyfriend. Especially since you justhadto say that Nason knew him.”
I huff. “There’s a part of me that just wants to tell him, but I know it’s disastrous.”
Laiken looks over my head at my house. “It will be,” he agrees. “I’ve known Nason for most of my life, and there’s never been any indication thatthiswill be acceptable.”
“He loves us,” I say. “I feel like that should override anything else.”
I can tell by the way Laiken nods that he doesn’t think that’s going to be the case. A minute passes before he looks at me and smiles. “How about we don’t worry about that right now? I think we have some conversations to have, including how we want to handle this situation with your parents, but it doesn’t need to be discussed today. Okay?”
I want to believe that we just need to think of the right argument or defense or… explanation, and Dad will understand. That’s what Iwantto happen. That’s the best outcome.
But Laiken is right. This doesn’t need to be an immediate conversation. There’s no need to tell anyone outside of the two people who know. In a community like Kala, two people is huge. That’s always a recipe for everyone knowing.
I suppose it helps that one is Cash, and the other doesn’t live on Kala. As a professional hockey player, he wants to keep his anonymity, so it’s unlikely he’s going to tell a soul, anyway. He understands wanting privacy. That’s why he’s here.
“Your birthday is in a couple of days. Excited?” Laiken asks.
