“Keep it up and your bedroom will become a Duncan and Waylon room,” I grumble, even though I’d never do that to her.
She gasps, her eyes wide. “You wouldn’t!”
“If you wipe your nose on me again, I will.”
Mom throws her other arm around my shoulders, pulling us into a three-way hug. “I love you both. I don’t know what I’m going to do with both of my girls gone.”
“Way still lives at home,” Emberlyn confirms.
“Only on paper. Between the bar and your brother’s house, he only comes home to raid the refrigerator and pick up clean clothes.”
She’s not wrong.
“All right, ladies, no more tears. We have packing to do,” Mom announces, stepping back and quickly wiping away moisture from her own face.
I’m going to miss this. I’m incredibly close to my family, and the thought of not working with them, seeing them all the time, or even just living in the same town as them has my insides in knots.
But I know this is the right step.
I feel it in my heart.
This is me, chasing my dreams.
“Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER
THREE
Collin
I look at the clock and sigh.
It’s done.
As of noon, Chuck’s Place officially changed hands, and the bar I’ve known and loved since I was old enough to drink is officially gone. No, the bar itself is still there, but it won’t be the same. It can’t be. Not with some out-of-towner buying it.
Lizzie.
Beautiful, spirited Lizzie Meyer.
Her emerald eyes still haunt my dreams. Four nights of tossing and turning, closing my eyes and not being able to get any real sleep. I tell myself it’s because of the job—my full-time one—and not because of the woman I picture when trying to get some shut-eye. But that would be a lie. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face, which only elevates my annoyance all over again.
“Hey, dumbass, you okay?” The question is followed up by a swift slap to the side of my head.
“What the fuck?” I ask Gio, instantly bringing my hand up to shield any additional blows.
“I’ve been talking to you for a solid two minutes, and you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”
“That’s because you always talk. I’m so used to it, sometimes I have to tune you out just to get a second of peace,” I counter, teasing one of my closest friends and coworkers.
“Fucker,” he grumbles, reaching over to slap me a second time, but this time, I’m prepared and block the swing.
“Anyway, what were you saying?” I ask, giving him my full attention. Right now we’re the only two in the day room, and while the TV is on, I have no clue what we’re even watching.
“I was saying I heard from Clara. She’s gonna come by this weekend so we can talk,” he states, making me feel like an even worse friend than before when I wasn’t listening to him. Gio and Clara have been on again, off again for as long as I can remember, and last I knew it was off once more.
“Yeah? Is that…wise?”
