I gave her a little wave and continued toward my car.
“I met a boy,” I muttered to myself, giggling as I actually skip-hopped over the curb and into the parking lot.
Chapter 20
Finn
We’d been closed for twenty minutes. I’d just wiped down the bar when Mark slid onto a barstool across from me, two beers in hand. He set one down in front of me like he was presenting a trophy.
“Drink,” he said.
“It’s Thursday. We open again in eighteen hours.”
“Drink anyway. We’re celebrating.”
I picked up the beer—one of Rod’s craft selections, something local and hoppy that I’d been too busy to taste all week—and took a sip. “What are we celebrating? The fact that we survived another night without burning the place down?”
“Better.” Mark pulled out his phone and opened the spreadsheet we’d been updating all week. “Look at this.”
Revenue from Sunday’s watch party: $2,847.
Monday (regular night): $567.
Tuesday (regular night): $612.
Wednesday’s Lightning game: $1,923.
Total: $5,949.
I stared at the number.
“That’s . . .” I couldn’t quite form words. “Is that gross or net? That’s more than our monthly rent.”
“That’s net, baby! And yes, it’s more than our monthly rent.” Mark was grinning like he’d just won the lottery. “Finn, we did it. We’re only one week into this thing and we’ve covered our base operating costs for the entire month. Everything from here on out is profit.”
“That can’t be right. You’re not counting salaries or cost of goods or—”
“Yeah, yeah. We have other costs, but Ybor rent is the big nut.”
I grunted and smirked. “You said ‘nut,’” I giggled into my beer.
“Oh, shut it, you prepubescent horndog.”
“Cock. Kettle. Black.”
He grinned and shook his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that phrase goes.”
I shrugged. “We’re in Ybor. Anything can happen here.” I took another sip of beer because I needed something to do with my hands. “We made almost six thousand dollars in four days.”
“We made almost six thousand dollars in fourdays,” Mark confirmed. “And it’s Thursday. We’ve got Friday and Saturday ahead of us, which should be our best nights. Plus another watch party on Sunday.Horny Rivalshas six more episodes, and the hockey season lasts an eternity.”
“This is insane.”
“This isamazing.” Mark clinked his beer against mine. “We’re going to make it, kiddo. We’re going to make it.”
Something warm and overwhelming settled in my chest. Relief, maybe, and definitely a dose of pride. I’d never known that bone-deep satisfaction of working yourself to exhaustion for something and watching it succeed.
But I did now.
