“You’re scared of your mama.”
“I am not.”
She’s still smiling. “You absolutely are.”
I glare at her. “Be ready by eleven.”
Her smile slowly fades. “Dex…”
“What?”
“Meeting someone’s entire family after working for them for a few days seems like a terrible idea.”
“Take it up with my mama.”
She groans and drops her head onto the bar.
“This is how horror movies start.”
I grab my backpack and head for the office.
“Relax, Tinker,” I call over my shoulder.
“You already met most of the family, and the rest are just as delulu, if not more.”
Behind me I hear her groan again.
And for some reason, the sound makes me smile.
CHAPTER 9
Alexis
The bar is finally quiet.
Stephen left an hour ago, and Dex said he has a boxing match tonight, so it’s just me. I wipe down the counters one last time, the hum of the dishwasher the only sound besides the occasional creak of the building settling.
I try not to think about Dex boxing…
Nope. Not his damn body moving in a ring, tattoos glistening on tanned skin, abs flexing with every punch. Nope. Not going there.
A slow breath catches in my chest anyway, like my body didn’t get the memo.
The only time I’ve ever had these thoughts about men is with movie stars or singers I like. Fantasies. Never someone I actually know. Not real life.
I don’t feel attraction to men easily, or at all. My ex-therapist, the one I had to stop seeing two years ago for lack of money, used to say that some people with my history don’t feel attraction to real men because of what happened when…
Nope. Not thinking about that. Shove it away. Done.
I finish stacking chairs, shove them against the wall, and finally let myself sink onto the stool at the end of the bar.
That’s when I remember the grand piano on stage, quietly gathering dust. I haven’t touched one in years. Not since Dad…
My fingers itch. My shoulders relax. I slide off the stool, pull the bench out, and let my hands hover over the keys. The wood is worn smooth beneath my fingertips, faintly cool, like it remembers every song it’s ever held.
“If you have music, Lexy, you’ll never be alone.”
My chest tightens as the memory slips in, soft and clear.
