I held out my hand. “Nobody gets hurt.”
She accepted my hand and leaned in, letting out a loud squeak when we started to move. “Okay, let’s shake on it.”
I gripped her hand tight and pulled her close until our lips touched and heat exploded between us. “Best damn Ferris wheel ever.”
She let out a soft giggle and agreed. “It’s too bad I have to work tonight.”
“There are a few hours until your shift starts,” I reminded her, ignoring the way my body ached for her.
“I guess we can get the pumpkin pie funnel cake to go.”
Chapter 11
Sela
“Okay, revelers, it’s last call!” I stood in the middle of Ol’ St. Nick’s with aching feet, throbbing calves, and a big smile on my face. Last call was always a mad rush of last-minute drink orders, dodging hook-ups that were about to spill into the night, and friends wrangling the one who drank too much. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to order another round, drink it, and then get out so I can rest my poor dogs.”
Several tables called out for me or Dani, eager to get their orders in before anyone else. It was the day before Thanksgiving, so everyone was out numbing themselves in preparation for a day of love, gratitude, and family. It wasn’t something I could relate to, not really. I loved my family, but maybe it was because I missed them. Mom and Dad didn’t spend much time in Holiday Grove anymore, so I longed for the obligatory family dinners, the inappropriate conversations, and the expected arguments. The fact that it wasalsomy birthday only made me miss them more.
“Hey, Antonio, I need three pitchers, two IPAs, and one brown ale.” I wiped down my tray while I waited, rushing todeliver the pitchers before I returned with another round of orders.
“What happened to people being knee-deep in food prep for tomorrow?” Antonio’s brows dipped in confusion. “Is this another Holiday Grove quirk?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Nope. Look around, and you’ll notice that this crowd is out-of-towners, family home for the holidays with friends and serious relationships. They’re pre-gaming the holiday.”
He laughed before he set three margaritas and two glasses of white wine on my tray. “This place gets amazingly weirder with each passing holiday.”
“Agree to agree,” I told him and dodged a few unsteady drinkers as I made the delivery. It went like that for the next fifteen minutes, a complete and total madhouse of beer, wine, and cocktails until my feet were ready to come off. It was the downside to wearing amazing shoes as a waitress. My tips were always incredible, but my feet paid the price. A little bit of ice and Epsom salts, and I’d be good to go.
Tomorrow the bar was closed, so I could just spend the day in fuzzy slippers.
“And we are officially closed!” Dani shouted as she locked the door behind the last customers. She clapped her hands loudly and gave a little celebratory shimmy. “Let’s run through the post-shift checks and then have a drink.”
“Sounds good to me.” I kicked off my spiky black stilettos with a groan and then Dani and I got busy working as a team the way we always did. She cleaned the tables, and I wiped them down before we flipped the chairs and swept the floors. “This shift felt like it was a week long.”
Dani and Antonio both laughed. “It was busier than I expected,” Dani agreed. “Must be a lot of people bringing home friends and lovers.”
“Must be.” I wasn’t one of them, and based on my history, I wouldn’t be introducing anyone to my parents anytime soon. If ever. “Have you done the meet-the-parents thing yet,” I asked and nodded to where Antonio wiped down the bar.
“By Zoom, yes. With my parents and his aunt and uncle.”
I looked up in surprise. Dani and I had worked together for years, and we were friends, but we weren’t close friends. “How did it go?” There were several times in my life I thought I was at that stage in the relationship only to learn that I wasn’t. Harshly. Brutally.
“It went great. My parents grilled him, and his aunt basically called me beautiful and told him she knew it would be a spitfire who stole his heart.” Her smile was filled with love.
“That’s really great, Dani.” Her relationship history was about as dismal as my own. “I’m glad one of us got the happy ending.”
She frowned. “But you and that new guy, Brock. You’ve been spending a lot of time together, haven’t you?”
“We have,” I admitted. “I like him, and he seems to like me, but he’s divorced and cynical, and I’m perpetually single and cynical. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
“So is meatloaf, but it’s so damn good.”
I laughed. “But only when you know what you’re doing, which I do not.” Maybe Brock did, but he was just having fun. We’re just having fun. Right?
“Drink time, ladies.”
I leaned against the bar, and Dani took a stool, smiling up at her man like he was her everything. “What’s the drink of choice tonight?”
