Page 82 of Tennessee Trouble

“Yes. Exactly.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

21

BRANDT

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.”

Rylan’s voice is full of wonder and excitement. He stops in the middle of the walkway, causing a traffic jam behind him, staring up at the massive stadium. There’s a buzz in the air already, the whole place overflowing with vendors and booths, the sea of people swarming them growing by the second.

“When it said it was at the Nashville Fury Stadium, I guess I thought they meant on the field,” he continues. “Not the whole thing.”

“Oh, it’s the whole thing,” I assure him. “You got the big names out here who have booths and stores. Couple years ago, Walking Jack had a bounce house, which was interesting to watch. But then inside, the whole lower bowl is different wineries, breweries, you name it. It’s a lot of fun. Especially if you’re willing to be adventurous in what you try.”

“Why don’t we have a booth?” Mikayla asks, sounding like she’s just realizing what they are missing out on.

“We do,” Kyra snaps back. Lindee raises her eyebrows, giving me a look that confirms my desire to put space between us and them. “We send people every year. Last year was the first year I didn’t personally attend. How do you not know this?”

Mikayla huffs. “My knowledge of CocktailCon is minimal. As a legacy brand, we’ve never qualified for the competition, therefore it wasn’t on my radar. I didn’t realize there was an expo component to it.”

“It’s called CocktailCon. As in convention⁠—”

“Right, well, we qualify this year,” Lindee cuts in, trying to ease the tension between her sisters. Taking my hand, she eases forward, putting space between us and the rest of the group. “Speaking of, we have to go check in. So we’ll see you in a bit.”

I watch Mikayla roll her eyes as Lindee holds on to me, then flick my gaze over to Rylan, who seems unfazed, and then Kyra, who is beaming like she was just named prom queen. I’m still amazed at how different each one of them is, all while sharing those same hazel eyes. It’s uncanny.

I spin us around, leaving everyone behind us, letting their conversation fade into the din of the crowd as Declan comments that they need to head to their meeting. I don’t really care where they go or what they do. This afternoon is about spending time with Lindee doing something we both love—learning about booze. All we need to do is get checked in and then we are free to wander, sample, and network as we please until the awards ceremony out on the field this evening. That will be the crowning event.

Which means I need to find a way to tell Lindee that little thing I’ve been keeping from her now. I don’t need her finding out while standing in a crowd of hundreds of other people.

She’s not the only one who is a finalist for best original cocktail.

Her email came before mine. Which had given me a sliver of hope that it would never come up, despite the fact that I’ve been trying to find a way to tell her for weeks. But I’m not that lucky.

So I need to tell her now.

“Oh, there’s a meadery!” Lindee points out, her excitement palpable.

“There is an entire section dedicated to cider and mead actually. There’s one little craft place out of North Carolina that’s really good.”

“That could be something fun to try.”

I agree. To me, that’s the beauty of this event—seeing all the fun and creative stuff others in the industry have come up with. Sure, there are people who show up to the event with the intent to get a good buzz, but for many of us, that’s not what it’s about. This isn’t a frat party. It’s a celebration of the art behind the science.

“We can head there first after we get checked in,” I tell her, my own excitement starting to simmer.

“No, I mean…us.” She stops, then pulls me over to the wall to get me out of traffic. “Yes, I want to check it out, but…what I meant was…you and me. Like, the next thing we could work on together.”

Holy fuck…

My stomach does somersaults. Lindee wants to keep working together. Meaning, she does see some sort of future for us.

“You and me?” I choke out, my brain moving way too fast for my mouth to keep up. “Another project?”

Lindee nods, her beautiful hazel eyes dimming as self-consciousness takes over. Shit, that’s not that I meant to have happen.

“Yeah…” Biting her lips, she looks up at me, hoping that whatever comes next isn’t going to offend. “We could even make it an official thing? A collaboration between Tennessee Trouble and Southern Brothers?”