AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Holy shit!” Hollin crowed.
Julian looked amazed and jubilant. He threw his arms around me in a careless way I hadn’t seen since we were kids. “You did it!”
I laughed and released him, shaking Hollin’s hand. “I didn’t do much.”
“Whatever, man,” Hollin said. “We never would have gotten here without you.”
They were probably right, but I just laughed them off. I was far too buoyant from our victory. They pulled me over to the bar. I couldn’t even find it in me to argue when they convinced the barista to pour us shots of something clear. I had a way with business, and they had their own charismatic specialties. Apparently, getting drinks out of a barista was one of Hollin’s.
One drink turned into five, which turned into ten. I stopped counting as we celebrated well into the evening, forgetting all about the work I should have been doing and the earlier argument with Annie.
When David showed up with Jensen, Austin, Landon, and Patrick in tow, it was only then that I remembered why I’d chosen Walkers to begin with. It was David’s birthday. All of the guys had taken the night off and planned to start festivities at Walkers.
I clapped David on the back. “Happy fucking birthday.”
David cracked up. “Looks like someone started celebrating without me.”
I laughed. “We got the winery.”
“That’s incredible,” David said, shaking my hand. “I’m happy for you all. I know you’ve been busy with it.”
“What winery?” Jensen asked. He appeared at my other side with a bourbon in his hand. Top-shelf likely. Jensen was the oldest Wright. He’d been CEO and given it up to pursue his love of architecture. It was his wedding to Emery where I’d managed to fuck everything up with both Annie and Missy. A talent, I know.
“We bought West Texas Winery,” I told him.
Austin wrinkled his nose. “That shithole?”
His best friend, Patrick, elbowed him in the side. “Dude.”
“It is,” I agreed anyway. “But we have big plans for it.”
“Isn’t it haunted?” Landon asked with a laugh.
“If you believe in that sort of thing,” I said with a shrug.
“It’s had one too many problems not to blame it on something,” Austin added.
Jensen rolled his eyes. “It’s not haunted. That’s ridiculous.”
“I’ll blame it on mismanagement.”
“Seems more reasonable,” Jensen said. “Haunted.”
“It’s what everyone says,” Landon added.
Julian appeared then with another shot.
I took it from him and lifted it into the air. “To David’s birthday and owning a haunted winery.”
All the other guys raised their glasses at the toast. We all drank deep. The tequila hardly even burned. I didn’t even need a chaser. That was probably a problem. I hadn’t let loose like this in Lubbock in years. Not since the night our mom’s cancer had gone into remission. We’d celebrated for three straight days. We hadn’t thought she’d make it this time, but a year of chemotherapy, and they’d declared her cancer-free. This didn’t feel quite like that, but it was definitely worth celebrating.
The conversation turned to work, as it so often did with so many from Wright in one place. I wasn’t even sure when Morgan had turned up to make fun of us all for talking work at a birthday party.
“You all are the absolute worst,” she said with an eye roll. “I’m going to get another drink to avoid this conversation.”
I laughed, finishing off number thirteen…or was it fifteen? Uncertain. I was drunk. That was for sure.
David pushed past me and straight toward the entrance. I turned and found Sutton standing in the entranceway. He picked her up and swung her in a circle like they were in some fucking Hallmark movie. But it wasn’t Sutton that stopped me in my tracks. It was the woman standing next to her—Annie.
She was in a black dress that I’d never seen before. It hugged her features to her hips and then flared out in a flowy skirt to her knees. Her wild red hair had been tamed into some intricate updo, and she had on more makeup than I’d seen from her in weeks.
She was deep in conversation with Jennifer, who tugged her toward the bar. Neither of them noticed that I was even here. After our fight this morning, I probably should give her space.
But I didn’t.
I stepped right up to her, leaning into the bar and sliding my hand up her waist. She jumped almost out of her skin before she saw it was me.
“Jordan,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”
I arched an eyebrow. “It’s David’s birthday.”
“Right,” she whispered.
I moved in even closer so that we were nearly touching. My fingers found hers in the empty space between our bodies. She flushed and tugged back.
“Stop it,” she hissed.
“Why?”
“We’re in public.”
“So?”
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Don’t. Not tonight.”
Jennifer passed her a drink and shot me a pained look. “I’m going to go find Sutton.”
