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Fifteen months later
If Nick and I had any qualms about being in a long-distance relationship, you’d never know it. He came to visit me every chance he got, even if it was only for a day. I thought it was sweet but not necessary, considering how busy we both were. I tried to tell him to stay home, but Nick refused to listen, claiming that he wanted to spend all of his free time with me. He said it didn’t matter where I lived—he was going there.
After he left that weekend, he had gone straight to the bar to pick up his phone from Ryan and fill his brothers in on what had happened between us. Nick’s dad was sitting in the bar drinking a beer when he arrived. Apparently, Nick had been surprised but thankful to see everyone in one place, hoping to mend any broken fences once and for all.
When his dad presented him with paperwork releasing him from his contract at the company, and then Frank tossed him a partnership agreement offering him a one-third ownership in the bar, Nick couldn’t sign each one fast enough. The day he called to tell me that news was something I’ll remember until I die. I’d never heard him so happy, relieved, and excited before. Everything was finally falling into place for my guy, and that thrilled me no end.
I parked my car in the bar’s small reserved lot and hopped out with a smile on my face, wondering for a moment if I’d ever stop smiling. When I graduated with honors this past spring, I moved back to Southern California the very next day, not wanting to delay my life with Nick another minute. Seeing him sitting in the crowd at graduation with my parents was one thing, but coming back home to him where I belonged was another.
“Hey, Jess,” Kyle said from his perch handling security outside the door.
“Hi, Kyle.” I greeted him with a bear hug as the bar noise from indoors filtered out.
“Busy night?”
Shaking his head, he shot me a look. “What do you think?” he said sarcastically, and I laughed.
It didn’t seem possible that Sam’s could get even more popular, but after Nick bought in and started working there, that’s exactly what happened. Word spread that there was a third Fisher brother, and that brought in even more customers and all kinds of publicity.
Women had their bachelorette parties there, posting clips and pictures all over social media, thanks to Nick. He had created a special filter for Snapchat you could only use when you were inside the bar, as well as a clever backdrop for posting pictures only to Instagram. He really was brilliant, using popular social media sites to his advantage.
Local news channels featured the brothers at least once a week, and every type of reality television show wanted to film scenes at the bar, claiming to love the vibe there. But we knew the truth—it was the three gorgeous brothers the cameras loved, not to mention the audience. Tourists insisted on visiting the “bar hotties with the bodies,” a new catch phrase that came out of one of those reality shows.
Pulling the door open, I stepped inside the packed room, searching for my guy. I spotted him behind the bar with Ryan at his side as they mixed drinks with big smiles on their faces. Frank was at the other end, craning his neck so he could hear someone shouting their order to him.
There wasn’t anywhere to sit at the bar, so I hung out in the back while I waited for Rachel to show up.
“I see the love of my life,” Nick shouted, his voice rising above the bar noise, and I glanced up to see him making a beeline straight for me.
When he reached me, he slid one arm around my waist and pulled me into a deep kiss, our bodies connected. The crowd cheered, and some girls groaned their disappointment. I was used to it.
“Glad you’re here,” Nick said with a wink. “But I have to get back to work.” He planted a quick kiss on my cheek before turning to run off.
I smacked his ass as he hustled away, thanking every single star in the night sky that this guy was mine as Rachel walked in.
“Holy shit, this place is a madhouse!” she yelled before pulling me into a hug.
“Summer,” I answered with a shrug. The summer months were always the busiest time of year at the bar.
“I saw him kiss you.” Rachel shook her head. “I can’t believe he did that in front of everyone.”
I ran a finger across my bottom lip, still feeling his lips there, and smiled. “He does it all the time.”
Nick often advertised the fact that he wasn’t single, definitely wasn’t available,
and he never pretended otherwise. Whenever I walked into the bar, he pointed me out to everyone, sometimes introduced me, but he always greeted me with a kiss.
I tried to explain to him one night that I knew how important the illusion of being available was to a lot of bartenders, especially when your clientele was mostly women. It made good business sense to want to keep the women happy, to keep them coming back for more. To do that, you sometimes flirted, acted single, or pretended that the women had a shot in hell in dating you someday.
But Nick didn’t want any part of that. “I won’t pretend to be something I’m not, Jess. And I absolutely refuse to let women think they have a chance with me. It’s not happening. If they want a Fisher brother, they can flirt with Ryan,” he’d argued one night, and I let it go because I loved his answer. Absolutely loved it.
“Where are we going to sit? Can we sit? Is there anywhere to sit?” Rachel shot rapid-fire questions my way, her head swiveling as she looked for seats.
“It will clear out soon. They have to close.”
“I need a drink,” she shouted to me over the noise.
As she spoke, Nick reappeared carrying two No Bad Days. He handed us each a drink, greeted Rachel, pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, and hurried back to the bar.
