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“Good, because that’s pretty fucking insulting to both him and me. Besides, he accepted it when I declined the Fortress deal. He hasn’t brought it up the whole time we’ve been… hanging out together.”
“Someone nicknamed the Rainmaker doesn’t give up, Flynn. If you ask me, he’s biding his time before trying again or coming at it from another angle. I’m not saying he doesn’t want you. Maybe he wants youandthe deal, but a guy like that definitely still wants the deal.”
I wondered if this was Dan’s jealousy talking. He’d made flirtatious comments tome a couple of times earlier in the summer, before JT started spending so much time here and it became an unstated fact that we were… hanging out. Dan had toned it down a little since but hadn’t stopped completely, and I got the feeling he was biding his time until JT left town. But was he upset enough about it to think the worst of JT?
“Well, he knows he’s not getting it,” I said. “When I said no to the Fortress deal, I meant it.”
“What happens if he sabotages Brew Fest?”
“He wouldn’t do that,” I snapped, almost slicing my hand open on one of the bottle cap edges. “He knows how important this is to me. Besides, he’s been helping with prep.” I carefully placed the bottle cap in the bench capper and moved my hands out of the way before grabbing the handle and pulling it down.
“He dropped that case of mead the other day, Flynn.”
My pulse sped up just from the memory of it. Each case of mead was like precious golden nuggets right now as we hoarded as many bottles as possible. Thankfully, none of the bottles had broken in the fall, and JT had been more upset than anyone.
“It could have been any one of us,” I muttered. “And one case would hardly sabotage the whole event.”
Dan moved closer and lowered his voice. “Look, I didn’t bring this up to upset you. I just want you to be careful. There’s a ton of pressure on you from all angles. You’re exhausted. You’re running yourself ragged because of this guy, and something’s going to eventually have to give. And I don’t want to see you also dealing with heartbreak when JT goes back to his real life in a couple of weeks.”
A tight ball thickened in my throat. “I hear you. But that’s why this is only a summer fling. We both made it clear from the beginning it’s nothing serious.”
This was the biggest joke ever, considering my feelings for JT were as serious as a heart attack… the heart attack I was getting ready to have right now since Dan had pointed out there were only a few weeks left of summer, and one of them would be spent at Brew Fest. JT’s and my season together had dwindled to mere weeks.
I’d been doing pretty well at sticking to the promise I’d made myself in Ogunquit. I wasn’t dwelling on the past, and I hadn’t let myself overthink the future. I was living in the moment, storing up all of JT’s funny texts and every night of hot-as-fuck phone sex like a squirrel preparing for winter.
But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t started scowling at my phone recently for having the gall to display the date in bright lights every time I turned it on or that I hadn’t caught myself staring at a supplier invoice earlier that morning and thinking, “Due August 26th. Will JT be here then?”
Yet every time I tried to dream up a casual way to convince JT to extend our time together—“You see, Frog, when I said a summer fling, I meant astronomical summer, which doesn’t end until late September”—I ran up against a brick wall.
A couple of extra weeks wouldn’t be enough. I was pretty sure no amount of time would be.
“Think about it,” Dan said. “And in the meantime, you need to stop doing… whatever it is the two of you stay up all night doing and get some sleep instead.” He raised a knowing eyebrow at me that made me blush beet red. “You leave for Brew Festin a few days to start setting up, and then it’s off to the races. You need to be in fighting shape for the media events Wednesday and Thursday.” He ended his lecture with a smile that reminded me he truly was speaking out of his concern for me. Regardless of his romantic feelings, Dan knew me better than most people outside of my family and cared about my well-being.
“Thanks,” I said. “You’re a good friend.”
I stopped what I was doing long enough to step over and give him a hug. He’d gone above and beyond to help me get things ready for the festival, and I didn’t know what I would have done without his help.
Dan wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tighter—too tight. “Anytime, Flynn,” he whispered.
Of course, that’s when JT walked in.
“Oh, uh… want me to come back later?” he asked awkwardly. I saw right through that bullshit, though, since he had to have seen us hugging through the glass wall separating the tavern from the meadery.
I shot him a knowing look and stepped away from Dan. “No. I want you to come here and finish capping these bottles so I can finish payroll. As soon as I get it done, I’m free for the rest of the night. Cas is staying to cover for me.”
I didn’t miss Dan’s disappointed sigh.
I didn’t miss JT’s resigned one either, but this was stuff that needed to get done before I could take off for the day. I batted my lashes at him and said in a low voice, “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Yeah, you will,” he growled just as softly. He walked over to the work sink in the back of the room to wash his hands and called over his shoulder, “I’m anticipating the best annual reviewever.”
I snorted.
When Dan finished building the last of the carrier boxes and made his way out to the Tavern to finish up the dinner rush, I walked over to JT at the sink and wrapped my arms around him from behind, burying my face into his collar to inhale his scent. At some point, his expensive cologne had stopped smelling so exotic andother. Now it just smelled like comfort. Like rest. “Hi.”
He turned around and grabbed my face with his wet hands before kissing me hard and fast. “Fuck, I missed your face,” he growled against my lips before kissing me some more.
We low-key made out in the corner of the Meadery until I remembered people could see us if they looked closely enough. I pulled back and adjusted myself as discreetly as possible. “That’s enough of that,” I croaked before blowing out a breath and shaking my head. “God, you’re dangerous to my equilibrium.”
