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He realized that no further explanation was necessary when Damon and Russ exchanged a look, and both laughed.
“Yeah, Taryn’s like that,” said Russ. “She’s awesome.”
“I’m just glad that she likes the idea of a sports bar – I wasn’t sure if she’d see it as competition.”
“You’d have heard about it if she did,” said Damon. “But back to the original question, have you had the chance to talk to Nate yet?”
“Not yet. Tori wanted to talk to her mom first. She didn’t want to take the risk of her hearing about it from someone else.”
“So, you’re in the clear now,” said Russ.
“I guess so.”
Damon chuckled. “The reason I was asking is that Nate will be here shortly. He usually comes in to work out with me on his lunch hour, but he wanted to come earlier today.”
“Here he is now,” said Russ.
Xander looked out the window and spotted the guy who’d been sitting at the bar last night crossing the road, headed for the gym.
“Hey guys,” Nate said as he walked through the door. Then, he stopped. “What?” He gave them a puzzled smile. “What did I do? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Xander laughed. “Sorry. It’s my fault. I want to talk to you, but I don’t want to interrupt your time with Damon.”
Nate shrugged. “I don’t mind talking while I work out if Damon doesn’t mind. It might help – might distract me from the pain this guy inflicts.”
Damon chuckled. “Quit whining, pussy.”
Nate rolled his eyes at Xander. “The guy’s a hard ass, I tell you.”
Xander shook his hand when he offered it and said, “Sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself last night.”
“That’s okay. If you don’t know how things work around here yet, you’ll learn fast. I already know that you’re Xander Jacobs, you know who I am – since these guys filled you in. The only part I haven’t figured out is what you want to talk to me about. I’d love to think that you wanted to take over the lease on the wine bar – that’d makes sense since you’re a wine guy – but I reckon that you’re smarter than that, and I’m not that lucky.”
Xander had to laugh. “You guessed right.”
Nate’s smile faded. “You’re serious?”
“Not in the way you might think. We don’t want to take over the wine bar, just the lease.”
Nate frowned. “What for?”
“A sports bar.”
Nate pursed his lips, and Xander held his breath.
After a long few moments, Nate grinned. “I like it.”
“That’s a relief.”
“It’ll be a relief for me to get a business in there that works. Don’t get me wrong, I feel bad for Rachel, but that wine bar…” Nate shook his head “… It’s the only failing unit in the Plaza. It brings down the whole feel of the place.” He studied Xander closely. “Who do you see as your clientele?”
It wasn’t hard for Xander to guess the question behind the question. “Don’t worry, I’m not thinking rowdy sports bar where I invite all my old military buddies. Tori and I, she’s my… girlfriend.”
He hesitated because he didn’t want to use the word girlfriend. It didn’t seem like a big enough word to describe all that she was to him. His heart felt like it exploded in his chest when he realized that he wanted to be able to call her his wife sooner rather than later.
“We’ll run the place together,” he continued.
“Tori.” Nate glanced at Russ. “Ria’s daughter, right?”
