evie

“You’re gonna be back soon, right?” I ask, wiping my eyes clear of my traitor tears before I turn to face him.

“Yeah, only like an hour. Hour and a half tops,” he promises, smoothing my hair out before returning his eyes to mine.

“Okay, good,” I nod. “Mason’s being a dick. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to do anything to help me while you’re gone.”

“Yes, he will,” he sighs. “Even if he doesn’t, you know how to use a tap. Just sell beer until I get back, okay? Most of the happy hour guys only want that anyway,” he continues, pulling another nod from me as his palm finds my waist. “You good?”

“Yeah,” I nod. “Just please try to hurry.”

“I will,” he says, bending to give me a quick kiss before reaching for my hand and leading me out of the office and back out to the bar. “Mason, I gotta leave for a few minutes. Evie’s staying here.”

“Where the hell are you going?” he asks.

“I’ll be back in an hour,” he ignores his question, winking in my direction as he locks his register. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay,” I nod, watching him slip through the back doors and head toward his truck.

The first few minutes alone with Mason is awkward and I hate it, but I’d rather silence than fighting, so I focus on getting the floor ready. I’m about ten minutes in when my first customers come in and I grab their order, making my way toward the bar.

“I’ve got an order,” I start. “Two Heineken’s and a Bud draft.”

“Is this really what you want to do with your life, Evie?” he asks, pulling my eyes toward his.

“Can you please just make the drinks?”

“Sure, I’ll make your drinks. Answer my question and you can have all the drinks you want.”

“This isn’t a negotiation, Mason,” I hiss under my breath. “Just make the fucking drinks, please.”

“Fine,” he shrugs. “Let’s try another question. Where’d he go?”

“He said something about grabbing stock.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he replies. “I just walked in the back and Walt overstocked so we’d be covered while he’s gone.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he missed something?” I reason. “Dash just said he needed to grab stock and would be back in an hour.”

“Well, he’s full of shit because we don’t need anything,” Mason counters. “You just believed him? For all you know, he’s…”

“Yes, I just believe him,” I cut him off, holding his annoyed gaze. “Please stop trying to start problems where there are none.”

“I’m not trying to start problems, Evie,” he argues, his voice surprisingly gentle. “Listen, mad as I was, annoyed and disappointed as I still am, you’re still my sister and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Then stop trying to hurt me, Mason,” I say bluntly, swallowing the lump in my throat as I push the paper with the simple order toward him.

He studies me for a second before he pats the bar and gives me a subtle nod, moving toward the glasses.

Time passes slowly at first, but by the time Dash returns, business is starting to pick up and Mason has stopped asking his loaded questions. In fact, with the exception of calling me to pick up my orders, he’s stopped talking to me altogether. While a part of me hates it, I can’t deny that getting lost in the task at hand is a welcome distraction.

“How’s it going?” Dash asks when I return to the bar to pick up one tray and drop off another. “Sorry I was a little longer than I thought I’d be.”

“It’s okay,” I shake my head. “I’m fine, just glad you’re back. I’m starting to get a little busy.”

“You’ve got this, baby,” he says with a wink. “Just keep the orders coming in and I’ll help you if you need it.”

“Thanks,” I smile, pulling the tray from the bar and heading back out onto the floor.

I’m feeling pretty capable, but by the time the actual rush hits, my confidence is fading fast. I’m keeping my head above water, but by seven thirty, the guys from the factories are heading in and it’s getting rowdy.

“You good, babe?” Dash calls over the bar, taking in the way I brush the sweat away from my brow.

“Yeah,” I say, unsure if it’s a lie or not. “When did you say the other girl was coming in? I’m getting hammered out here.”

“She’s due in any time now, so not much longer,” he promises. “Do you need me to come out front?”

“No,” I shake my head. “Thanks, but I’ll be okay. You’re slammed, too.”

“Baby, they’re all half-lit,” he smirks as he gestures toward the group yelling at the television above his bar. “You need my help, you say the word. I’ll throw twenty beers up here, buy us ten minutes and they’ll never know the difference.”

“Thanks,” I laugh. “I’m good right now. Just please send… what’s her name again?”

“Amy.”

“Alright,” I start, my head whipping back up when I remember why the name sounds familiar. “Wait a minute…”

“Slow down, killer. Different Amy,” he promises, chuckling when my eyes narrow. “I swear to God, babe. I’ve never seen her naked. No need to get jeal-”

“I’m not!” I cut him off with my lie, blushing as his low laughter drifts across the bar. “Shut up. I hate you.”

“Whatever, liar,” he says with a cocky smirk as he puts the last two drinks for my order on the tray and gives me a wink. “You hate me about as much as I’m gonna hate how those pretty red lips of yours look when they’re all smudged up and screamin’ my name from the top of this bar later.”

Oh, my God. I think I just came.

dash

By the time the other waitress arrives, we’re knee deep in the middle of the rush and getting our asses handed to us.

“Tony! We need ice and a pick-up!” Mason calls out to our bar-back before returning his attention to the customers barking orders on his end of the bar.

“Hey,” Amy says with a smile, tying her apron on. “Catch me up.”

“Evie’s out there right now,” I tell her, gesturing toward the particularly rowdy group that had just stumbled in. “I think she’s caught up, but check and make sure. She’s been running her ass off for about two hours now. If nothing else, I’m sure she could use a break.”

“Okay,” she nods, pulling a tray and glancing back out at the floor. “You want me in the back by the windows?”

“Yeah, wherever she needs you to go. Try and help her make her way to the section up front where I can see her.”

“You got it, boss,” she smiles, making her way out.

I make my way over to the middle of the bar, taking another couple of orders before I reach for a glass, taking the whiskey from the well and reaching for the soda gun.

“She ask you to do that?” Mason asks from my left, pulling my eyes to his.

“What? Move her up?” I ask, making him nod. “No, I just want to be able to see her, make sure no one gives her any shit,” I say bluntly as I pull four beers from the cooler behind me and call out for a restock before returning my eyes to his. “That a problem?”

“Nope,” he shakes his head, his expression a little softer than it’s been lately. “Not at all.”

It’s small, but it’s something.

“Babe!” she calls out, pulling my eyes to hers. “Order!”

“What ya got, pussycat?” I ask, glancing over from my spot, nodding when she calls out her drinks. “Okay, I’ll do ‘em next. Amy should be up there with you now, so if you need anything, she can help, okay?”

“I saw her,” she nods, taking a sip of the water I’m sliding across to her. “Thank you.”

“You got it,” I say, making my way down her list and handing her the tray that’d been waiting for her return. “Come right back, okay?”

“I will,” she nods again, lifting the tray and leaving me.

“Yo! Lemme get two more!” Someone calls over the bar and I nod, moving to the tap when Mason cuts me off.

“I got it, man,” he says, waving me off. “Help her.”

“Thanks.”

“Shit!” Mason hisses, pulling my eyes to his. “This one’s tapped and I sent Tony out back for stock. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” I nod, checking the rest of the bar before moving toward the glasses to fill the tray. I’m about halfway done when I hear a glass tipping over and her voice ring out from a couple tables back.

“Get off!” she calls out angrily, pulling my eyes to her. “I said no, asshole!”

My eyes fly up and the second I see his hands on her, everything stills and my vision goes red.

I don’t think. I don’t speak. I simply react.