The Hot New Bartender in Town (Welcome to Kiss County #3)

Chapter 11

11

RILEY

I ’m off the bed in a flash. Before I can even flick on the light, Tish is already up and reaching for her clothes, too.

“Fuck, fuck!” she says.

“It’s okay,” I say. “I’ll get rid of him.”

Another knock. Another impatient grumble. “Junior!”

“I’ll be right there!” I shout back.

Tish darts around in a panic, scooping her clothes off the floor. “Where’s my bag?” she asks.

“On the table,” I say, pointing it out as I step into my pants.

“I have to get out of here.” She grabs the bag, still very naked. “Is there another way out?”

“No.”

“Seriously? How is that safe?”

“Bathroom,” I say. “Hide there. You should be fine.”

Scurrying on her bare toes, Tish bolts toward the bathroom and closes the door behind her.

Hoping Dad doesn’t ask to take a piss, I make my way to answer the door, tossing a black T-shirt over my head as I go.

“There you are!” Dad says as I open the door. “What took you so long?”

“It’s eight in the morning,” I say, letting him inside. “You woke me out of a REM cycle.”

He scoffs softly, scanning the room for the first time. “Really, Junior?” he asks.

“Really, what, Dad?” I ask, already recognizing that condescending tone.

“This is why you left Big City Tech?” he says. “To live under a bar?”

“Did you have a specific reason for stopping by, or did you just wanna bust my ass?”

He faces me, his mouth sitting in a hard line, clearly wanting to keep on busting away. “You were awfully quiet at dinner last night,” he says. “Thought I’d give you the chance now to speak your piece.”

I shrug. “I have nothing to say.”

“Bullshit. You always have something to say.”

“Not about this,” I say, very aware of the fact that we aren’t the only people here right now.

“What do you think of her?”

“Her?”

“Tanya,” he says. “My fiancée.”

“She seemed like a very nice lady, Dad. I wish you both years of lawfully wedded bliss.”

He chuckles, his smile far from his eyes. “You’re angry at me,” he notes from my tone.

“No, I’m not.”

“Look, Junior, I get it,” he says. “The last thing I wanted to do here was blindside you with this.”

I absently look toward the bathroom door. “Dad, it’s?—”

“I know you’ve been holding out hope that your mother is gonna come waltzing back through the front door, but?—”

“Dad—”

“But she’s not,” he says, plowing over my protest. “She left us, Junior. She left me. After twenty years together, she broke my heart, and Tanya is the first woman I’ve met since willing to pick up the pieces. I don’t expect you to understand that. You’re too young to have had your heart broken and I sincerely hope you never do. You don’t have to like this. All I ask is that you accept it.”

“Just like you accepted me dropping out of school and moving down here?” I counter.

He looks me over, then nods. “How about we agree to try and meet each other in the middle?” he says, taking a breath. “Should be easier to do going forward. I’m moving down here, too.”

I frown. “You hate small towns.”

“Yeah, well, I love her,” he says. “And Pleasant Place seems less pleasant by the day.”

To that, I nod. The place is full of memories I gladly left behind, too.

“Tish.”

I flinch. “Huh?”

“Tanya’s daughter,” he says. “Tanya mentioned she sings.”

In his pause, I shrug casually, pretending I don’t already know that. “Cool,” I say.

“I thought that, maybe, it might be nice if the two of you played something together at the reception,” he says. “As a wedding gift for my new wife.”

I nearly scoff. “I thought my music was a waste of time,” I say, quoting him directly.

He touches his chest, then points at me. “Me. You.” He gestures into the empty space between us. “Middle.”

I wave a hand, getting his point. “Fine. Do you have a song preference?”

“Endless Love.”

I wince.

“I know,” he says, understanding. “But it’s a favorite of Tanya’s and I’ll owe you one.”

“All right. I’ll... see if I can get in contact with Tish and set something up,” I say, thinking fast.

“Well, she works at a diner. Bruno’s.”

“I know it.”

“Maybe start there. Or, you know, it’s Small Town,” he jokes. “Ask some rando on the street, they’re sure to point you in the right direction.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Thank you.”

Dad gives the apartment another once-over, this time actually attempting to hide his shame. I wish I could say I stopped caring about that a long time ago, but truthfully, I’m not sure I ever will. There will always be a part of me desperate for his approval.

Because… no matter how shitty he may seem sometimes, in the end, he’s the one who stayed .

“Well,” he murmurs, taking a step back toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Dad.” This time, I put a little feeling into it as I say, “Congratulations.”

He blinks to show surprise, then smiles. “Thanks.”

We say nothing else.

Once he’s gone, I lock the door behind him in case he doubles-back. As I do, the bathroom door opens and Tish steps out, her feet a soft whisper on the floor. She’s fully clothed now in her yellow sundress and white cardigan, her eyes wide and face stiff with worry.

“Is he gone?” she asks.

I nod.

Exhaling the tension from her shoulders, she slips her shoes on. “That was close,” she says.

I say nothing, the conversation still weighing heavily on my thoughts.

Dad was right when he said I’d never had my heart broken before. I’m usually the one doing the heartbreaking. It’s infinitely more fun that way. I’ve never dared to open myself up to anyone enough for it to happen to me.

Tish is the first person I’ve met that made me want to lower those walls. Now, I won’t get the chance.

Does that count as heartbreak? Maybe. Maybe not. I guess I’ll know soon enough. Tish said she couldn’t take this away from her mother and, honestly… I can’t take this away from him, either.

Feeling Tish watching me, her eyes no doubt full of questions now that she knows I lied to her when I said my mother was dead, I avert my gaze.

“You should go,” I say.

A shift of her feet on the floor. “I can stay awhile, if you want me to,” she says slowly. “If you want to talk, or...”

Tempting for sure.

“You should go,” I repeat.

Our eye contact sends a sharp rush down my spine, awakening a need I hoped would be long gone by this morning, but it still radiates with the same warmth as the night we met, the night I first heard her sing.

“Okay,” Tish says, offering a genuine smile that makes me feel absolutely wretched. “I guess I’ll, uh... see you at the wedding.” She shifts her handbag strap up her shoulder, takes a single step toward the door, then pauses. “Oh. He said something about us doing a song?”

“Oh, right,” I say. “He requests Endless Love. You know it?”

“Every word,” she says with a nod. “You?”

“Nope. But it shouldn’t be too hard to learn by then.”

“Cool.” She shifts again, clearly wanting me to ask her to stay. When I don’t, her shoulders slouch a bit, but she picks them back up. “We can get together later to rehearse or... we can just wing it.”

“I can wing it.”

She tenses again, then exhales. “Then, I’ll see you then.”

“See you then,” I repeat, standing still.

Tish leaves, pausing only briefly at the door to make sure Dad has left for good before walking out.

As the door latches behind her, four soft paws come to rest on the kitchen counter beside me.

“Meow,” Cat Jake says, the word dripping with judgment.

“Yeah.” I offer him my hand and he rubs his head against it. “I liked her, too, buddy.”

Yeah. I can already tell.

If this isn’t heartbreak yet, it’s gonna be.