Page 107 of Crash & Burn

“I’m too old for these kids. All they do is get piss-drunk and fight over stupid shit, trying to impress girls who think they are way cooler than they are.”

“Okay, gramps. Calm down. We’re in our early thirties, I think we have a while until we’re consideredtoo old.” Emmett has always been a grump, ever since I met him in college but more so before he found Drew. Before Drew, Emmett was in a relationship with a woman who thought she was too good for the life he wanted, thinking the bar he was so proud of, the one he renamed after his late sister, wasn’t good enough for her.

“I’m too old to have a nineteen-year-old bartender.”

“Annie was nineteen when you hired her three years ago.”

“Yeah, but I knew she could handle herself. I’ve known Annsince she was a kid, and I know she doesn’t take shit. I think most of the guys who come in here like how mean she is to them.”

“We could always have Annie train whoever you hire.”

“No, I’m having Luke do it. I don’t want her to have to worry about not being able to get all of her tips for her last few weeks of shifts.”

We continue to go back and forth on the best hire, narrowing down to a few girls who Emmett will interview before Annie’s last shift at the end of September.

I’m bummed Annie won’t be working at Lenny’s anymore, but I know I will still be seeing her plenty. Lenny’s isn’t only a place of work for us, but it has become our unofficial hangout spot.

Once we finish for the morning, and head from Emmett’s office to the bar, Luke is already in for his 10 a.m. opening shift, getting ready to open in half an hour.

“Can I leave early today?” Luke asks Emmett, and I internally flinch. I don’t know if it is because Luke spends so much time being a target to Annie’s perpetual meanness, but he is anything but intimidated by Emmett who can be even meaner.

Luke started working here last year, and I was surprised when Emmett hired him. It wasn’t until a few months of getting to know Luke that I realized he is almost impossible not to like.

Being in his mid-twenties, younger than Emmett and me and closer in age to Annie, Mia, and Drew, Luke isn’t someone you would expect to be in line to take over his father’s law firm, having passed the bar to be a practicing lawyer but choosing to bartend for a living instead.

“No,” Emmett says.

“Please?” Luke replies.

“Do you want to get punched in the face?”

“You sound like Annie,” Luke laughs, “who is actually the reason I need to leave by four this afternoon. She’s volunteering at an animal shelter, helping the practicing vet give rescue dogs their shots as part of her veterinarian program.”

“I don’t care,” Emmett says, rounding the bar to leave. He is supposed to be back at six to take over the evening shift because I’m off today.

“Please, please, please. I’ll work a double tomorrow, so you can have a night with Drew.” Luke knows exactly how to play Emmett.

Emmett stops before he opens the door to leave. “Fine. See you at four,” he says, not even turning around. He pushes the door to Lenny’s open and leaves without another word.

“Why are you going to something Annie is volunteering at?” I ask. Luke doesn’t even have a dog, or an interest in getting a dog as far as I know. I do know he has a strong interest in Annie though, so I guess I didn’t really have to ask.

“You mean, why arewegoing?” Luke smirks at me, crossing his arms and leaning back against the bar.

“I’m not going. I have plans tonight.” Mia and I have our second movie date, which I have been thinking aboutliterallysince I took one step out of her apartment last night.

“I know. Annie told me you and Mia are watching those vampire movies.”

“You and Annie obviously don’t have much to talk about if you talk about Mia and I.” I say, giving him a hard time. Annie is his soft spot, just like Drew is Emmett’s and Mia is mine.

“Fine. If that’s how you want to play, I won’t tell you whatelseAnnie told me about what Mia said.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Get in line.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who is first in that line.

“Whatever. I’ll go. What did Mia tell Annie?”

“You didn’t tell me best friend’s little sisters were your thing, Ramirez. I mean, I had a feeling, but I thought it was justyourlittle crush.”

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