Page 26 of Love Is Ale You Need

The entire room goes silent. So quiet I can hear my hair grow. I quite possibly could have stunned them all to death. But then Owen blinks and I blow out a sigh of relief.

“Can you say that again? I don’t think I heard you correctly. You need our help?” The corner of Owen’s mouth lifts into a smile.

“There’s no way that Trey is asking us for help,” Darren says, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

I hold out my hands and curl my fingers into my palm, motioning for them to keep it coming because I deserve all their smart ass comments. But these four are some of my closest friends and I’m glad to have them on my side. “Keep it coming. I deserve it.”

Tim leans in and raises an eyebrow. “This all depends on what you need our help with.”

My hands fall to my sides. “I need your help with a girl. A woman.”

Owen dramatically falls off his chair and onto the floor and everyone busts out laughing, including myself.

He climbs back up onto his chair. “Sorry. I blacked out there for a second because I thought you said you needed our help with a girl.”

“That’s because I did.”

Owen falls off his chair again, except this time he groans as he hits the floor. A few seconds later, he rises to his feet, rubbing his elbow. “Okay. I’m done.”

“Do you need some ice?” I nod at his arm.

“Ice would be nice.” Owen takes a seat on the stool.

I find a plastic bag and pour some ice inside and pass it to him. “As I was saying, I need your help.” I run my hands through my hair. “There’s a woman that I kind of like.”

Owen gasps and everyone turns their heads his way, waiting for him to black out again. He glances at all of us. “I’m okay.” He rests his elbow on the bar top, along with the ice bag.

“I like a woman and I could—”

“It’s Rylee. The woman is Rylee,” Miles blurts out, and I shoot daggers at him. He cowers like a child being scolded. “Sorry. I couldn’t hold it any longer. I’ve been told I’m not a good secret keeper.”

“Clearly,” I deadpan. “It’s fine. It was going to come out sooner or later, but yes. It’s Rylee.”

“The brunette bartender at Porter’s?” Tim asks.

“The one and only.” I grab a pint glass and pour myself a beer, mostly because I need something to do. I’ve never been in the position of needing advice when it comes to women. Normally, it’s the other way around, so I’m way out of my element. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve asked her to dinner more times than I can count, and she always gives me the I can’t excuse, or she’ll change the subject.”

“So, she’s turned you down?” Darren takes a drink of his beer.

“That’s the thing, technically she hasn’t. I’ve given her the opportunity to say no and I’ll never ask her again but she’s never come out and saidno.”

“Sounds like she’s holding on to something. Maybe she likes you too,” Tim says.

“But why won’t she say yes to dinner?” I rest my palms on the cool wood.

Tim sits up in his chair. “I dated a girl a while back.”

“Was this after the ex-wife?” Darren asks.

Tim nods. “I needed some companionship. So anyway, she never wanted to go to her house until one day I finally convinced her I wanted to see her space. Big fucking mistake. She told me she was an artist, so her house was littered with art supplies. It was like a kindergarten art class threw up.”

“Maybe she’s just passionate,” Miles says.

“Her paintings were of dogs’ heads… with naked human bodies,” Tim deadpans. “I’m not an art aficionado, so I wasn’t going to do a deep dive analysis for the meaning behind her art.”

I nearly choke on my beer while everyone else scrunches their faces.

“That’s…” Owen’s head tilts toward the ceiling, lips pressed together like he’s thinking. “Original.”

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