Page 122 of Best Served Cold

Briar gives Hannah her best disapproving-teacher look.

“Okay, fine, they’re great exactly the way they are,” Hannah says, rolling her eyes. “Plus, people need to sober up at the end of the night, but you still want them ordering drinks. This is brilliant, actually.”

I pause, weighing my next question. I feel dirty even thinking about it, but Rob said I shouldn’t downplay my contributions. “If I, you know…if they put my drinks on the menu, and they’re successful, should I ask for some kind of recognition? Rob seemed to think I was selling myself short by not asking.”

“Yes,” Briar says briskly. “Especially since this could be the starting point for something bigger.”

I part my lips, ready to argue, but Hannah interjects, “Exactly what I was thinking. These flavors are great.” She gestures to one of the glasses. “What if there was, like, a beer and an NA drink with the same flavor profile? You could do a tasting with a friendwho doesn’t imbibe. It would be fun. A hook that would bring people in.”

“Wow,” I say, amazed. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” In the beginning, this had been just a fun project, a way to make sure Rob had something to drink other than flat soda. It’s developing into something larger, mostly because I’ve let other people help.

Hannah snaps her fingers. “That’s why you have us. Briar’s really good at business stuff, and I know how to entertain people.”

I look at her and then Briar, feeling tension form a knot in my gut. There’s another reason I asked them here…

Dropping my gaze to the bar, I trace the woodgrain with my finger. “So, I had another reason for luring you guys out today.”

“Yes, damn you and your delicious free drinks,” Hannah jokes. “I knew there’d be a catch. If this is about the prom thing, then yes, obviously we’re going. Travis texted me about it too.”

“He asked you to prom?” I ask, excited even though she’d made a point of saying she wasn’t interested in him.

“No.” She rolls her eyes at me. “He just wanted to make sure we’re coming, because it would probably be boring for you while they’re playing if you’re by yourself.”

I beam at her. “Rob’s going to get a limo to pick us up. It’ll be like a real prom.”

She laughs. “So some inexperienced eighteen-year-old is going to try to feel me up in the back seat of a Buick?”

Briar smiles at us. “It’ll be fun.” She sets her hand on mine for a second before pulling away. “But you were going to tell us something, Sophie. I don’t think it was about the show.”

I inhale in a deep breath, reminding myself of how much my connection with Rob has deepened because I let him in. I want the same for my friendship with these two women, my fellow babes of brewing.

“I…I think maybe you’ve realized I had a weird adolescence.”

“Were you in a cult?” Hannah asks. “We have this bet going.”

Briar gives her another stern-teacher look. “It’s not a bet. You asked me if I thought she’d been in a cult, and I said maybe. ‘Maybe’ does not constitute a bet.”

Of course they’ve been wondering.

“I did something bad,” I say, tears welling in my eyes. “And for a while, I thought I’d ruined my life. It felt like everyone had abandoned me, and maybe they were right to.”

Hannah nods in acknowledgement. “You can tell us anything. I already told you my mom took off when I was little. I know how it feels to be left behind. Briar does too.”

“I do,” she agrees. “My parents sent me away to boarding school when I was six.”

“Oh Briar,” I say, pressing a hand to my heart. “I didn’t know that.”

She shrugs. “You met my father. It was probably for the best.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t hurt any less,” I say softly, fully understanding. I massage the back of my neck, which has tightened with tension. “I was sent away to reform school when I was sixteen. I’ve barely seen my parents since.”

“Reform school?” Hannah asks. “What’d you do, compliment someone to death? Strangle them with handknit scarves?”

Feeling numb, I say, “No. It’s bad. Really bad, actually.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath, suppressing the old sense of panic attempting to flood back in.They won’t judge me,I tell myself.They won’t leave me.Then I release the captured breath and speak in a rush, telling them everything. It’s hard, but it’s much easier than I thought it would be. I know it’s because I already shared the truth with Rob.

They both hug me from across the bar, and then Hannah comes over to my side and grabs the vodka bottle from the top shelf. We all laugh as she tops off all of our glasses.

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