Page 54 of Trusting You
“That would be great. Thanks so much.”
Well, that was strange. Strange and super flattering. I was not a marketing guru. As much as I would love to help Leah and Dave, I needed to find a real job at some point. I am not an entrepreneur, and I’m certainly not creative enough to do branding and marketing work for people. The brewery was just a one-off. I was a corporate person, and even if I stayed in the area, I would have to find a corporate job at some point. I couldn’t live with my mother forever.
28
Liam
I was runningon about four hours of sleep, but I felt more energized than I had in years. That was the power of Cecelia Leary. We had been working nonstop with new events, social media promotions, and themed nights at the taproom. In addition, she had me making long-term plans for next year already. We were totally in sync, both in and out of the bedroom. Our days were spent poring over spreadsheets and analytics, and our nights were spent wrapped around each other in my apartment. She consumed my thoughts and body. I had spent years avoiding this situation because I assumed I would be too distracted to do my job. What an idiot I was. If anything, a beautiful, challenging woman was just what I needed.
“So I can only guess from the shit-eating grin on your face that things are going well with Cecelia?” Callum leaned on the bar, coiffed and pressed to perfection. It was Tuesday night, and my brothers and Trent were here, chatting and drinking. I was in such a good mood I even stopped by the gourmet dog store on the way to work and bought Ginger a grass-fed organic bone. She took it from me without growling, so that felt like a win.
I smiled at him, too happy to even pretend to be annoyed by his intrusive question.
Declan snapped at him, mainly out of habit. “Why are you dressed like that? Are you running for office?”
Callum instinctively snapped back at him, “We can’t all be as stylish as you, Dec. Is that ripped hoodie designer? Did you let Ginger use it as a chew toy?”
I laughed—that was a good one. Declan definitely took dressing down to new levels.
Declan rolled his eyes and drank his beer. Trent shot me a look. Watching these two argue was always entertaining.
“Have you thought about our offer to invest yet?” Callum innocently asked.
Oh God, not this again. My brothers had organized and were pressing me to consider taking them on as investors to build and expand the business. I appreciated the offer, but it was truly the last thing I wanted to think about right now. I had a nagging feeling in the back of my brain that I should tell them about Cece’s distribution idea—just to see what they thought and if it was even possible. But I shut that feeling down. I had to stay focused on the present and my goals. At some point maybe I would bring it up.
“No, but I will. You guys know I don’t want your money. Things have picked up significantly. The expanded hours, the festivals, and even the larger social media presence is helping. Traffic to our website has exploded, and we are selling out of T-shirts. Orders are up and things are humming along. It’s only been two months and we are already seeing big improvements.” I couldn’t help but smile. It was the truth.
“Oh my God, look at him. He’s so far gone.” Callum smirked.
“It’s about time.”
“Fabio is right. I never thought I’d see the day where Liam was mooning over a girl,” Declan added.
And then they started doing the charming thing they do where they talk like I’m not actually in the room with them.
“I mean you know he’s going to fuck it up.”
“Of course he’s going to fuck it up.”
“Guys. He will not.” God, Trent was such a good friend. I was so grateful to have him in my corner.
“Don’t be a moron, Trent, you know Liam. He is pretty much guaranteed to fuck up a good thing.” Declan gestured at me with his beer stein.
Trent shot me an apologetic look.
I had to defend myself. “Guys, I have no intention of screwing this up. I wish you would have a little more faith in me.” Of course it made no difference to my brothers. They just kept piling on.
“Poor Cecelia does not deserve whatever Liam is going to do to mess this up.”
“I know. And mom will be so mad too.”
“Seriously, Liam. Get your head out of your ass. We all know that you are more likely than not to screw this up. I’d stop being so complacent if I were you,” Callum mused.
“Good point.”
“For God’s sake, Mrs. Leary was your kindergarten teacher. She was so kind to you that day you pooped your pants. That woman is a saint.” Declan loved to retell that story.
“Jesus, guys. I was five years old and had a stomach bug. Can we please let this story die?”
