Page 104 of Whiskey Neat
I grab him in a big bear hug and twirl him around. He whoops and pushes against me, but he’s laughing.
“You’re gonna mess up my hair, Indy!”
“You’re still beautiful.” Kit chuckles.
I set Lowen down and focus on the growing crowd. We don’t open for another hour and chose to have this little opening ceremony for our team. Wren and Florian hand out glasses of champagne, and my eyes actually sting with emotion. This crazy idea I had almost six months ago is actually happening. So much has changed for the better.
Salem leans into me, and I turn my gaze toward him. He looks absolutely stunning tonight in a tight-fitting black mesh top and white skinny jeans, with all the marks I left on him faintly visible under the concealer. He’s wearing full makeup, with a smoky eye as he described it, and it’s going to take all my strength not to drag him to the office to mess it up later.
Lowen clears his throat, tapping his glass with a spoon. “I’d like to share a few words on behalf of myself, Kit, Ridley, Jerryn, and Bane.”
“Shit,” I whisper. “He’s about to fuck me up emotionally.”
“I got you,” Salem whispers back.
I nod, blowing out a breath and shaking my shoulders.
“Indy has always been our unofficial group leader,” Lowen says, angling himself toward the photographer and the journalist beside him. “Since college when we were still a bunch of kids figuring out life, Indy’s quiet but sure presence, his clear mind, and his ability to make everyone feel heard and seen have made him a standout.”
Salem squeezes my hand while I breathe through the emotion building inside me.
“So when he called each of us roughly six months ago and suggested we blow up our lives, move to a small town, and open a gay bar, not a single one of us hesitated. It was like the lighthouse in the storm, and Indy guided us right back to where we needed to be.”
“Low…”
He smiles, but his eyes are glassy as he waves his hand in front of his face. “We spent our last night before graduation right here. We won’t talk about all the nights before that.”
The crowd laughs softly.
“I remember standing on this sidewalk at closing time, knowing we were all starting new lives the next day that would take us far apart, but somehow the bond never broke. I know our friendship is one of the most important things in each of our lives, and we want to thank Indy for making this happen.”
“Thank fuck I’m not wearing eyeliner.” I sniff and wipe at my damp eyes.
Lowen raises his glass and others follow. “So here’s to many nights of new memories. Tonight starts the next phase of our lives. Thank you, Indy, and thank you all for being here.”
The crowd claps, but we hear a clamoring from the back. An old man pushes his way forward, bent with age as he leans on a cane. It takes me a second, but then recognition hits.
“Oh my god. Jimmy?”
He smiles, pulling himself as upright as possible. “Didn’t think I’d miss this, did ya?”
Kit hurries over, offering his hand to Jimmy. “You made it.”
“Sure did, kid.” He winks. “Thank you for finding me.”
“Grandpa!” A younger guy pushes through the crowd, exhaling with relief when he sees Jimmy. “Damn, you move faster than you should.”
Jimmy chuckles. “I’m old, not dead.”
“Took a lot of work to find him,” Kit says, nudging my arm. “But I did it.”
Jimmy nods. “Living with my daughter and her kids now, in Clearbrooke.” He looks up at the restored building. “It looks good. Brings back memories.”
I pat his shoulder. “For us too, Jimmy.”
The crowd chants, “Speech! Speech! Speech!”
Lowen hands Jimmy the microphone, but he looks at it like it smells bad before handing it to me. “This is your night, Indy.”