2. Iris
2
IRIS
The city is a mess. I can’t remember the last time it snowed this much in such a short time. The streets are covered with inches of snow, and there isn’t a snowplow in sight as the bartender walks me to my car.
I feel awful that he’s doing it when it’s so cold outside, too. The wind is howling and bitter as it blows against my cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” I say to him with my head down, trying to avoid the frigid air.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.”
He’s wearing a coat that’s too thin, with his hands tucked into his pockets. No hat. No gloves. No protection from the weather. He has to be colder than me, but he isn’t complaining.
“It’s right around the corner,” I tell him.
We walk in silence the last fifty feet to the private parking lot where I parked my car to avoid a ticket for parking on the street in the snow.
When we make it to the entrance of the lot, I turn to him and say, “We’re here. You can go back to the warmth of the bar.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you’re in your car, driving away.”
His reply is so surprising, I almost trip over my own feet. Before I have a chance to face-plant in the snow, he grabs my arm and saves me from an even more embarrassing end to this already horrible evening.
“I got you,” he says, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like someone cares more about me than themselves.
But the sad part is, he’s a stranger.
What does that say about the men in my life?
Lucas was the biggest disappointment and heartbreak of my life. I lost all faith in the typical fairy-tale romance bullshit I was fed as a child. No man can say he loves a woman, only to leave her standing at the altar in her wedding gown with hundreds of people as witness to the most embarrassing moment of her life.
Of course people felt bad for me, but I heard the whispers about how there must be something wrong with me to have a man like Lucas ditch me in such a horrible way. I don’t know how I became the problem when he was screwing someone else for months without my knowing. He never planned to go through with the wedding, but he was too chickenshit to cancel ahead of time.
“Thanks,” I say as my cheeks flush from embarrassment more than the cold.
But to my surprise, he doesn’t pull his hand away from my arm. “It’s slippery out here.”
I don’t correct him. The last thing I want him to know is that I almost fell because of his niceness and not from the ice.
With my one free hand, I press the car remote in my pocket, making the horn beep. My eyes lock on the mountain of snow covering my small sedan. What a mess.
I can’t believe I let Sandy and Mikayla bully me into this. They signed me up for a dating app without my knowledge, found a match, and scheduled this casual meeting for a drink. They said two years of swearing off men because of what Lucas did was long enough. It was time for me to get back out there and play the field. This was supposed to be my icebreaker, which is laughable because there’s plenty of ice, but not because of a man.
When we get to my car, the bartender uses his arm to sweep the snow away from my door as I stand by with my mouth hanging open. The man is going out of his way to be nice to me, and I don’t understand why. But I’m also not about to ask or reject his help, because the snow is ridiculous .
“Get in and get it started. I’ll clean off the car,” he says, still sweeping across the windows with his arm.
“I have a brush,” I tell him as I open the door.
“That would help,” he says with a smile.
He’s handsome, but it’s his kindness that’s more striking to me than his good looks. Don’t get me wrong. His features would make any woman with eyes look twice and possibly drool a little.
I reach into the back and grab the snow brush. “Here,” I tell him, sticking it out to him as I situate myself in the front seat.
He takes it without a word and gets to work brushing off the huge pile of snow.
I push the start button, and nothing happens. I don’t even wait another second before trying again, and there’s still nothing but silence.
Don’t do this to me.
This can’t be happening. My car has always started. It’s been the most reliable thing in my life.
“Start, damn it,” I whisper to the steering wheel like I can magically will the damn machine with my mind. “You have to start.” I take a deep breath before pressing the button again, but nothing.
The silence is deafening, other than the brushstrokes against the windshield. Now what am I going to do? The streets are a mess everywhere. I didn’t see one cab on the walk over here. The snow is even too deep for them to run and make a profit. The train is nearby, but I don’t live anywhere near a station. What a freaking mess.
“Everything okay?” he yells through the partially cleaned-off windshield.
“Um, not really.”
He stalks back to my side of the car and pops his head into the cabin since I left the door open. “What’s wrong?”
“The car won’t start.” I can feel tears starting to prick the corners of my eyes. They’re quick to form in this type of frigid cold.
“Well, shit,” he hisses.
My sentiments exactly.
“It’s okay. I’ll wait here for a tow. You can go back and get yourself warm.”
A tow truck can easily get through this weather and drop me off at home before taking my car to an auto garage nearby.
The bartender blows out a long breath before looking around the almost-empty city. “I’m not leaving you out here alone. Come back to the bar and wait for them. There’s no point in freezing to death because it could be a while before they make it out here. I’m sure they’re swamped tonight.”
My body’s shivering on its own. Cold doesn’t even begin to describe what I am right now. I imagine hypothermia wouldn’t take long in the single digits. The last thing I want is to wait out here, alone and frozen .
“Are you sure?”
He holds out a hand to me, and I take it without a second thought. “I have a few hours of cleanup at the bar still before I can head out. Might as well have some company while I do it.”
“I can help,” I offer as I let him pull me up and out of my worthless sedan.
“I’ll clean, you talk.”
Great. Talking isn’t my strong suit. Talking to a stranger is even worse for me. But in true Iris fashion, I say, “Okay.”
A few minutes later, I’m climbing back onto the stool I occupied earlier. My fingers and toes are numb, and my face feels like it’s on fire. Weather like this has me dreaming of living somewhere tropical someday. I wasn’t built for these conditions, but was anyone really made to survive such harshness?
When the man has his coat off and he makes it back behind the bar, he stops in front of me and slides a cup of hot coffee to me. “This will help.”
“Thanks,” I say, giving him a genuine smile as I wrap my hands around the hot mug.
“I’m Brax, by the way.”
“Iris.”
He smiles back, the sight so stunning I’m momentarily breathless. “I like that name. It suits you.”
“You look like a Brax.” I don’t even know what I’m saying at this point. I’m babbling from uncomfortableness. Not because of anything he’s done. He’s been great, but because he’s too handsome and I would bet money on the fact that this man has had an illustrious past with women. He looks like the type where women have thrown themselves at him, begging for his attention.
“What’s a Brax look like?” The smirk he gives me is devilish and somehow charming at the same time.
“Kind.”
“Not handsome?”
The man does know he’s handsome. I’m sure he’s been told his entire life how beautiful he is. “A little bit.” I chuckle. “I wouldn’t say modesty is a word that is often used to describe a Brax.”
“The man wouldn’t know modesty if it smacked him in the face,” a woman says as she walks out of the back room. “I would know because he’s my little brother.”
The woman is just as beautiful as he is handsome. The family must have some crazy genes. I wonder if anyone in their line has subpar looks. Probably not.
“I’m Tate,” she says, giving me the same smile her brother has.
“Iris.”
“I love that name. So soft, unlike my name.”
“Your name is amazing. Unique.”
“I like her, Brax.”
“I do too,” he says, which catches me completely off guard .
He likes me as much as anyone likes a stranger.
“I thought you were heading to her car?” Tate asks him as she starts to wipe down some of the round tables scattered around the main dining room.
“I did, but it wouldn’t start. She’s going to call a tow.”
“I’m not surprised, with this cold. And good luck getting a tow in this mess.”
“Great,” I mutter against the rim of the hot coffee.
“Do you live far?” Brax asks me.
“I live up by Lincoln Park.”
Brax whistles. “High-class and far as hell in this weather.”
My shoulders slump forward on their own. “I know. I’m so screwed.” I didn’t mean to say that last bit out loud, but of course, my mouth just does whatever it wants sometimes.
“I have an empty apartment across the street. You can stay there for the night,” Tate says, like what she is offering isn’t a big deal.
Who says “I have an empty apartment”? In today’s world, with the rising cost of real estate in the city, being able to own one place, let alone two, is a freaking miracle.
“You’d let me stay there?” I ask, turning on my stool to face her.
“Well, yeah. You can’t sleep in a cold car, and the bar is terribly uncomfortable. It’s hard to find a surface that isn’t sticky in at least one spot.”
I wrinkle my nose at the thought of the stickiness. I can’t imagine keeping a place like this clean with the volume of business they do and given that every drink they serve dries with a tacky film. “I promise to leave it in the same shape I find it. I can pay for the night too. You’d be doing me a big favor.”
A big favor doesn’t even quite describe what she’s offering me. Without her, I’d be left without a place to stay for the night as a blizzard takes over the city. I am going to kill Sandy and Mikayla when I see them next.
My phone vibrates against the wood bar as if they knew I was thinking about them.
Sandy: How’d it go?
Mikayla: Yeah. I’m dying to hear the details.
I chew on my lip, letting my fingers hover over the screen as I debate how to answer their question without being too coarse.
Me: He never showed, and now I’m stranded with a broken car and inches of snow on the Southside.
Sandy: Fucccccck.
Mikayla: Well, it could be worse.
Me: How? I could be stranded in the desert?
Mikayla: He could’ve shown up and been a murderer.
I roll my eyes as I read over her text.
Sandy: What are you going to do ?
Mikayla: We’re at Sandy’s and can head your way to pick you up.
Sandy: We can be there in an hour.
Me: Have you looked outside?
Sandy: Shit. Make it two.
Me: Stay home. It’s not safe out. I found a place to stay the night.
Sandy: Details.
Mikayla: What? Where?
Me: I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Night.
“Everything okay?” Brax asks as he moves around behind the bar, cleaning up from earlier.
“Just my friends checking on me. They’re the reason I’m here.”
“Were they supposed to come? They stood you up?” Tate asks.
“No. They set me up on a blind date, and he’s the one who didn’t show up.”
“His loss,” Brax says as his eyes flit to mine for the briefest of moments.
“Dumbass,” Tate adds. “So many asshats in this world. Totally his loss, girl.”
“It could’ve been worse, I guess.”
“How?” Brax asks.
“I could be stranded with him.”
“We’re totally the better option,” Tate says as she moves to the other side of the bar to grab a broom. “And it may be time to find new friends.”
I giggle. “They’re good people. They were trying to do what they thought was best for me, even if I wasn’t ready.”
“Why aren’t you ready? Bad break?” Tate asks.
My eyes meet Brax’s, and for a moment, I’m embarrassed, but I don’t feel like he’d judge me—or that she would either. “Something like that, but worse.”
Tate gasps, stopping the sweeping motion and resting her weight against the broom. “Worse?”
I nod. “I was with someone for five years when he decided he didn’t want to get married at the last minute.”
“Oof. That’s rough. Did he break it off the day before?” Tate asks.
“No. Not the day before. He decided it as we were standing on the altar together, about to say our vows.”
“Damn,” Tate mutters.
“Fucker,” Brax growls.
“I would’ve killed him,” Tate says, shaking her head. “My temper and embarrassment would need retribution and blood.”
The smile on my face almost makes my cheeks hurt. It’s been a long time since I’ve smiled this much. “I thought about it, but I wouldn’t do well behind bars.”
Tate chuckles. “Same, girl. Same.”
“That man has no backbone,” Brax says, giving me the look people usually do when they hear about what Lucas did .
Pity.
“And the smallest dick I’ve ever seen,” I say, which is so unlike me but feels so good to get off my chest.
Brax bursts into a fit of laughter, folding forward to try to catch his breath. “Man, women are brutal.”
“Sometimes the truth hurts,” Tate says through a few giggles. “Sounds like he saved you from a life of misery…literally. Unless he was a pro at using it or other things.”
“No, he was pretty awful at all the rest too,” I admit with a little bit of embarrassment.
“Then thank your lucky stars you didn’t settle for a life of pleasureless mediocrity,” Tate says.
“You’re right,” I reply.
“Why would you marry him?” Brax asks, stopping in front of me and leaning on one arm, looking every bit the handsome man in my fantasies.
“Because I loved him.”
“And now?”
“Now, I feel nothing.”
“Not even hate?”
“Some anger, but it’s been so long, he’s not even worth the energy anymore. I rarely think of him at all, actually.”
“That’s healthy,” Brax says. “Your friends are right. You’re ready to move on.”
“You think?” I ask, staring into his beautiful eyes.
“I talk to a lot of people. Being a bartender is kind of like being a therapist. I see a lot of broken people, and you’re not one of them, Iris.”
“I agree with Brax and your friends. It’s time to get back out there. Find someone who treats you well and makes you feel good about yourself.”
Am I ready? Probably. Am I willing to trust again? That one isn’t so easy.
“There’re good guys out there still looking for love,” Brax says.
“Are there?” I ask him.
“There are,” Tate answers before he has a chance. “Brax is single and he’s decent.”
“Decent?” he asks her. “That’s hurtful.”
“Well, you’re my brother. I’ve seen all the boneheaded things you’ve done in your life.”
“He seems pretty great to me,” I say without thinking.
Brax gives me a wink, and I almost melt into the plastic on the stool. “You’re pretty great too, Iris.”
Okay. Okay. Breathe, Iris. He’s just being nice.
This man could have me falling to my knees, begging for his praise. There’s something about him that has me acting unlike myself. I never talk to strangers about my past or problems, but they have me off-axis.
“Not to change the subject, but I’m just about done. You want the key to the apartment, Iris?” Tate asks me as she sets the broom back in the corner where she fetched it from earlier .
“If it’s no bother.”
“No bother at all. The shop is closed tomorrow, so take your time and sleep in.” She fishes a set of keys out of her pocket and unclips a single key. “Just slide the key through the mail chute on the door when you lock up.”
I take the key from her hand, wanting to throw my arms around her neck and pepper her with kisses as a thank-you, but I know it’s too much. “I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Find yourself a great love like I found. That’s what you can do to pay me back. No more shitheads.”
“I’ll do my best,” I promise her as I slip the key into my pocket.
“I’ll walk her over when I finish up,” Brax tells his sister before bringing his gaze to me. “Unless you want to go over there now.”
“I can wait. The warm coffee is too good.”
Tate lets out a loud laugh. “The coffee is shit, but the company is good.” She gives me a wink, and I know she’s talking about her brother.
I have to agree with her. He’s more than good, and spending time with him isn’t a hardship.
The door to the bar opens, and a wall of a man walks in, shaking off the snow. My breath literally catches in my throat as my eyes travel across his frame. He has tattoos on his hands, which are exposed, a choice that’s crazy in this cold .
“Ready, baby?” he asks, his eyes pinned to Tate as she grabs her coat.
“I could’ve walked myself home tonight, Wylder. It’s too cold for you to be out.”
“Fuck no. No way I’m letting my woman walk alone in the cold. Never going to happen.,” he says as he slides his arms around her back, pulling her against him. “Let’s get you home and in bed.”
She smiles up at him, melting against his body. “You know the magic words. Bye, you two,” she says without looking our direction.
“Bye, sis.”
“Bye, Tate,” I say, and I’m so damn happy for her. Not only is the man drop-dead gorgeous, but he loves her so much he’d walk through a snowstorm so she’d get home safe.
“Want a refill or something stronger?” Brax asks as soon as they leave.
“What do you have in mind?”
“A shot to celebrate moving on this year.”
“You pour, I’ll drink.”
“I’ll pour, we’ll drink.”
I smile, liking everything about how this night is turning out, even if my car is broken and I was stood up. The night could’ve ended so much worse.
Instead of ending on a bad note, I am going to share a shot with a hottie bartender and take a new outlook on life.