Chapter 3
Present Day
Annie
“Cheers to our newlyweds!” I say as I clink my gin and tonic to the two other glasses. The smile on the face of one of my best friends is brighter than I’ve ever seen, aside from the smile of her husband as he looks down at her.
It was only fitting to come to Lenny’s to celebrate Eddie and Mia’s marriage.
“Thank you for coming today,” Mia says to me as Eddie kisses her temple. Mia and I are seated at the chairs at a high-top table a few feet from the bar, Eddie standing behind Mia’s chair.
Mia’s blonde hair is curled, falling in waves over her shoulders, her long-sleeved bodycon dress a stark white against Eddie’s black dress shirt and dress pants.
“Having you all there meant the world to us.” Mia and Eddie finally tied the knot an hour ago in the Milwaukee courthouse with our group of friends and her brother, Mateo, as witnesses, all of us in disbelief that it’s been two and a half years since Eddie proposed to Mia on stage while his band, Cross My Heart, was performing.
Working at Lenny’s brought me friendships that made me realize the people I considered friends in high school were anything but. Next month marks seven years since I marched back in here and demanded Emmett give me a job, and so much has changed since then.
It almost makes all the shit that led up to coming here worth it.
It brought me Emmett and Eddie, who became the older brothers I always wanted as an only child, and it brought me their better halves—the two pieces of my makeshift heart—Mia and Emmett’s wife, Drew.
“Another round for the bride and groom? Emmett just texted that he and Drew had to stop home, but they’ll be here in a few minutes.” A voice calls from behind the bar, a voice that makes my stomach drop every time I hear it, but I’ve gotten good at ignoring the feeling over these past seven years.
Luke .
Working at Lenny’s also brought me back to Luke, the person I was desperately trying to run from when I came here in the first place.
Co-existing with Luke has been doable, a little easier since I quit my bartending job at Lenny’s to start veterinarian school three years ago, but not much because we share the same group of friends who have pretty much become family at this point.
We all spend birthdays and holidays together, and it feels unnatural to go more than a week without seeing each other.
I decided from the moment Emmett told me Luke would be working at Lenny’s that I wasn’t going to let that stop me from being the new Annie.
“One more round, bartender,” I declare as I hold my now-empty glass towards Luke. Even without facing him, I know his eyes are on me. They always are .
To be honest, I always have to tamp down the feelings I have for Luke when he’s around, but I’ve gotten good at it, only slipping up once or twice over the years.
Our friends know Luke and I went to school together, but how well we knew each other is one of the secrets I keep from Drew and Mia, my two closest friends.
And I told Luke I would cut his balls off if he ever told Emmett or Eddie.
The three of us girls don’t keep much from each other. They know about the money I send to my mom now that she’s in live-in treatment—it takes the place of actually ever seeing her again—and they know the only hard liquor I can drink is gin because it’s the one my dad never touched.
They know I have a hard time asking for help when I need it, and they know I have no interest in a romantic partner—sticking to little flings here and there—before I finish school, thanks to an old boyfriend who ruined relationships for me.
But they have no idea that, in reality, that old boyfriend is Luke, and I gave my heart to him, thinking he would take care of it, only for him to stomp all over it.
“You guys too?” Luke asks Mia and Eddie as he rounds the bar and walks over to our table, his eyes finally shifting off me—allowing me the quick indulgence of looking at him. “Or do you want to get it yourself, Ed,” he adds with a laugh.
“Hey, Annie worked here too, and I don’t see you putting her to work,” Eddie replies with a laugh of his own.
Luke turns to me. “He’s right. Annie, want to come back behind the bar and show me how it’s done?” The glint in his stupid grin makes me roll my eyes, ignoring the flip in my stomach.
Luke is handsome, there is no denying that, even if I tried—and I’ve tried, hard . No one is immune to his charm. His blonde hair is long, how I’ve always liked it, and he shakes it out as he leans on our high-top table. The sleeves of the dress shirt he’s wearing are rolled up, revealing his corded forearms, his body still chiseled from his years as a hockey player in high school and now as a player on a recreational team with his law school friends.
“Absolutely not,” I respond quickly and dryly, gaining a laugh from Mia and a chuckle from Eddie.
Luke’s eyes slightly widen, the same way they always do when I say the opposite of what he wants me to, but his grin doesn’t lessen one bit.
He leans in a little closer to me across the table, and I fight the urge to lean in, too, just to show him he isn’t affecting me like he wants to, even though he totally is.
“It’ll be just like old times,” he says, and my eyes narrow on him. I know he isn’t talking about the “old times” that play over and over in my head when I try to fall asleep, but him looking at me the way he is now reminds me of how easy it is to love him. “Come on, you know you want to.”
His bright blue eyes, like an ocean with a strong undertow, pull me in further and further before I can even realize how far I am from shore.
“I’d rather have my foot run over by a car.” I deadpan, looking down at my empty glass as I push it towards him, but Luke’s eyes stay glued to me.
Over the years, he’s gotten more overt with his flirting, which prompts me to get much more overt with shutting it down. I think it just provokes him more .
“I’ll do another beer,” Eddie says, putting an end to the back-and-forth, no stranger to this tension between Luke and me. He turns to his wife. “What about you, sunshine?”
Before Mia can respond, Luke turns from me to Mia, swiping her glass with that 100-watt smile and sparkling baby blue eyes. “Of course she wants another one of my amazing tequila sunrises. I mean, they’ve only gotten better with the years.” His eyes shine a little brighter as Mia laughs and they share a memory from when Mia started hanging out at Lenny’s more and Luke helped her find her “drink of choice.”
Luke pushes himself from the high-top table, giving Mia a wink and pulling another little giggle from her, before he turns his attention to me, catching me staring, his grin widening.
No one is immune to Luke’s charm.
Not even me.
I look away, shaking my head, both at him and at myself for letting him catch me looking.
“Gin and tonic again, Annie girl?” he asks me when he gets behind the bar, and his voice saying his nickname for me is like warm honey enveloping me in a familiarity that I always wish was never there.
The nickname reminds me of simpler times when my heart used to flutter, but my heart was broken beyond repair all those years ago—there’s nothing left to make flutter.
Before I can tell him what a stupid question that is, seeing as though it’s the only alcoholic drink he’s ever made me—all other alcohol makes me want to vomit, aside from the occasional white wine or hard seltzer, favorites of my two best friends—the door to Lenny’s opens .
Emmett’s large frame further accentuates how small his wife is even as she wobbles towards us with her swollen belly looking about ready to burst. Drew’s red wine hair is twisted in a bun on the nape of her neck, her black maternity pants and tank top looking much more comfortable than the dress she was wearing at the courthouse an hour ago.
“I’m so sorry we’re late,” she announces as she throws her arms around both Mia and Eddie, hugging them as best she can with her stomach in the way. “I couldn’t stay in that dress any longer,” she explains, sitting down in the chair Emmett pulled out for her between Mia and me.
Drew didn’t go back to teaching this past school year, Emmett not wanting her out of his sight even more than ever since she got pregnant; I don’t think I’ve seen her stand any longer than two minutes since they announced her pregnancy.
I was worried about Drew and Emmett becoming parents, selfishly because I was so worried it would change things between all of us. In reality, it’s been a true blessing, and we can’t wait to meet the boy or girl she is supposed to pop out any day now.
The Lenny’s crew is ready to expand after these seven years together.
“Don’t even give it a second thought,” Mia says as Luke appears at our table, setting down a glass of water in front of Drew, a tequila sunrise in front of Mia, and another gin and tonic in front of me.
I ignore the flip in my stomach as his body steals the space around mine now that a table isn’t between us. With Emmett standing behind Drew’s chair, Eddie standing behind Mia’s, Luke stands behind min e
It always happens like this, even more over the years with our four best friends being coupled off.
“How are you feeling?” I ask Drew. It comes out evenly even though my voice is a second away from cracking. I’ve learned that confidence is all about faking it until you make it.
“Tired,” Drew answers, “and ready for this baby to come out, but tonight isn’t about me,” she says, turning to Mia. “It’s about you! How does it feel to be married?” Drew’s smile is wide as she rests her forearms on the table in front of her, her gaze moving from Eddie and Mia.
I don’t get to hear the answer because I feel my phone vibrate on the table next to me. I glance down to see it’s a number I don’t recognize, feeling Luke lean in closer from where he’s standing behind me to look too.
The Milwaukee area code could mean it’s from my advisor. I wouldn’t usually answer any calls for school when I’m on break, especially after how taxing the past three years of schooling have been, but I’m coming up on my final year of veterinarian school which means my rotations will be starting next month.
Starting in September, my life will consist of long hours of unpaid labor at my vet school’s teaching hospital, private practices, zoos, laboratories, government agencies—basically any place where veterinarians ply their trade—but finally being able to put all of my training these past three years to use.
My advisor is supposed to call me, so we can talk through some experiences I hope to get approval for once my required rotations are scheduled.
I’m so close to being finished with school—my next step being the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination and the Wisconsin State Exam once I finish my rotation year—and it’s hard to believe all this hard work is so close to paying off.
I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, not until I was in my third—and my last—year of college, having worked my ass off to graduate in three years. I realized I didn’t want to be a bartender forever and started Googling what jobs I could get with a biology degree.
Being a veterinarian was the only career option that stuck with me, and it was confirmed when I started volunteering at animal shelters and working with the on-site veterinarians that I realized it was what I wanted to do.
It also helped that I had such a huge support system throughout the whole process.
Not only did my friends let me vent to them when I wanted to give up and go out of their way to remind me that I was capable, they’re also amazing role models.
There’s something special about being friends like we are, being able to watch each other grow and cheer each other on along the way. I’m forever grateful to have friends who have followed me along on this journey and who have let be front row to theirs, even Luke—but I’d never admit it out loud.
Thinking how I don’t want to miss my advisor’s call, I quickly excuse myself from the group and head outside. Since Emmett closed Lenny’s for the night, knowing we would all be going to the courthouse and coming here to celebrate, we’re the only ones here.
Emmett is still looking for long-term employees since Eddie and I left. We both still help out every so often—Drew and Mia too—but with Luke leaving in a few weeks to become a partner at his father’s law firm and Emmett becoming a new dad, Lenny’s needs more employees to keep her running.
“Hello?” I say as I answer the call. The sun has just begun to set; the skin on my arms, exposed from my red jumpsuit, pebbles from the cool summer air.
“Annie Mitchell?” a gruff voice replies into my ear. “This is Lou Dominic calling.”
It takes me a second to register the name of the manager of my apartment complex.
“Oh, hi,” I answer, slightly annoyed with myself that I didn’t just let the call go to voicemail.
What could Mr. Dominic possibly need from me on a Friday night?
I pace the sidewalk outside Lenny’s, avoiding the few people who pass by.
“You live in apartment 112, correct?”
Worry begins to settle as I hear the door of Lenny’s open behind me.
“Yes,” I answer warily, impatiently waiting for him to tell me the reason for this call.
I’ve lived in my current complex since I started veterinarian school because it was in the center of where I spent my time: my school, the animal shelter, Mia and Eddie’s apartment, Drew and Emmett’s house, Lenny’s.
I pay my rent on time, don’t disrupt my neighbors, and never need any maintenance or assistance.
I am a stellar occupant.
I haven’t talked to Mr. Dominic since he gave me a tour of the place two years ago.
“I hate to be calling about this,” Mr. Dominic responds, “but your apartment has been broken into.”