Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
paula
Oh my God. Is he dying? I pat his back. I don’t know why it’s a gut reaction. Also, I’m pretty sure my mom did the same thing when I was a kid and having a choking fit. Or well, coughing, I guess.
“Tristan?” I try to lean over until I can see his face, but there’s a good chance we’ll bump heads.
He holds up a finger while trying to gain his composure. So, not dying. That’s good at least. My cheeks are probably bright red, and I can feel everyone in the bar staring at us.
“Damn, Paula.” I glance over the bar to see Eric studying the situation. “I thought your family was going to take him out, not you.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“I know.” Eric grins. “Tristan, do we need to call someone to come help you out?”
He shakes his head back and forth. “I—just—need—a minute.”
His voice is raspy between coughs, and I feel even worse. After this, he may not want to help me out anymore.
“I’m gonna hang around just in case,” Eric says as he leans against the bar. “You know, your family isn’t going to believe you’re dating if you don’t show up to spaces together.”
“You know about our arrangement?”
“Yep.” he nods. “I’m a bartender. I pull out all the best secrets.”
I watch Tristan pick up the glass and take a drink before clearing his throat. He’s okay. “Don’t act like you coerced me into saying anything. I did that of my own volition.”
“You told him?” This shouldn’t be shocking, but it is. I figured he found out from Caroline or one of my other coworkers.
“Yeah.” He takes another sip. Water would probably be better, and before I can voice my thought, Eric is sliding a glass across the counter. “Thanks. I wanted to see if he knew anything about your family.”
“You could have asked me.” Though I’d probably start ranting. They aren’t bad, just annoying. It’s probably best it came from an outside party.
“I know. And I will because we’ll need to get some key facts straight. Do you have a date, yet?”
“Yeah, two weeks from tomorrow.” Dread fills my stomach already and it’s not even time to leave on this trip.
“Wow.” He shakes his head. “They really don’t give you a lot of notice.”
He’s not wrong. It’s completely normal, though. They plan something and expect everyone to move their schedules around to accommodate them. It’s actually pretty unfair.
“If you can’t make it, I totally understand.” Everything inside of me is hoping he can still go with me. I can endure my family alone, but why do it if I don’t have to.
“It should be fine. Dale told me to let him know the dates.”
Phew. The tension inside my body melts away with these few words.
“I guess it’s a good thing we have understanding bosses.”
“Yep. It helps that we aren’t touring right now. Otherwise…”
He lets the words drift off because that means I would be on my own, and he doesn’t want to voice it.
“Well, I’m glad I ran into you.”
He shoots a quick glance at Eric, and his cheeks blush. “Why’s that?”
“So, I could tell you the dates. Even though I’m pretty sure I also almost killed you.”
“Naw.” He waves me off. “It went down the wrong pipe is all.”
Eric is shaking his head but doesn’t say anything else. What does he know that I don’t? Pressing him for information later is now at the top of my to-do list.
“You want the usual, Paula?” He has the audacity to smile at me like he isn’t holding some sort of secret.
“Sure.” I turn back to Tristan. “Since we’re here, do you want to start going over all my family stuff and how we got together?” I do air quotes with those last to words. “Unless, you have something else to do, of course.”
Why in the hell am I being so weird? Talking to guys has never been an issue for me. But the briefest interactions with Tristan bring out a side of me I didn’t realize I had.
“No, I’m good to hang around.” Relief passes over his face, and I wonder why he doesn’t want to leave yet. But…it’s not my business. He’ll tell me if he feels like it.
“Here you go.” Eric slides my margarita across the counter. “There’s a table over there they finished cleaning. I’ll let Delilah know y’all are heading that way.”
“Thanks.” I salute him with my glass before heading in the direction he pointed. Hopefully Tristan is following because if we don’t snag it, someone else will. The bar is crowded tonight, but not so much there’s a wait for tables. If there was, I’d feel terrible Eric told us to take this one.
I set my glass on the table and lift myself into the tall chair.
Honestly, I think bars should do away with high tables with chairs.
It’s practically asking for someone to fall off it in a drunken stupor.
Or, even sober. I can’t count how many times I’ve lost my balance sliding down, and I’m not even that short.
Tristan takes the seat across from me. The glass of wine still in his hand.
“So, was it my family wine you were drinking?”
He glances at the glass as if he forgot he still had it. “Oh, yeah. I figured it was best if I at least tried it before going on this trip with you. I’m not typically a wine drinker, but this is good.”
At least he likes the product. “Which kind did you order?”
“I actually have no idea.” He laughs.
“What?” How do you not know what you’re ordering? That feels like a crime.
“I told Eric to pick for me, and this is what he gave me.”
I hold out my hand toward him. “Let me take a sip. I can tell you which one it is.”
He looks from the glass to me. “Um, okay.”
Oh no. I hope he’s not someone who doesn’t like germs. Not because it’s bad or anything, but because I basically just demanded his drink.
“It’s okay. I’ll ask Eric later.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” He places the glass in my hand, and waits for my assessment.
The scent alone clues me on which kind it is. But I take a small sip to make sure I’m right. I’m much like Tristan in that I don’t drink a lot of wine. Being surrounded by it my entire life kind of made me hate it on principle.
“No wonder you like this one. It’s our sangria. Super sweet but will knock you on your ass if you’re not careful.”
He grins at me, and butterflies swirl around my stomach.
“So, what you’re saying is I should probably stop after this glass.” He takes it back and takes a sip.
Well, at least I know he doesn’t have a problem drinking after me. Though we’re going to need to figure out the PDA aspect of our relationship. My parents are never going to believe we’re together if we never touch.
“Are there any questions you have about the trip?”
“In general, or specific?”
“Both?” I know we need to get the specifics squared away. The family will understand if he doesn’t know everything about them. They probably assume I never talk about them since I don’t want to be a part of the business.
“We probably need to figure out how we started dating.”
“Easy, we use the story of how we met when you knocked the phone out of my hand.” It’s not a complete lie. He did in fact go home with me that night. Even if the night didn’t go as I intended.
“And the reason folks haven’t seen us around together is because I’ve been on tour with the band. So, it’s not completely impossible for us to have been dating.”
“Exactly.” It’s one of the reasons he’s the perfect person to be my fake boyfriend for this trip. He’s only around when the band is. And it’s not like I come to this bar that much outside of girl’s night.
“Now that we have that detail out of the way. How much shit is your family going to give you…and me?”
“It depends on their mood. I haven’t told them I’m bringing a plus one yet.”
“Oh.” He cocks his head to the side. “So, they’re going to hate me right off the bat.”
“Not at all. I’ll tell them tomorrow.” I take a sip of my now melting margarita. “How much touching are we okay with?”
He’s once again choking on his drink. I give him a few moments to regain his composure.
“You’ve gotta stop surprising me like that.”
“It’s not like it’s an invalid question.” I shrug as if it’s no big deal. But it is. He’s the only guy who I’ve ever been interested in and we’ve never even kissed.
“Definitely hand holding.” He studies his empty glass as if it holds all the answers. “I’m assuming we’ll need to kiss on occasion.”
“Most likely. And we’ll probably be sharing a room. My parents aren’t old fashioned in their way of thinking.”
Tristan’s eyes widen. I guess he didn’t think about that particular detail. And there isn’t time to find a place bigger with more rooms. They always rent a house wherever we go so we can have quality bonding time.
“As long as there are extra blankets, I can sleep on the floor.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I wave away his concern. “At some point before we leave, we’ll have to practice kissing, though. It needs to be believable. If not, my siblings will know.”
“That’s actually kind of creepy.”
“You don’t have any siblings, do you?”
“A brother, but we didn’t really grow up together since he’s so much older.”
That makes sense. “So, you didn’t get the siblings all up in your business action I did.”
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “But…were you in their business as well?”
“I plead the fifth.” Yes, yes, I was. Nothing happened in that house without me knowing about it. Though that changed some when I moved out and the younger siblings were still in school.
“Is there any other pertinent information I need to know?”
I’m glad he doesn’t make me elaborate. He must know good and well that I was nosey.
“Not really. My great-grandparents started the winery and passed it down. I actually think I’m the first one that hasn’t wanted anything to do with it. No disrespect to my family, but it’s not something I’ve ever wanted to do.”
“Okay, cool.” His whole body sags in relief. “I mean I’m pretty good at memorizing things quickly from when I was in theatre, but it’s good I don’t have to. But it’d be helpful if you sent me pictures of everyone and their names so I get that right at least.”
“I can do that.”
The shift in conversation feels like our evening of drinks is winding down. He proves my point when he slides out of his chair. “I probably need to get back to the house so I can let Dale know the dates and see what he has on the agenda for me tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I turn to carefully get out of my chair, but his hand appears in front of me to help. “Thanks.”
My voice is barely above a whisper. He must hear it, though. He nods his head with a half-smile.
“Any time.”
“I need to close out my tab.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”
“You don’t have—”
“I can’t let my girlfriend pay for her own drinks. How would that make me look to the fine residents of Asheville?”
There’s no use arguing, and it’s been a while since anyone has bought me a drink. I follow him to the bar to take care of the bill. Even though we aren’t really together, I don’t want the night to end. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this comfortable with anyone.
Once he’s finished up, he leads the way out of the bar, and I pull my arms around myself to stave off the cold. He wraps an arm around me and pulls me closer to him.
“Where are you parked?”
I nod in the direction of my car and we head toward it. He waits until I’ve unlocked the car and opened the door before pulling his arm away.
“Tonight was fun. Even if there was a bit of homework.” He shoves his hand in his pocket and rocks back and forth.
“It was. I’m glad I ran into you.” And almost killed him, but I don’t want to mention that again. “So, uh, do we want to practice the kiss? I mean, no time like the present, right?”
“Sure.” He takes a step toward me and places his hand on my cheek before leaning in.
His mouth meets mine, and I only expected a sweet peck. That’s not at all what’s happening here.
His lips are soft and he widens them a fraction to deepen the kiss. I wrap my arms around his waist and melt into him. Standing here, kissing him, feels like the only thing that matters. The bitter bite of winter fades away. All I can do is stay wrapped up in this warmth.
I’m not sure how long we kiss, but when he pulls away reality comes crashing back.
“Was that, okay?” He sounds unsure of himself.
“Yeah.” It’s not my fault if I sound like I’m out of breath. He stole it from me. “It was perfect.”
“Text me when you get home?”
“Uh huh.” I wait a beat. “I’ll also send the pictures.”
With a quick wave he turns around and walks off. I am so screwed.