“And?” She gives me a look like it’s obvious. “Nell. You think a wild time is organizing the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.”
My jaw drops. “I do not.” Okay. Well, maybe I do. One time I found a couple of pills I’d never seen before. “Besides, what are you? Indiana Jones? You’re not exactly Miss High Adventure either. And it asked for unique personalities.”
She shrugs. “Well, that you definitely have. But still . . . you’d be on television and let everyone into your business?”
“For a million dollars, I guess. Come on. Can’t I go with you guys?”
I give her my puppy-dog eyes.
“Uh . . .” She looks at the television. “May fifteenth. You know that’s the day of your graduation?”
Right. “Okay, but it’s noon to five. Graduation’s not until seven. What would it hurt if I just went and checked it out with you?”
She gives me a doubtful look.
I don’t get why she’s being so reluctant. She’s usually all for these things. “Come on, Nee. Please. I need that money.” I called her Nee once because I thought it both cute and funny, and Courtney laughed so hard with me that it’s stuck. So we’re Nee and Nell.
“Okay. I guess you can come. But if you roll your eyes or tell me how stupid it is one time, I’m going to kick you to the curb.”
“Yay!” I hug her. “I can’t wait.”
“Oh, girl,” she says, patting my head like I’m a Labrador. “You can. Trust me. You have no idea what you’re in for.”
Luke
All I have to say is this: Bring it. I’m up for anything.
—Luke’s Confessional, Day 1
Tim’s Bar is hopping, standing room only, every eye plastered on the television screens in the corners of the room.
By the looks of this crowd, you’d think my little place was doing pretty damn well.
But looks are deceiving.
Everyone is here to cheer on Jimmy Rowan, the legend, as he debuts his brand-new stunt on YouTube. This is where he got his start. His following. Where he made his mark. Where he also met Elizabeth Banks, the rich girl he’s been dating for the past six months.
Jimmy does all his business out of my bar, so much so that one booth in the back is his designated “office.” He’s been sitting in that office for the past hour, doing hell knows what with her. I launch a plastic straw at him from over the bar, and he turns.
“You ready?” I call.
He slides out of the seat, never dropping Lizzy’s hand. She grins at me. “It’s James. He was born ready.” She looks at him. “Isn’t that what you always say?”
He gives her a grin and nods. “Yeah. Ready.” He rubs his hands together. “Hey, you okay?”
I nod. Fan-fucking-tastic.
He turns to the audience and clears his throat. “Everyone. Here it is. The world premiere of my latest stunt, which will debut on my channel this weekend. Filmed down in Oahu.”
Jimmy hasn’t changed a whole hell of a lot since he started dating Lizzy. He has, though, gotten the capital he needed to expand his YouTube channel to a lot more exotic locales. I can’t say I’m not a bit jealous. Before Lizzy, Jimmy and I were on the same track: raised on the toughest streets of Atlanta and destined to live the rest of our lives and die here. Now Jimmy spends every other week on an adventure, when I’ve never so much as been out of the state. But he and Lizzy? As different as they are, she’s so damn good for him it almost makes me think love exists.
Almost.
I press play on the Blu-ray player, and the black screen cuts to a shot of Jimmy, standing on the edge of a volcano, in a crash helmet.
Everyone cheers for the man. He’s the neighborhood hero.
A guy I’ve never seen before gets my attention. “You call this a whiskey? What do you do, water down shit?”
I give him a hard look. “Go somewhere else.”
“Yeah, I will, but I’m not paying for this shit.”
It’s because of the phone call I’d gotten earlier that afternoon that my temper flares. I grab the shot glass I’m polishing and slam it on the bar. It shatters in my fist.
Jimmy whirls to look at me, stunned. Lizzy too.
Jimmy gets in the guy’s face. “You are gonna fucking pay for that, aren’t you?”
“Hey,” I say, holding up a hand. I don’t need him to fight my battles. And the last thing I need is Jimmy breaking any