has me confused with someone else. No matter. Everyone will get the guy they’re expecting, and the twins and I will have the main bar rocking.”
“Good! See? You’re a natural at this.”
He wishes I was. I wish I was back at my place with Hailey. Neither one of us gets what we want tonight.
My father didn’t exaggerate when he said it would be a celebration. By ten o’clock, people stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the bar, and the twins and I barely have time to catch a breath between customers. I see a hand go up at the end of the bar and hurry down to find the March and Jackson family contingent fresh in the door and thirsty.
Alex drops a hundred on the bar in front of me and smiles. “Are we still being a bitch about things, or should we find one of the other bars?”
I take his money and hand it back to him, shaking my head. “Fuck you, and your money’s no good here tonight. If the almighty Stefan March insists I work this hoedown, then my family and friends drink for free.”
His brother Cash leans in and looks at me with that intense blue-eyed stare so like his father’s. “Planning on bankrupting your father before he forces you to take over the place?” he asks and then laughs. “If I had known tonight was free, I would have better prepared. How’ve you been, Cade? Alex tells me your father is pulling hard on the reins lately.”
I shake my head at him and roll my eyes. “Everyone in this family is like fucking hens. All you do is gossip.” Turning to look at my cousin Liam, I say, “Let me guess. You know all my goddamned business too, right?”
My uncle Kane’s older son, he’s quiet like his father, something I appreciate since it usually means he’s not interested in the family bullshit. But tonight, it seems even Liam is here to bust my balls.
With a shit-eating grin, he answers, “You know how fast word travels in this family. Don’t worry, though. Looks like you got yourself a job, so your father will get off your back. Speaking of that, do you serve drinks at this job, or do you just talk to people dying of thirst?”
All three of them laugh, but I get it. As close as we’ve all been all our lives, it’s not surprising they think they should ride me about my father’s latest scheme to get me to run this place. I should have expected them to show up and act like they are.
“Fuck you guys, and if you aren’t careful, I’ll let the twins handle you.”
My cousins turn their heads and look down the bar at the two gorgeous bartenders I get to work with tonight. Both have their blond hair up in ponytails, and both are wearing shirts that I’m pretty sure defy the laws of nature, or at least fabric, and show off as much of their tits without being naked.
“Christ, what is the tensile strength of those buttons?” Cash asks as the three of them stare at exactly what both twins hope male customers will notice and pay nicely to see as they get their drinks tonight. “They have to be super glued because there’s no way that one little button is holding back all of that.”
Liam smiles, and Alex taps me on the arm to get my attention. “I think you misunderstand the idea of punishment, man. There’s no reason for us not to bust your ass all night long if we get them instead of you.”
“Fuck off. Now you get whatever I decide to pour you three.”
I leave them staring at the twins’ assets and return a minute later with three whiskeys. When Alex doesn’t see one for me, he stops his brother and Liam from taking a drink.
“First drink, you have to join us. It’s a tradition.”
“I can’t get hammered tonight. There are like a million fucking people here. This job gets hard when your head is up your ass.”
“One drink,” Cash says, egging me on like he usually does. “You won’t even feel it.”
Grabbing the bottle off the shelf, I give in and pour myself a glass of whiskey. “One, but then I have to get back to work. What are we toasting to?” I ask as I lift my glass.
The four of us clink our glasses together, and Alex says with a grin, “To new beginnings.”
“To new beginnings,” the three of us