Rich Groom (The Dirty Thirty Pledge 1)

I tilt her face up so I can see her more clearly. “I won’t pretend that we can start back where we were. I fucked up too badly for that. But sweep back into your life? Yes. Sweep you off your feet? Yes.” I lean closer. “It’s always been you, Anna.”

There’s a moment when I think that it’s not going to happen, and my stomach drops. But she lets me kiss her, and God, more than anything else, her lips feel like coming home. I’m so hard that I’m aching and I want to devour her. Lay her down on the sand and take her, make her moan my name again, because I’ve missed that sound. But I just kiss her, softly, and she kisses me back for just a second before she pulls away.

Her voice is ragged. “I can’t, Frankie. I need time.”

I don’t want that, but it’s not a never. “I can give you time,” I say. “But please, don’t shut me out. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Her eyes are sparkling again. “I might hold you to that. I should go.”

“Let me walk you to your car?”

She reaches out and takes my hand, squeezes it once. “We were already seen dancing together. Let’s not scandalize the town by leaving the festival together too. But I’ll call you.”

“Promise?”

She turns back for a second and crosses her heart with her fingers. Something she always used to do. I have to live with that, even if watching her walk away is an echo of something that I never want to see again.

Getting out of the festival is a lot easier than getting in, and on the way out I do notice the stares that follow me as I leave. But I keep my head down and get into my car. After all, there’s one more stop that I need to make tonight.

2

Frankie

I can see the sign for First Shot from down the road. Since it’s our flagship bar, it’s big and brazen. More than I probably would have done, but the flagship is Glenn’s baby, and he’s done a damn good job.

First Shot started as an idea we had in college, a bar where your first shot is always free. It sounded ridiculous to most people, but Glenn—a business major—put together a plan. He secured the funding and helped us buy the old dive bar in Green Hills that we used to sneak into as teens to play pool.

To say that the concept was a hit would be an understatement. We had more customers than we could handle with the offer of a free first shot, and we were operating in the black within six months. That’s unheard of. So we did it again in Nashville. And then Atlanta. Now there are First Shot bars in most major cities in the country, and I have more money than I know what to do with. We all do. That’s why I started Farbell Records. I can afford to take risks with music that others won’t, because I don’t actually care about the money.

Of course I want my artists to be successful, but there’s less pressure. I think it creates a better atmosphere for my artists, and for me. I’ve been really lucky.

As I step out of the car, there are ruckus greetings and some cheers. If I’m recognizable in the rest of Green Hills, here I’m as close as I’ll ever get to a celebrity. Some guys clap me on the back as I make my way to the door, and one couple wants to snap a selfie.

Being here now, it’s hard to remember why I haven’t been back in a couple years. There’s so much memory here. Everything from the crunch of gravel under my boots to the smell of fried food in the air brings something back to my senses.

When I finish wading through the crowd and make it inside, it’s just as crowded. That hasn’t changed. First Shot is the place to be in Green Hills, and with the festival happening right now, there are all kinds of people from out of town who want to visit the flagship bar. We have a pretty great fan club.

Glenn actually surprised Wallace and me with the purchase of this place. We were on board—because the three of us have been inseparable since we were kids, even if we see each other less now. But more than anything, this place is his, and he’s done a hell of a job.

Inside we’ve kept it a blend of the new and the familiar. The original battered jukebox is still here, along with the classic country decor, but there’s a new floor and new lights, reupholstered booths and pool tables in the back. The slick round bar in the middle of the place allows people to gather on all sides—easy access to their free shots.