“What?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t think we’re going to need the chalkboard,” she said.
“Why not?” Matt asked.
“There’s a huge line outside the door. You’ve got to see it,” Ava said.
My brothers and I glanced at each other, then rushed to the window to get a peek. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The entire outdoor patio positioned just outside the front door was stuffed with people, and more overflowed onto the sidewalk. Almost all of them were wearing black and white the way the marketing materials instructed.
I let out a shocked, happy laugh, and Matt rushed to give Ava a hug. He swept her up into the air, and as soon as her feet touched the ground again, Tyler took his turn.
“Thank you so much for doing such an awesome job,” Matt said. “This is above and beyond anything I could have hoped for.”
“It really is amazing,” Jesse said, giving her a squeeze.
Ava was flushed and grinning when she stepped back from my younger brother. She looked over at me. I couldn’t decide if I should hug her or not. I wanted to, and it would have just fallen into line with the rest of my brothers. But I finally decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Instead, I gave her a high five.
“I knew it. Right from the beginning, I told you guys, didn’t I? I said Ava was going to come in here and show us how to do this right.” She grinned at me, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes that made my stomach tighten and my heart thud. “I’m going to dip into the office really fast and make sure everything is ready to go. I still have to print out the games.”
Ducking into the office was supposed to give me a chance to be alone for a few minutes. It was supposed to give me a second to breathe and get my thoughts straight in my head before I had to face the night. But that wasn’t to be. Seconds after I got into the office and closed the door behind me, it opened again, and Matt walked in. He pointed behind himself and stared at me, wide-eyed and openmouthed.
“What?” I asked, bringing up the materials for one of the games we were planning so I could print them out.
Ava would be running a couple of the games for us, which I was sure would be popular with the guys who came in without dates. I couldn’t help but notice she had taken the theme to a level designed to keep her tips flowing. Her tight black dress had a white panel with black polka dots down the back, a deep scooping neckline, and spike heels to match. It left just enough to the imagination to keep my mind churning.
“What the hell was that?” Matt asked.
“What was what?” I asked.
“Did you seriously just high-five her?”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“If you really have to ask that, maybe you should take some time to confront your feelings,” he said.
I shook my head. “There aren’t any feelings, Matt. It’s nice to have her here to help us with the bar, and we’re doing just fine as friends. That’s all there is to it.”
“Stop lying,” Matt said. “For your own sake.”
With that, he walked out of the office. I tried to ignore the comment as I gathered up the papers and went back out to the front of the bar. Black lights glowed, music pulsed, and Ava and Jesse poised behind the bar ready to go—it was time.
I nodded at each of them to make sure they were ready and walked over to the door. As soon as I opened it, a massive crowd filed in. I tried to catch as many faces as I could as they swarmed the space. Some I recognized, including a couple of the regulars who looked equal parts intrigued and out of place. Far more of the faces were brand-new. That was exactly what I wanted to see.
All we had to do now was give them a good experience so they would want to come back.
The night was crazy right off the bat. There was no build or slow ramp-up. Instead, we went from empty to crushed in a matter of minutes. I glanced over at Ava. She looked like she was in her element, laughing and dancing as she mixed drinks and filled glasses of beer and wine. She may have come here thinking this was just a filler job to get her through while she was in town, but it looked like she’d found her groove. Her smile lit up the space, as she seamlessly went from customer to customer. She looked like she was having a blast.
“Mason!”
I looked toward the booming voice and saw my best friend, Brian, coming toward me. I grinned and grabbed his hand, pulling him in to pound him on the back.