“I’m not going to say no to you, Darren.”
“It’s your house.”
“It’sourparty,” he fires back. “And you know there’s someone else you can ask. Someone who knows Sebastian a lot better than you and I do.”
“Riley?”
Playing dumb doesn’t work, and Jake doesn’t even bother to roll his eyes this time. “Go ask Drew.”
“You’re encouraging a conversation now?”
“Let’s not get carried away. You barely need complete sentences for this.”
Someone flags me down for another round of whiskey, and it saves me from having another argument about my father when I don’t know what side I’m on. My own, I guess. Either way, I finish pouring and wipe my hands and don’t look at Jake before I slip from behind the bar. I know he’s watching me, and that’s fine, but I’m a surprise when I reach my father’s side, and he blinks quickly as though I might disappear even though I’ve been here all night long.
“Darren.”
“Sometime soon, whenever it’s hot enough for it, there’s gonna be a party at Jake’s. Riley and I will be there. A few friends from here.” I take a deep breath and look at Supine again before I return to the curious tilt of Drew’s head. “I was thinking we could invite the band, but it’s a party. With a fuckton of booze. And I—you might have some insight into whether a party would be a bad place for Sebastian to be.”
“You realize this is a bar?”
“But there’s a difference between him playing here and relaxing there,” I argue. On behalf of Jake. Or something. “I don’t want to act like he’s not a grown-ass adult who can take care of himself, but I also don’t want to set him up for failure when you’ve already asked me to keep an eye on him.”
He huffs. “I’m not sure that’sexactlywhat I did.”
“Close enough. So—yes to the party or no to the party?”
Drew Barrett flashes those fucking dimples at me—the same ones I use to getmyway—and I wonder whether there’s any chance I’ll be able to refuse whatever request is about to be made. I glance over my shoulder at Jake like he can save me from myself, but turn back to my father for the question I know he’s going to ask before he asks it.
“Can I come, too?”
“Fine.”
“That’s it?”
“I have to get back to work. You want me to say it’s not fine?” I ask.
“Just thought there would be conditions with the invitation.”
“You invited yourself,” I remind him. “But okay—don’t drink, make sure Sebastian doesn’t drink, stay away from Jake, and enjoy the water.”
I don't tell my father to stay away from me when it feels like a given, and I leave him before he remembers that he's better at that than I'll ever be. There are a few beer bottles to clear on my way back to the bar, and Jake is busy talking to V with his Guinness in his hand, but as soon as I return, she pinches my waist and leaves us alone. Jake takes a sip and hides a smile.
“Well?” he asks.
“Plus five.”
“Ah, of course.”
“You’re not surprised,” I mutter. "But you know he might not show up."
Jake's smile fades then, but what remains is important. "I'll be there either way."
"The party's at your house."
"The party could be anywhere. My point stands."
I run the pad of my thumb over the rough edge of a bottle cap and don't look away. "You mean that, don't you?"