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She should have seen it coming.
Nick wasn’t really the kind of guy who managed to pull off surprises. He meant well, he really did, but he lacked the forethought and organizational skills to really plan anything significant without spoiling it along the way. Julie had always found it kind of endearing, if a little annoying. But there was nothing endearing about what was happening right now. And she was more than a little annoyed as she stared down at Nick where he was kneeling in front of her, an open ring box in his outstretched hand while 72 of his closest friends and family members stood around them with half-full glasses of champagne and eager smiles on their faces as they waited for her answer.
“Nick, I...I don’t know what to say,” she managed to whisper.
Her boyfriend’s forehead wrinkled, his blue eyes pleading and confused as his smile dimmed around the edges.
“You could say yes?”
His tone implied that yes was the obvious answer, although the way his voice cracked on the last word told her he was starting to get the picture. She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, desperately wishing she had worn the platform sneakers she typically favored instead of the godforsaken heels Nick had talked her into. Now that she thought about it, he had convinced her to pick the white dress as well. Julie bit her tongue to avoid cursing herself out loud. She couldn’t believe she had missed the signs.
Someone in the background cleared their throat, and Julie finally remembered their audience. A soft sigh escaped her.
“Can we...talk about this outside, please? Alone?”
Nick looked around like he, too, had forgotten about everyone watching them with bated breath. It felt quiet enough to hear a pin drop, though Julie knew the restaurant below the event space their group occupied was still bustling with activity. Nick awkwardly shuffled to his feet, and Julie turned her back on his guests to escape through the doors behind her that led to a small balcony overlooking downtown LA. It didn’t take very long for him to follow her.
“Julie, what’s going on? Don’t you want to get married? I thought this was like, the logical next step for us?”
It would have been a lot easier to break his heart if he didn’t sound so damn confused about it. Julie wasn’t confused at all. She’d known from the moment they started dating that she wouldn’t marry Nick. She was only twenty-two for Heaven’s sake! She didn’t want to marry anyone just yet, let alone a boy she had only been dating for a year. She wondered what the hell had gone on during his long relationship with Carrie in high school that would have led him to believe the logical step for a one year anniversary date was a surprise engagement party complete with his mother’s diamond ring being offered to her during a Dom Pérignon toast. (Another sign, Nick didn’t generally flaunt his family’s money like that.) Julie tightened her grip on the stem of her champagne flute as she tried to find the right words.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you.”
“Why not?”
The confusion was beginning to give way to petulance and as much as it pained her, Julie wasn’t going to lie to the guy. She had too much respect for him to do that. She took a deep breath and threw back the rest of her champagne, setting the now empty glass off to the side on a small table as she squared her shoulders.
“Nick, I’m not trying to meet my soulmate at twenty-two. There are so many things I want to see and do before getting married, experiences I need to have before I’m ready for that. This past year has been great because it was just fun and no pressure. I’m not looking for more than that. You get that, right?”
Honestly, Julie had kind of thought Nick wanted something similar. His relationship with Carrie had been toxic to say the least, and she had assumed that the next time he dated someone, he would prefer to keep things a little more casual. Apparently that relationship was still haunting him though, evidenced by the way he was trying to offer her what he thought she wanted based on what Carrie had always asked for. Nick frowned, his eyes darkening as she watched his heart break through the window to his soul.
“I don’t understand. If you love someone you’re supposed to marry them. That’s how relationships work.”
Oh, God, he was really gonna make her say it, wasn’t he?
Julie had always been honest with Nick. He had dropped the L word on her after six months of dating, and she had gracefully dodged responding by letting him kiss her senseless afterwards. The next week she had sat him down and said she just wasn’t quite there yet, but he had said it was okay, he didn’t need to hear her say it. There had been a few times where she had accidentally returned the sentiment at the end of a phone call or as she was rushing out the door, mostly as a reflex and always in a generally offhanded way. Nick hadn’t ever made a big deal about it, so Julie figured they were on the same page, and she hadn’t really stopped to worry about it. Because she did love Nick, she just didn’t really love him the way that she should have. Not like how her mom and dad had loved each other. Not the kind of love that led to a lifetime together.
“I don’t think it has to work like that. Plenty of people love each other and don’t get married. And plenty of people date for years and don’t end up getting married in the end. Not every relationship has to follow a specific formula.”
“Julie, what’s the point of dating if it doesn’t lead to marriage? I love you and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you! Don’t you want that?”
If Julie had thought for one moment that saying yes to a date with Nick a little over a year ago would lead to this, she wouldn’t have ever dated him in the first place. Because she did want that, but not right now. And not with Nick.
“I’m sorry, Nick. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. But no, I don’t want that. Not right now. Not like this. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”
She couldn’t stand there any longer. Not with Nick looking at her like she had just kicked his puppy, and that damn ring box still open in his hand, the large diamond winking at her every time it caught the light spilling out of the room Nick had rented for what she assumed was a fancy date night but had in fact been an ambush dressed up like a party.
She pushed past Nick, ignoring the way he swayed lightly at the contact as he processed the shock, and slipped back into the room that was now decidedly less jolly than it had been twenty minutes ago. It was all too easy to weave through the partygoers, head ducked down to avoid their accusing stares as she gathered her purse and jacket from their table and fled down to the main restaurant. Nick hadn’t even thought to invite her dad or Flynn. She wondered if he had even realized his party was just that, his, made up of the people he had deemed important and worth celebrating with. Clearly, Julie’s family hadn’t made that cut, which was yet another sign that whatever future Nick saw for them was based on a version of Julie that didn’t actually exist. She might have broken his heart tonight, but she had saved them both a lifetime of heartache and pain in the process.
The cool air outside the restaurant was a welcome reprieve as she rushed out of the main entrance. The only thing she wanted at that moment was to get the hell away from Nick and his family’s expectations. Well, that and a stiff drink to drown herself in. A neon light at the end of the block caught her eye. Sunset’s Paradise was spelled out on a flashing sign that alternated between hot pink and blue lettering. Julie glanced through the window at the crowd of college students inside. It was the exact type of escape she needed right then, a world away from the Michelin starred restaurant Nick had made the party reservation at. Julie flashed her ID at the guy posted by the door and ducked inside before anyone from her failed non-engagement party left the restaurant and spotted her.
There were several open spots along the bar, most of the crowd inside clustered on a small dance floor in front of a DJ booth or tucked away at more private tables along the shadowy back wall. Julie nodded her head along to the beat as she picked her way to a bar stool as far away from the front door as she could get.
There were a couple of women working behind the bar and a single guy whose biceps were on proud display in a cut-up sleeveless shirt as he vigorously shook a whipped cream canister before topping a row of Jell-o shots lined up in front of him. Julie wasn’t too proud to admit he was cute, her eyes drifting along the line of his arm and coming to rest on his face as a large grin overtook his features. A group of what looked like either a birthday or bachelorette party cheered before scooping the shots up and swallowing them down as they danced their way back to the DJ.
Julie giggled as she watched, a sense of deep thankfulness that she wouldn’t be wearing a Bride-to-Be sash or tiara anytime soon washing over her and finally loosening the tense knot in the pit of her stomach that had formed as soon as Nick dropped to the floor earlier. The cute bartender turned towards her like he had somehow heard her laugh over the cacophony of the bar.
Okay, so, Cute Bartender was really cute. And he seemed to know it, too, if the flirty little half smirk playing around his lips was anything to go off of. He tossed a bar towel over his shoulder and slipped behind one of the women mixing a drink, whispering something that had her gaze cutting over to Julie as well. The woman smacked his bicep and rolled her eyes, but Cute Bartender was not deterred. He sauntered down the line of the bar until he was directly in front of her. He leaned against the bar, forearms flexing just inches away from her own, and raised a thick brow in her direction.
“Hey, wanna help me win a bet real quick?”
Julie quirked her own brow.
“Aren’t you supposed to ask me what I want to drink before making me play a bar game?”
His eyes twinkled, the blue-green color sparkling like sea glass in the sun.
“If you help me win the bet, your drinks are on me all night,” he said with a cheeky wink.
Julie twisted her mouth to the side as she studied him. His hair was a bit of a mess, brown cowlicks sticking out at all angles in a way that made her wonder if he had simply rolled out of bed right before making his way to work. His shirt was obviously cut by his own hands, some sort of band logo she didn’t recognize splashed on the front and the deep V on the sides showing off peeks of toned abs and shadowy hints of a tattoo or three. Stubble dotted his chin, a dimple popping out on one cheek as his smile grew at her very open assessment of him. Screw it. She had effectively ended her relationship with Nick earlier, should have ended it a lot sooner truth be told. She was done overthinking and settling.
“How am I supposed to help you win the bet?”
“Easy,” he said, rocking back on his heels. “You just gotta answer one simple question.”
“Okay…” Julie drawled as she propped her chin in her hand, “ask away then.”
“Did you come in here for a post-break-up drink?”
Julie’s palm fell to the top of the bar with a loud smack, her face almost following suit as her jaw dropped. Cute Bartender crowed with delight, bouncing on the tips of his toes and turning 90 degrees to point at the woman he had whispered with earlier.
“Told you so, Thea! You owe me the day off next Friday!”
“Whatever, Luke, get back to work! And stop harassing the customers!” The woman growled, but there was no malice in her tone, just a resigned kind of acceptance.
Cute Bartender, Luke , turned back to her, face shining and his smile just this side of gloating. She could see him trying to rein it in as he tossed a coaster in front of her and shifted his weight so he was leaning towards her again, only one arm draped across the bar this time.
“Okay, so, free drink first, and then you can tell me all about the poor schmuck that just lost the best thing in their life.”
Julie wanted to be mad, or at least annoyed, by his cocky confidence and smooth words, but instead she found herself infuriatingly charmed. Nick hadn’t ever been able to exude the kind of self-assured vibe that this guy was putting off. He was all boy-next-door wholesomeness with an aw-shucks smile. Bland and kinda boring if she was comparing him to Luke. In all honesty, she wasn’t really sure what had appealed to her so much in the first place other than his eagerness to please her in any and all ways. Oof , she internally cringed, that sounded selfish as hell.
A glass of powder pink liquid appeared in front of her, shaking her from her thoughts. Luke was still smiling on the other side of the bar, but he didn’t seem quite as victorious now. More like he was watching her, waiting for her to open up to him like she was sure countless others before her had.
“Did you make me a pink drink just because I’m a girl? ‘Cause that seems a little sexist if you ask me.”
White teeth flashed as he bit back a grin, pulling the towel off of his shoulder and wiping his hands.
“Nah, I made you that specific pink drink ‘cause it’s one of our signature drinks, and it’s called a Boss Bitch, which I’m pretty sure you are. Also, the bitch part was Thea’s idea, so it’s empowering, not demeaning.”
Julie pursed her lips but raised the martini glass to take a sip nonetheless. Frothy sweet liquid with a hint of cranberry and lavender hit her tongue, and she kind of hated how much she immediately fell in love with the drink. She knew Luke could see it in her reaction, but this time he didn’t celebrate the win. Instead, he grabbed a glass from a drying rack behind the bar and began polishing it with the towel he was still holding.
“So, the schmuck. Let’s hear the story, Boss.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Julie sassed, but there was no real heat behind her words.
“I am working,” he retorted, no longer holding back his grin. “Half of being a bartender is listening to sob stories you know. I’m practically a licensed therapist at this point. Lay it on me.”
Julie took another gulp of her drink, letting the sweetness wash over her, melting away some of the bitterness she was still feeling at the way her evening had gone. Part of her really did want to vent about it, especially to someone who wasn’t so personally connected to both her and Nick. Eventually, there would be a night full of tequila and dancing it out with Flynn, but right now, it was a little too fresh to talk about with someone who would want to breakdown exactly why the sight of Nick on one knee had sent her into such a panic that her only thought was to get the hell away from him.
“Would you believe it if I told you there isn’t a sob story? And that I was the one who did the breaking up?”
Luke gave her a quick once over, something undefinable sparking to life behind his ocean eyes.
“Hell yeah, I would. You don’t really strike me as a damsel in distress type, more like the one who’s gonna call the shots and rescue her own damn self.”
Julie felt her cheeks warm. This guy was good . She wondered if he was a writer of some kind, her creative side flaring to life as she turned his words over in her head.
“My boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, proposed to me.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up as he pulled back from the bar slightly. Julie smirked.
“What? You don’t get a ton of runaway fianceés in here?” She quipped.
“I think you’re technically a runaway girlfriend since you turned the guy down,” Luke pointed out, his tone completely free of judgement. “So what’s the whole story then? I assumed most proposals ended in an engagement, not a break-up.”
Julie sighed, lifting her glass to drain the last of the pink drink. Luke must have caught her small frown because another one appeared in front of her as if conjured by magic. When she looked up, he was watching her with soft eyes. Damn, cute, clever, and apparently an excellent bartender because Julie couldn’t resist the urge to give in.
“It just felt...wrong. I’m not ready to get married to anyone, and I definitely never thought about getting married to Nick, as shitty as that sounds. He thought it was some formula or something. Like date, get engaged, get married and boom you get to live happily ever after. But I don’t love him like that. And I couldn’t say yes just because he wanted it so badly.”
Julie let out a deep breath, crumpling until her forehead touched the slightly sticky wood of the bar between them. She forced herself to lift her head, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand as she gazed up at Luke.
“That sounds like a pretty flimsy excuse, huh?”
“No,” Luke said, his voice strong and confident, “I think that makes a lot of sense. One of my best friends grew up with parents that got married because they thought they had to. They were miserable, and their kids were miserable. They got divorced when Reggie was in college and it was the best choice either one of them ever made. I think your choice just saved both of you, and maybe even a lot of other people, years of unhappiness.”
And even though Julie knew deep down that she had made the right decision, hearing Luke confirm it felt extremely validating. If a total stranger thought she did the right thing, her friends and family would have to understand, too.
“I just...I wanna know that when I get married, I’m marrying someone that I love the way my dad and mom loved each other. They used to forget about everything else going on in the world when they looked at each other. I never forgot about anything when I was with Nick.”
“Sounds like Nick wasn’t your guy then. Breaking up with him was the right thing to do.”
“Thanks,” Julie smiled, “I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime,” Luke responded, his own lips stretched in a grin. He pointed at her empty glass. “You want another one?”
Julie glanced at her phone. It was 9:23 pm and she had 10 text messages from Nick – 3 missed calls from him, too – and a single missed call from Flynn. A message buzzed in from her best friend before Julie could look away from the screen.
Nick called. You ok?
“Yeah,” Julie said, lifting her gaze back to Luke, “I’ll take another one.”
She watched his muscles bunch and ripple as he poured various liquids into a silver shaker and added ice before shaking it. He snatched a clean martini glass, swirled it with ice and then poured the pink mixture into the cooled glass and slid it across the bar so it came to a perfect stop in front of her.
“Luke!” One of the women behind the bar called, her voice tinged with a hint of exasperation that made Julie wonder if maybe it wasn’t the first time she’d said it. “Can you please stop flirting and get back to work?!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” Luke called back, waving his hand in a shooing motion as his cheeks darkened ever-so-slightly. Julie felt her own cheeks warm, and she prayed Luke wouldn’t notice.
“Drew is gonna lose it if I don’t go help her with that bach party, they’ve been driving her crazy all night and it’s not even ten. But I’ll be back. I wanna hear how the proposal went down. I know there’s a good story in there.”
His smile was almost a smirk, his tone so confident that Julie kind of wished there wasn’t a good story just so she could prove him wrong. But something told her that giving Luke a play-by-play of the night would actually prove to be cathartic. And she figured it would probably be good practice for when she eventually called Flynn. She raised her fresh drink slightly and took a small sip.
“I’ll be here.”
Luke gave her a quick wink and bounded off to the other end of the bar, slipping into place beside the woman who had yelled for him, making faces at her as she no doubt gave him shit. Julie leaned against the back of her bar stool, eyes following Luke as he moved around the back of the bar with practiced ease. It was almost graceful, like a dance as he pulled liquor bottles off of shelves and wove his way around his coworkers. They worked in tandem, chatting as they moved through the motions of serving with a kind of muscle memory that must have developed from countless hours working together.
She smiled to herself as she watched him tease the shorter woman, Drew, the one who had yelled, reaching over her head and dangling bottles she needed just out of her reach. When Drew poked his ribs he folded immediately, and she gave him a noogie for good measure as she snatched the bottles out of his grasp. Luke shrugged, easy and carefree, and then glanced over to see her watching him. He shot her a lopsided grin, and just for a split second, it felt like the rest of the world stood still.
The noise of the bar dimmed slightly, the crowded interior blurring into meaningless shapes and colors in the background. Luke seemed to feel it too, his smile softening around the edges. Julie’s phone buzzed in her hands, making her jump and breaking the moment. She forced herself to stop staring as Luke gave her a small nod and jumped back into working. The light from her screen felt obnoxious as she squinted her eyes to adjust to it. Two more missed texts from Nick, and another one from Flynn as well. Julie skipped past Nick’s messages without looking, opting to open the one from her best friend instead.
Call me.
She wasn’t gonna do that, wasn’t ready to talk to Flynn like that just yet, but she could at least send a message before Flynn worked herself into a frenzy of panic and organized a search party for her.
I’m fine. I just need some space tonight. Mimosa brunch tomorrow?
Flynn’s response came through seconds after Julie sent her text.
9 am and don’t! be! late!! I want every last detail from start to finish!
Julie rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. Part of what made Flynn her best friend was her innate ability to know when it was okay to push and when it was best to just give Julie the space she had asked for. She knew she wouldn’t hear from her again tonight, no matter how desperately Flynn might want to know exactly what was going on. Now that she knew Julie was okay, or at least as okay as she could be at that moment, she would be willing to wait until later to press her for the entire story.
Luke, however, was not nearly as patient.
When Julie looked up from her phone he was suddenly in front of her, charming smile and tousled hair and really just an unfair amount of muscles on display as he leaned over the bar and into her space.
“Boo,” he laughed as she startled slightly.
Julie reached over and flicked his forearm lightly, rolling her eyes as he made a big show of pulling his arm out of reach, rubbing at the spot like she had actually hurt him.
“Ouch, Boss. I give you free drinks and my patented Bartender Therapy and this is how you thank me? I thought we were bonding here.”
“You don’t even know my name,” Julie responded, trying to hold back her laugh as he pouted, eyes going wide like a puppy begging for a treat.
“Okay, fair point. But I do know your ex’s name, and your favorite drink,” he pointed to the almost empty glass in front of her, “so I’d say we’re acquaintances at least by now.”
This time Julie did laugh.
“I’ve never even had this drink before!”
“But it is your favorite, isn’t it?”
Luke’s voice was that same mix of cocky and teasing again. And Julie almost cursed him for it because now that she thought about it, his pink cocktail was probably in her top three favorites. And he already knew it.
“Once you tell me about the whole proposal mess, we’ll definitely be friends.”
“Even if you don’t know my name?”
“You’ll tell me when you’re ready. You are the boss after all.”
He winked again and Julie felt her stomach swoop and drop. She wasn’t sure if it was bartender magic or just Luke magic, but for some reason she believed him. He was gonna be her friend after this night, there was no doubt about it.
“We’ve got mayyybe ten minutes before Drew is breathing down my neck again. You gonna spill the proposal tea or what?”
Julie wrinkled her nose at him.
“Okay Gossip Girl, fine.”
Luke didn’t comment on the nickname, just smirked and leaned close over the bar once more. It took longer than ten minutes to tell him the entire story, from the 72 people who were there for Nick and not her, to his mother’s diamond engagement ring, to the freaking Dom Pérignon, and finally how she left him on the balcony and made her escape into the bar. By the time she finished her glass was empty once more and Luke was looking slightly shell-shocked.
“Okay, yeah, that dude is definitely not your guy. Did he really think it would be romantic to spring something like that on you?”
“Thank you!” Julie exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “Like we hadn’t even talked about marriage and suddenly he was just on one knee with his whole freaking family crowded around us!”
Luke shuddered slightly.
“Sounds kinda manipulative, honestly. Lemme guess, he’s the same type of guy that used to do super over-the-top public promposals in high school too?”
Julie couldn’t help but laugh as she thought back to all those years of grand romantic gestures from Nick to Carrie when they had dated in high school. She had always assumed that was something Carrie demanded, but maybe Nick was just as responsible for the frankly obnoxious displays of affection. She had thought that Nick was in love with his own version of Julie, but maybe he wasn’t quite the guy she had made him out to be in her head either.
“Yeah, he was. Not with me though. I thought he knew me better than that. Even if I did want to get married, I sure as hell don’t want a proposal that feels like it’s more for everyone else than for me.”
“If you ask me, a proposal should really only involve the two people getting engaged. Commitment like that isn’t about all the bells and whistles, it’s about loving someone so much you want your life intertwined with theirs as much as possible. And it should be a question you already know the answer to, not something being asked for the very first time.”
Luke sounded almost...angry? Julie shifted, twirling the stem of her empty glass between her fingers as she studied him. There was a small crease between his brows and one hand was gripping his bar towel so tightly his knuckles had gone white.
“Hey, Luke?” His eyes darted to hers, the surprise at hearing her say his name melting the tense lines from his face. “Thanks. For understanding. It’s nice to know I’ve got someone on my team.”
She reached across the bar to brush her fingertips across the back of his hand where he had braced himself against the sticky wood. His gaze followed her movement and he seemed to soften around the edges as she pulled her hand back. When he looked up to meet her eyes once more, there was a different kind of fire burning behind his irises. Julie felt it light a spark inside her as well and she swallowed in a desperate attempt to keep her cool.
“Oh I am so on your team, Boss.” He glanced away to check on his coworkers and then sighed softly. “I gotta go help wrangle that bach party again before Drew throws a pitcher of water on them. Wait for me?”
She nodded softly, suddenly struck mute by the way his question burrowed under her skin. She knew the connotations of his question were purely related to her waiting for him to get back from helping his coworkers, but for some reason it felt a little deeper than that. Julie shivered, her skin feeling prickly and electrified as she watched Luke bounce his way back to the other end of the bar, smiling and chatting with people as he went, filling drink orders without missing a beat.
It was easy to see that Luke was a natural at his job. His smile and energy was infectious, and he seemed to have an uncanny ability to stay upbeat as he bobbed and weaved through his coworkers. She could see why the bachelorette party loved him, and despite the fact that he had spent most of the last 45 minutes chatting with her, he was quick and efficient and never left the other women hanging when the crowd around the bar got busier. It made her wonder what he was like in the real world, if he offered his friends and family the same kind of unwavering support he had given her – a total stranger. Some unknown part of her soul kind of wanted to find out what it would be like to have someone like Luke in her life.
Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, she caught sight of Luke making his way back over to where she was still sitting. There was a grin on his face that spelled trouble, but Julie found that part of her was more than happy to get into some trouble when it came to him. He didn’t speak as he snatched the empty martini glass from in front of her, replacing it with a slim glass of bubbling champagne. Julie raised a brow.
“Really? You felt like champagne was the most appropriate drink right now?”
Luke’s eyes danced, his shoulders bouncing as his smile grew.
“Oh, it’s not from me. It’s from the bachelorette girls. They’re trying to ship us.”
Julie snorted, the carbonation from the sip of champagne she had taken burning in her nose and making her eyes water. Luke did his best not to chuckle at her expense.
“I’m sorry, did you just say they’re shipping us? Like we’re some kind of fanfiction couple?”
“Technically I said they’re trying to ship us. They don’t know you’re a runaway not-fianceé, so they think I’ve actually got a shot.”
Julie gave him a look, but Luke just winked in response.
“Don’t worry. When they see me get rejected they’ll feel so bad they’ll give me a huge tip. So really, you can make it as over the top as you want. The bigger the dramatics, the bigger the tip.”
Julie stole another sip of champagne and pursed her lips. It was sweeter than the Dom Pérignon had been. Probably a hell of a lot cheaper, too. In Julie’s opinion, it tasted better than any champagne she’d had before.
“Do you only get a good tip if I reject you?”
The words were out before she could stop them. Julie felt her cheeks flush as she realized how easily she had slipped into flirting with him. He was probably just doing his job, being nice and sweet because he was at work and he couldn’t very well be a dick to a paying customer. (And she was definitely a paying customer, despite Luke’s claims that her drinks were free.) But then she saw the way Luke’s eyes lit with the same kind of flame as earlier. He placed both of his arms on his side of the bar, forearms flexing as he crossed them and leaned forward. Julie leaned right back, drawn in like he was a magnet and she was made of metal.
“Pretty sure they’re gonna tip well regardless. They’re pretty happily hammered. Even Drew’s sourpuss face can’t break through the true love fog.”
He said the last line a little loud and Drew whipped her head over to offer him a glare and her middle finger. Julie giggled, the sound only slightly hysteric as she thought of how gracefully Luke had dodged her come on. Except then he pinned her with a look that left her feeling hot and shivery all over. He leaned impossibly closer and Julie could detect a faint whiff of sweat mixed with something that reminded her of the redwood forests up north. Luke’s gaze snagged on her lips for just long enough that she felt the need to wet them with her tongue, and then she was drowning in the ocean of his eyes as he lifted them to hers.
“It’s Julie,” she found herself breathing into the space between them, “my name is Julie.”
Luke’s smile stretched so wide it crinkled his eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Julie.”
He said her name like a melody, his voice light and lyrical and so sweet Julie thought she could listen to him say her name every day for the rest of her life and it still wouldn’t be enough. Something shifted in the air around them, a kind of electrified pulse taking up residence, connecting them to each other. Julie could see that Luke felt it too, and despite all the speeches she had made that night about wanting to be carefree and casual in her relationships, some kind of universal magic slithered under her skin and whispered fate. Deep in her bones, she knew this meeting was meant to happen. Luke was meant to be in her life. She knew it with more conviction than she had ever felt about anything concerning Nick, and it wasn’t even scary. More of a homecoming, her soul rolling out the welcome parade as if to say where have you been? I’ve been waiting to find you again.
It settled over both of them with an unshakeable permanence, growing throughout the night as Julie hung around while Luke jumped back and forth from chatting with her to actually working. It pulsed with joy when Luke said something to the bachelorette party that caused them to move down the bar en masse, wrapping her up in sticky perfumed hugs, their voices overlapping with slurred shrieks as they pressed shots into her palm before finally leaving in a flurry of pink feather boas and click-clacking heels, Luke laughing in the background the whole time. It felt soft and special when Luke reached across the bar to tuck her credit card under her dress strap, the plastic cool against her collarbone as his fingers lingered on her skin, his voice no-nonsense as he downright refused to take payment for her drinks. And it sunk fully into the very make-up of her being when it started to get late and she found that she had lost track of the time completely, the world outside of her little bubble in the bar with Luke nothing but a distant memory. She was pretty sure she would have simply lived the rest of her life there if he hadn’t said something to remind her the rest of the world still existed.
“That’s the third yawn in five minutes, Boss. Might be time to call it a night.”
Luke’s voice was soft, gentle, and just this side of disappointed, like he didn’t want her to leave either. Julie blinked a few times, a quick glance at her phone revealing it had officially hit midnight. It was a new day now, and something about that realization wiped out the last little bit of resistance she had been feeling. She fumbled through her purse for a moment and then pulled out the small notebook she always kept on hand. She wrote her name and phone number in clear, looping script before ripping the page out and folding it in half. She used her last ounce of confidence to stand up on her tip-toes and reach across the bar to tuck the paper into Luke’s hand. She let her fingertips brush across his palm, slipping her hand away as his fingers closed over the note. Julie didn’t let herself sit down again, there was no way she would convince herself to leave if she did. Instead, she hitched her purse strap over her shoulder and gave Luke a shy smile.
“I figure if we’re gonna be friends you should probably have my number. Text me if you wanna hang out soon.”
Luke looked like he had been struck dumb, and Julie memorized every inch of his face so that when she told Flynn about it later she would be able to remember his exact expression. He recovered quickly, calling out her name just as she turned on her heel to make her way towards the door.
“Hey, Julie!” He was extra bouncy, practically vibrating as she turned to face him once more. His teeth sparkled in the low light as he bit back his smile, stepping as close as the bar between them would allow. “I’m off next Friday. If you wanna hang out then.”
Julie grinned.
“Sounds like a date to me. See you Friday, Luke,” she said, smirking slightly as the dumbstruck look crept back onto his face. He wasn’t the only one who could be clever with words.
She didn’t wait for him to respond, throwing a wave over her shoulder as she spun to make her way out the door. The air was even cooler now and Julie pulled her jacket close as she made her way to a waiting line of taxis. Her phone buzzed in her purse, the vibrations harsh against her hip. Her phone said the message was from an unknown sender, but Julie knew who had sent it before she opened it.
Is it Friday yet? I work Tuesday-Thursday if you start missing me -Luke
She saved his number as Cute Bartender. She only changed it five years later when he claimed her last name as his own because husband privileges means I get to have my real name in your phone, Boss.