Page 17 of Blizzards and Brews

Lindsay

Work had dragged on longer than I expected. I had fumbled more glasses tonight than I had in years. My mind was all over the place and knowing this talk tonight with the triplets was coming, I couldn’t seem to get it together.

“Ride home with me,” Dustin demanded, toying with his lip ring. “I drove separately today.”

“Okay,” I agreed easily. He had always been a calming space for me and I was glad to be able to take a breath before everything.

We’d already planned to chat, but Spencer showing up changed everything.

“Adam might need a few minutes to breathe before this anyway,” I muttered. “Let me say goodbye to Spencer.”

Dropping the bar rag I walked around the counter to seek the alpha who was packing up his work. He’d occupied the back table the whole night and I felt his gaze lingering on me more than once.

“I’m heading out. The guys and I have plans at their place tonight,” I said as I walked up.

“Ollie told me. Keep an open mind, angel. They’re practically begging for you to see them,” he said gently as he pulled me close and breathed me in. For some strange reason I couldn’t find it in me to push him away. Ever since he sat at my bar he’d done nothing but draw me in.

I swear this man made me feel precious. It was strange but nice.

“I do see them,” I grumbled. We both knew he wasn’t talking about something simple but he didn’t argue.

“Text me when you get there and if you need to talk after,” he said, kissing my head. “Go. Have fun.”

Oh, yeah, I’m sure this was just going to be loads of fun.

Having a conversation I’d put off in one way or another for the better part of a decade? Piece of cake.

Adam and Ollie piled into their truck while Dustin and I got into his car, setting out for the house they had on the edge of town.

They had built it five years ago, when we’d managed to make Holiday Brews not just a brewery, but an event space as well. That had really been the turning point for us. Parties, live music, it gave us a lot of options.

I watched Adam make the right-hand turn down their road. Dustin blew past it, going straight towards the long stretch of road that led out of Holiday Hollow.

“What are you doing?” I questioned, looking at my best friend like he was crazy. “If we don’t show up right after them, Adam is going to lose his shit.”

“Adam can wait,” Dustin said. “I’m calling a Holloway.”

Surprise coursed through me. “None of us have called a Holloway in years.”

“Well, I’m calling one now, for you. Since you’re obviously not going to do it yourself. You want the truth that you don’t want to hear?”

I nodded my head even as I felt my stomach clench. “Yes.”

“If we go to the house right now, things won’t get better, they’ll get worse. You’re feeling so many things right now that you’re on the verge of shutting down. You need to get some of them out so that you can have a clear mind for tonight. Actually enjoy those extra crab rangoons instead of being filled with existential dread. Plus, Adam needs to realize that he doesn’t always call the shots. It’s a win win.”

A Holloway was something we’d come up with when I was sixteen after my parents died. Sometimes, the world was just too much. Well, either that or my emotions were. Sometimes, I just needed peace or a pivot.

It was an idea that Ollie had come up with actually, and they’d used it a few times during that time too, when we were all going through changes. The last time I recalled one of us using it was Adam around the time that they’d built their house.

It was also right after I told them I wasn’t moving in.

“So, what are we doing then?” I asked, taking a deep breath and bracing myself for whatever Dustin had in mind.

“We’re going with an oldie but a goodie. Taking us back to one of the things we bonded over in school,” he said, shooting me a grin.

Gods, he was gorgeous. His deep-blue eyes shot through me in a way that spoke of untold depths, and when he queued up a song that we’d both loved in high school, I knew it was exactly what we needed.

“Nothing helps you let go better than a pop punk favorite,” I said, with a chuckle.