—Dick and Bobby Invasion—

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JENNIE

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Despite my rather short sleep, I'm in a surprisingly good mood this morning. Maybe because I had fun at a family event for once in my life, and even though Jihyo was her flirty, obvious self, Lisa didn't so much as give her a second glance. It was a refreshing change from past events when I brought a date and Jihyo basically tried to hump him in front of me. Despite the boyfriend thieving and how inappropriate she is, I do love her. We went through a lot together as teens, so as much as I can't stand the crap she pulls, I'm aware that she's more messed up than the rest of us.

I would be lying if I said I didn't like all the attention Lisa threw my way, either. I'm sure she did it to play up the whole fake-date situation, but still. She's a good-looking girl who smells nice. Who wouldn't want a hot fake-date to lick icing off their mouth in front of their boyfriend-stealing sister and cousin?

I check my reflection in the rearview mirror before I get out of my SUV and cross the parking lot. The Manoban Cap is still locked up, but it's barely after eight in the morning, and usually no one is there before nine thirty. Although with Lisa needing to deal with the frozen bird situation, I'm sure she'll be in early.

Rosé is visiting her parents, and Yoshi is with his family and after next week I'm on my own with the cupcakes. Callie offered to come in later, so it's just me this morning.

I pare down the menu to specials in celebration of the holiday. My diehards who have to work like me pop in for coffees, scones, the festive turkey, brie, and cranberry wraps I ordered in, and cupcakes. Most of the cupcake orders have already gone out for the weekend, apart from a few stragglers, so it's a quiet day.

Lisa pops her head in to say hello just before eleven, but I'm with a customer, so she doesn't stick around. By six it's a ghost town, which is to be expected, and I close early.

I pack the daily leftovers and make up a box of cupcakes for Lisa. My stomach does a twist and leap as I check my reflection in the mirror. I look tired, but otherwise I'm presentable, so I head over to The Manoban Cap to deliver the cupcakes. Maybe I'll stay for a drink tonight.

I glance at the building across the street, the one that's been empty since we both opened shop. Brown paper still covers the windows, but there's a new sign plastered across the front that wasn't there yesterday. In huge gaudy red letters is the very familiar logo for Dick and Bobby's, a chain of restaurants that boasts massive TVs and broadcasts every major sporting event in existence, even that not-real sport where people ride those hobby-horse things. Plus they televise all the MMA fights. And they have pool tables and all sorts of games. It's the grown-up version of Chuck E. Cheese with booze, horrible greasy food, and sports. I'd like to believe it's not going to be an issue since BB caters to a slightly more sophisticated crowd, but we really don't need new competition around here.

I open the door to The Manoban Cap. It's pretty quiet, only a handful of tables occupied. There are a few older men sitting at the bar, nursing pints and watching the football game.

Lisa glances at the door when it chimes, signaling my arrival. A fluttery feeling in my stomach makes me pause as images and sensations from last night flash through my head: the way she pulled me into her side, how I seemed to fit quite nicely under her arm, how it felt to have her fingers brushing along the back of my neck when we were seated at the dinner table. A warm shiver runs down my spine as I remember the shock of her licking me close to the corner of my mouth.

It's so silly. She was just playing the part of my date, mostly because she couldn't believe that my cousin was actually hitting on her in front of the entire family. Still, she's smiling, and that's a whole lot different from her usual "oh, you again" scowl.

She wipes her hands on a bar towel. "Hey, Alice, how's Wonderland?" She winks, though, so I know she's playing around.

"Wonderland was empty and I was bored, so I thought I'd stop by." I set the box on the bar top. "Have you seen what's going on across the street?"

She wipes down a pint glass before she shelves it, tattooed forearms flexing enticingly. I drag my eyes up to her face, which is also nice to look at. She's wearing her glasses today, and I've decided they're sexy. She looks like an intellectual lumberjack. A badass one. The plaid is definitely growing on me and so is the woman wearing the plaid.

"Earth to Jennie? You sure you're not still in Wonderland?"

"Huh?"

"You said something was going on across the street." She arches a brow. "Have you been sampling the martinis this afternoon?"

"Oh! Right! No. I haven't." I crook a finger at her. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

She looks pointedly at her customers and I roll my eyes.

"It'll only take a minute and it's better if I show you, rather than tell. Besides, Chan can watch the bar, can't you?"

Chan winks at me. "Anything for you."

"Thank you." I wink back and give Lisa my attention again. "Why can't you be so accommodating?"

"I can be accommodating. When the situation warrants it, and don't encourage this one. His ego is already big enough. He doesn't need you flirting with him to inflate it even more."

Lisa whips him on the back of the arm with the towel as she rounds the bar and saunters toward me, apparently in no hurry.

As soon as she's close enough I slip my arm through hers, noting how nice and firm her bicep is. I have the urge to trace the outline of the delicate, colorful blooms decorating her forearm. I notice, for the first time, that there's a woman's face set in the middle of them. I realize it's the same woman in the picture on Lisa's living room wall: her mother. And now I understand what she meant about wanting to see her memories and remember.

I pull her toward the door, yank it open and step out onto the sidewalk. It's cold and dreary, so I press myself closer, using her as a barrier against the wind and rain. "Look." I point across the street at the ugly sign.

"Oh shit," she mutters and looks down at me, eyes wide. "Is this a joke? This has to be a joke. That place was a damn law office three months ago." I still have my arm threaded through hers, so when she moves toward the edge of the sidewalk she takes me with her.

She checks for traffic before she drags me across the street. To be fair, I could let go of her arm, but I don't really want to. She smells good—like beer, cologne, and laundry detergent. It's a nice combination.

I snuggle in closer, trying to claim some of her body heat as I read the notice taped to the inside of the window beside the Dick and Bobby's sign.

"Damn it, they're supposed to open in a month. How is that even possible? They have to gut this entire place."

"It's a chain, though, right? They have loads of money. It wouldn't take much for them to be able to afford to renovate."

"Why aren't you upset about this?" Lisa snaps.

I shrug, trying to understand why she's so panicked. "It's a huge, impersonal big box place. Loud, awful, and the food is terrible."

"Newsflash, Jennie, college kids don't have discerning palates. This is like an indoor play place for grown-ups, with food and beer and gross coolers that only college students can stomach."

"And I should be upset that they're going to serve disgusting coolers, gross beer, and bad food?" My teeth start to chatter because it's cold and even though I'm wearing my jacket, my legs are bare and there's a breeze up my skirt.

"It's all cheap. Cheap and shitty, but still cheap and do you know what college kids love?" She doesn't give me a chance to answer. "Cheap shit, Jennie. They love cheap shit. When are we busiest? When we have some kind of event and a promotion. Five-dollar pints draw college kids, three-dollar garbage draft is going to kill my business."

"I think you're getting your knickers in a knot over nothing, but I'm willing to listen as long as we can talk about how their awful beer is going to ruin your business inside your place of business before my legs turn into popsicles."

Her gaze moves over my bare legs, all the way back up to my face and more specifically my mouth. My teeth bang against each other, which explains why that's where her focus is. "Yeah. Of course. You must be freezing."

I hold my fingers apart a fraction of an inch. "Just a bit."

We rush back across the street. "Take a seat and I'll get you something to warm you up."

"Sure. Okay." I climb up on one of the barstools close to the draft taps. I rub my arms and blow warm air into my clasped hands. It's really starting to feel like winter is on its way now. I should've put on tights today, but I was in a rush having slept in later than usual this morning.

Lisa brings me a steaming mug with THE MANOBAN CAP logo on it. It's topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. I grin and flip up the lid on the box of treats I brought over. The cupcakes are still Thanksgiving themed, but these I made special. They're turkey butts that read EAT ME!

She smirks and plucks one from the box. "These don't have some kind of chocolate filling in them, do they?"

"I guess you'll have to eat it to find out."

She shrugs and peels off the wrapper, taking a big bite. "So fucking delicious," she groans. Once she's polished off a cupcake she leans on the bar. "So DB are going to be a problem for both of us."

I sip my spiked hot chocolate. "Explain why you think that. Buttercream and Booze has a fun vibe, we serve specialty drinks, gourmet cupcakes. You serve local craft beers and great pub fare. Sure, you have the staples, like fries and wings, but you also have a great variety of other options to appeal to a more upscale customer. We also both have cool entertainment, which the people around here love."

"I agree with all of those things, but do you know what DB has that we don't?"

"Bad ambiance and a tacky name?"

"Yes and yes, but also money for marketing. Lots of it."

She waits for that to sink in. It doesn't take long. I pull my phone out of my purse and bring up their social media. They have a massive following and they've just announced their new location coming soon on its own social media profile. I click on it and of course they already have double the followers I do. Neither of us has the kind of money they do to throw at TV and billboard ads. "And no matter how crappy a bar they are, that money equals visibility we don't have, plus a recognizable name."

"Exactly." Lisa raps on the bar with his knuckles.

"You really think they're going to be a threat?" For the first time since I saw that horrible sign, I'm struck with a niggle of worry.

"I honestly don't see how they can't be. Chain restaurants are notorious for killing off small businesses. They're huge competition. I don't know about you, but I have reno costs I still need to recoup and losing business to that nightmare is going to make it that much more of a struggle."

I chew on my bottom lip. "I'm barely scraping by," I admit.

She seems surprised by that revelation. "It's that bad? Your place is always hopping."

"I got a really good deal on rent, which is basically the only reason I can afford the storefront, and Yoshi paid off the cupcake truck in actual cupcakes. At the end of next week I'm going to be on my own with cupcake production. Honestly, any loss of business is going to be bad for my bottom line." And my bank account.

Lisa taps her bottom lip with her index finger. "You know what we need to do?"

"Find a new storefront that isn't across the street from Dick and Bobby's?" Not that I could even hope to afford it. Also, this location is prime, which is obviously what the owners of DB realized.

"It really is an awful name for a restaurant." She gives her head a shake. "Anyway, we need to get as many loyal customers as we can before that place opens."

"Agreed."

"We should host combined events to get even more people to come out. Have big simultaneous promotions."

I stare at her from over the rim of my delicious alcohol-laced coffee.

"You have to admit it's a good idea." She plucks another cupcake from the box.

"What about the Best Bar competition?"

"We can still compete against each other for best bar thing, but this is a way bigger threat, and more important because it has the potential to flush both of our businesses down the toilet." She bites into the chocolate cupcake.

"So you want us to work together?"

She nods. "Yeah, what do you say?"

"Okay. We can do it, but it's an even split on events and promotions. And we have to promote each other equally on our social media."

"That's a good idea." She wipes her hand on her pants and holds it out. "Deal?"

I slip mine into hers. "Deal."

There are far worse people I could get into bed with—proverbially speaking, of course.

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