Part 26 (2/2)
Jenna was about to brush Ty off with another lame excuse, but they'd really gotten into a deep and heavy conversation tonight, and he'd opened up to her about some of his own fears. It was only right to be as open and honest as he'd been.
”Honestly, one of the things I've often thought about is opening a second Riley's, only this one for singing. Like the karaoke club we went to that night. But this one would be different. Instead of an occasional open mic night like they had, it would always be open mic night. And we'd bring in live bands instead of using a karaoke machine. Just a music bar. With no television screens.”
He laughed. ”Obviously you've given this a lot of thought.”
She shrugged. ”Now and then.”
”I think that's a great idea. You'd have Riley's Sports Bar and Riley's Music Bar.”
”Yeah. It's a pipe dream, though.”
”Why?”
”Who would run it? I run the sports bar. My mom and dad are mostly retired now. They hardly ever show up at Riley's, and they never work the bar anymore. I run it single-handedly. I'm responsible for the bar.”
”Does it have to be a family member running the sports bar? You have a couple a.s.sistant managers, don't you?”
”It's kind of a family tradition that the bar is owned and operated by family, so yes. That's always the way it's been. And I do have a.s.sistant managers, but they're not family. I would never think to ask Mom and Dad to turn the operation over to them. They're not family members.”
”I think you're too wrapped up in this whole family thing. The main focus is on the bar and how it's run. If you have people who run it efficiently, who cares if their last name is Riley or not? Your a.s.sistants run the bar on your nights off.”
She lifted her chin. ”That's different. It's not on a permanent basis and our regulars know that a Riley manages the bar. That's what they expect. That's what my parents expect. What my dad expects. After his heart attack last year, I don't want him to think he needs to come back to work just so I can open another bar.”
Ah. There it was. ”So again, your dreams are on hold.”
”Not on hold. I have my path and I'm living it.”
”You put way too much pressure on yourself to be what everyone else needs you to be, instead of what you want to be. Why can't you have what you want?”
”Because I can't, and that's just the way it is.”
It sounded more to him like she was afraid to ask for what she wanted, afraid to take that step forward to grab her dream.
And there wasn't much Tyler could do to push her. Jenna was going to have to take those steps herself.
d.a.m.n TYLER FOR PUTTING THE IDEA OF A SECOND BAR in her head. It was all she could think about now.
A crazy idea, one that would never, ever happen but now that it had been dredged up from the dark recesses of her dreams and fantasies folder, she couldn't shove it back down again.
She'd started drawing up plans for a new bar a week ago. Ty was out on a road trip again, so when she wasn't working, she had idle time on her hands. Her mind wouldn't let the idea go.
Talking to him, really opening up to him about her childhood and what had happened, and singing for him was doing strange things to her. She'd never told anyone about her childhood. She'd never told anyone about Europe.
Why had she used Tyler as her personal confessional? Because he knew all the right questions to ask, or because he'd made it so easy to tell him? She had no idea. Admittedly, it was kind of nice. But she knew better than to stake any kind of permanence on their relations.h.i.+p. It was nice for right now.
Funny how things had changed so quickly now that she was sort of kind of seeing Tyler in a not really dating, but no longer just sleeping together kind of way.
When he was on the road, he texted and called her every day. She got used to hearing from him and missed him when he traveled. He told her on the phone that the next time the Ice played in Chicago she was going to have to go with him so she could meet his parents.
She told him she was horrified that their relations.h.i.+p had progressed to ”meet the parents,” and no way in h.e.l.l. He laughed at her and told her he'd kidnap her in the dead of night and throw her on a plane, but she was going to Chicago with him.
Truthfully, she was curious about his family and she was already antic.i.p.ating his next game with Chicago to see if he was serious about that or not.
Today she was meeting Tara and Liz for lunch, something they tried to do at least once a week. They were eating at a midtown restaurant since Liz had a client meeting in a couple hours and Tara had an event that night she had to rush off to prepare for after lunch. Jenna had a few hours before she had to be at the bar, so this was going to be a relaxing lunch for her.
”Now that you're married, it's a wonder Mick lets you out of his sight,” Liz said to Tara after they ordered.
”I won't see him at all when camp starts up in the summer. I'll be a widow like you are now,” Tara said.
Liz nodded. ”I know. This is miserable. The week down in Florida was amazing, though.”
”You are nice and tan,” Jenna said. ”I'm jealous.”
”As tan as someone with my fair skin can get after I lather up with a fifty-plus sunscreen.”
”And how is my brother doing?”
Liz sighed. ”Your brother is spectacular.”
Tara laughed.
”Gag. TMI.” Jenna made a face. ”Not the information I was looking for. I meant at spring training.”
”Oh, his stats are great. In and out of the bedroom.”
Tara snorted.
”Is that all you think about?” Jenna asked.
”When you aren't getting it regularly, yes. It's all I can think about. If I wasn't so d.a.m.n busy with my own job I'd be parked at the beach house in Florida, naked and spread-eagled, ready for him after every game.”
Jenna laid her head in her hands. ”I give up. I should stop coming to lunch.”
”Speaking of people getting it regularly, how's it going with Ty?”
Her head shot up and she caught sight of the surprised look on Tara's face, followed by the smile.
”Oh, you're still seeing Ty? Details, please.”
”Again,” Liz said to her. ”Not a big secret, right?”
”I guess not now that you've spilled, you blabbermouth.”
Liz shrugged but didn't look at all apologetic, so Jenna turned to Tara. ”Yes, I'm still seeing Ty.”
”And?” Tara asked.
<script>