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Tristan
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“You have no idea how glad I am to be going back to Phoenix,” I say as we all climb on board Bold’s plane in Billings.
“I second that one,” Beau says as she takes her seat. I watch as she gives Cami a look, then nods. It’s an encouraging nod.
I look at Cami, expectant.
“So, do you want to know what I’ve been doing these last two days?”
“Of course, I always want to know,” I say, curious as to where she is going with this.
“Well, I’ve been doing two things, actually. One, planning your birthday party.”
Oh no. “You’re kidding, right? I don’t need a party.”
“Too late.” All four of the girls say all at once.
“So what are we doing for my birthday?” I say a little dramatically, and I wonder idly how bummed she’ll be that I’ve already made plans for my birthday party.
She’s bouncing up and down in her seat. “We leave Tuesday for Tarah.”
I knew that already. “Who told you that?” I watch as confusion washes over her face and it dawns on me: She still doesn’t know about my plans to take her to Tarah.
“You’re the one who has the penthouse reserved, don’t you?” she says, looking over at Jolene. “That’s why you couldn’t keep a straight face when I was— Well dammit.” Beau busts out laughing. “You bitch,” Cami says, then laughs. “You knew?”
Beau puts her hands up in mock defense. “Not until Jo came to me that night, told me that there were already plans in play for you and Tristan to go. I guess we’re just tagging along.” Well there goes my romantic weekend with Cami. “That’s also why we’re leaving so early. We didn’t want to intrude on Tristan’s plans completely.” She looks at me. “We’ll stay for your birthday because, well, you don’t have a choice.” She smirks at me. “And then we will leave you two in peace.” She looks back to Cami. “We did, however, make separate room reservations, so you and Tristan can have the penthouse all to yourselves.” She winks at me before the smirk of satisfaction spreads across her face.
“So, great, I get to spend my birthday with a bunch of women.” I laugh playfully.
“No, the guys will be there too,” Cami tells me, and I wink at her. I’m not mad; in fact I like the idea of having our friends there.
“You said you were doing two things. That would be one, what would the second one be?”
“Well, I um...” She smiles and looks to Jolene, who’s obviously already taken a pill to help with the flying, then she looks to Beau and Naomi, who are both super excited. “I bought a bar.”
Whoa. “You did what?” I can’t help the surprise in my voice.
“When we were in college we all used to hang out at a bar in Phoenix. It used to be a country bar, we’d go line dancing and we’d have a blast. A few years ago, it closed down. The owner at the time was hoping to get some investors involved and rejuvenate the bar. But that never happened, and he needs to get out from underneath of it. So he put it up for sale. So I bought it.”
I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “So what now? You own a bar.”
She laughs and the plane finally starts moving. “Well, we’re going to remodel it. Beau is going to design it, and then the four of us are going to run it.”
“I—” I don’t know what to say. Though I want to talk through this with her, away from everyone else, I’m excited for her. “I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say.”
She’s so excited; I can see it in her eyes. “Well, we have a lot of work to do on it before it will be inspection-ready. The place has been empty for a few years. Plus all the licenses we’re going to need and everything else, it will be at least a year before we can think about opening it. But I think it’s great, and it gives us all something to do besides be your traveling companions.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Tyson chimes in. I look at him, and I can tell he’s a bit skeptical about it. But Cami is a smart woman; I have no doubt that she has this all planned out and figured out.
We spend the rest of the flight talking about the bar and the upcoming trip to Tarah, but I won’t lie: I’m super excited to be back in Phoenix...and to be alone with Cami.
“Hey, sweets?”
“Yeah,” she says as she plops down on the bed.
“What brought on all this bar talk?”
“Huh?” she says as she sits up.
“I was just wondering where it all came from.”
She smiles, but I can tell she expected this conversation. “It was two things, really. One, I can afford it and it gives me something that is my own. See, Bold was given to me. I didn’t earn it, which is why I have such a hard time with it more often than not. Despite the reasons I now know behind it, I never expected to own it. So this gives me something of my own.”
“How do you plan to run Bold and a bar?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know, but that’s why I have Beau, Jolene and Naomi. They will be the primary operators of it. I will just be in the background, with the money, more or less.”
“What if the bar folds?”
“Then it folds. At this point I’m not out anything, Tristan. I paid way less than asking price, and the main reason I managed that is because JD still wants to be a part of it in some fashion. He doesn’t care what. So by giving him that chance, I reduced the price to three million.” She slides to the end of the bed. “If I have to sell the bar because it’s not doing anything, by then, even with the money I put into it, I can sell it for a higher price because it won’t be the shell that it is right now. So I have very little to lose. Not to mention the fact that, since I signed the paperwork yesterday, I am just over a day away from making that much money through my job at Bold and I’ve done nothing to earn it. So why not give it back?”
I can’t help but see the excitement she feels about doing this, and it warms my heart to see it. “You said there were two reasons. What’s the other?” I take a seat in the chair near the bathroom and kick off my shoes.
“The morning after we talked about Travis and his agent status?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I talked to Naomi privately.” I nod. “She lost her job, Tristan.”
“What? Oh, man.”
“She says that it wasn’t because of the traveling and Travis, that she was let go, but I have a feeling that’s not the case. I feel a little guilty about it and feel that it is partly my fault because we dragged her to Tarah back in June, she met Trav, and then it’s been kind of downhill from there for her. So I gave her twenty-five grand to get her affairs in order and so that she wouldn’t have to tell Trav. So I thought that if I bought the bar, it would give her something to do, something to work on, and something to focus on besides sitting at home with no job to go to while Travis is off doing his Hollywood thing.”
“Wow. I had no idea.”
“Please don’t tell Trav. Let her do it on her own. She’s confused about Trav, she doesn’t know what he wants or if this is a long-term thing. She’s not oblivious to the fact that he goes out when he’s away from her, and she certainly isn’t blind to the tabloids.”
“Ah, babe, I didn’t know. Trav has been like that for as long as I’ve known him. I thought Naomi had changed that.” I don’t know what else to tell her. I don’t know what he’s been up to, but I’m sure there is some truth to it.
“It’s not your fault, and to be honest, we both know how they like to stir up shit. So until Trav decides where they’re going, she’s in limbo and probably more emotionally invested in their relationship than he is.” She shrugs. “So at least the bar will give her something to work on, keep her busy, and if things really do go south with Trav, she has something else to do.”
I lean forward and put my head in my hands. “I can talk to him.”
“No, don’t, this is their battle, per se, let them handle it.” She comes to stand in front of me and I look up at her. “Are you mad that I bought the bar?”
“No, I’m not. I’m a little worried that it was a rash decision without much thought, but I can see now that was probably not the case and I’m even a little proud of you.” I put my hands on her thighs.
“Besides, it gives me something fun to do.”
“That’s my girl.” She bends down and kisses me. I kiss her back and, before I realize it, she’s gone from in front of me. “Hey,” I pout.
I hear her laughing from the bathroom and then the door clicks closed. I’m excited for her, at least about the bar. I’m not sure it was the best decision on such a short time frame, but she seems to have it under control, at least for now. I don’t think she understands what is going to happen in regards to Bold. Though, I know she won’t move to L.A., so maybe this is a step in the right direction. Getting her to divide her time a little more. Who knows, and only time will tell.
She comes out of the bathroom in her lacy black bra and matching panties, and I can tell that the conversation regarding the bar is over for now. I resolve to let her do her thing. It is what she needs to do right now, if not for herself then for her friends, and I’m perfectly okay with that.
She smiles seductively at me and beckons me to follow her to the bed. Half a second into our kiss, all thoughts of bars and Tarah cease to exist.