“Right now, we’re eating and celebrating.” He squeezed her hand. Her left hand, which meant he was holding her with his right. “Work can come later.”
“Celebrating? You mean the script?” Cam chuckled. “Or have you sold something else amazing to Hollywood?”
“Stop it,” Mina chided. “Selling a script to a major studio is worth multiple days of—oh!”
Griffin pulled out a chair for Beverly as Cam frowned at Mina.
“Oh? What, oh?” Cam asked, but Mina ignored him, coming over to stand behind Griffin and Beverly.
“Seriously? Oh my God! I’m so happy for you!” She threw her arms around him and hugged, and Griff did his best not to flinch—which wasn’t too hard since the contact was all through his hoodie. Besides, this was Mina, his former intern, and he knew her well.
“Seriously, guys,” Cam said, clearly baffled as Mina repeated the process by capturing Beverly in a hug as well. “What the hell?”
“You doofus,” Mina said. “They’re dating.”
Cam’s confusion shifted into a smile. “Yeah?”
“Yup,” Beverly said, and if he’d had any doubts, the pleasure in her voice would have erased them all.
“Wow,” he said. “That’s great. Drinks on the house.”
“Um, hello?” Reece’s voice drifted down from the far end of the bar. “Why did I promote you to weekend manager?”
“A good question,” Griffin said, “since he seems to be here as much during the week as on the weekend.”
“Griff and Beverly are an item,” Cam called back. “I’m supporting this place’s growing reputation as an alternative to Internet dating sites.”
“No lie,” Mina said, as Cam continued. “A lot of folks have hooked up inside these walls.” She frowned. “Well, maybe not inside the walls…”
Cam smirked. “As for the weekday work, I don’t have classes this week, and Eric needed someone to cover for him.” He shot a grin toward Reece. “It’s my loyalty and commitment to this place that landed me that awesome managerial position.”
“True enough,” Reece said. “And congrats, you two. How long has this been going on?”
Griffin watched as Beverly’s cheeks bloomed pink. “Pretty much since last night,” he said.
“It was a hell of a night,” she added, leaning over to Mina as the girls laughed together.
“I’m so happy for you both.” Mina’s whisper was obviously meant for Beverly, but Griffin heard it and he drew in a satisfied breath. Yeah. This was good.
“What are we celebrating?” Tyree’s low voice filled the bar as he and Eva headed toward them, followed by Jenna and Brent, who was still scowling at a sheath of papers.
Jenna stepped in beside Reece, and he immediately pulled her in front of him, his hands going protectively over her baby bump.
“Coupledom,” Beverly said in response to Tyree’s question. She took the glass of bourbon Cam offered her, then lifted it to Griffin’s. “To us.”
“To all of us,” Cam said, pouring a round for all of them. Griff couldn’t help but smile. He was right. Cam and Mina. Tyree and Eva. Reece and Jenna. Now him and Beverly.
He frowned, realizing Brent was the odd man out. Brent, however, was too engrossed in his document to notice.
“Yo, Brent.” Reece’s voice tugged Brent from work. “Grab a glass. We’re toasting Griffin and Beverly.”
“Oh. Sure.” His expression cleared, and he obviously realized the import of the words. “Hey, that’s fabulous. Seriously, congrats, you two.”
“Thanks,” Beverly said, as Reece asked, “What are you looking at, anyway?”
Brent tossed the papers onto the bar. “Trying to get a bead on our graffiti artist. I’m checking the specs and alignment procedure on the damn security cameras. Right now we’ve got nothing except on number four, and all I can see there is a person, probably male, in dark jeans, a dark sweat jacket, and a dark hood.”
“What happened?” Beverly asked.