Fight Left In Me ✔

Chapter 30 - Lip

The second she walks through the door of the cafe, she gets lifted up by two pair of strong arms. She laughs and makes eye contact with Jake behind the bar, who was starting to look worried, but smiles the second he sees her laugh. Dylan and Kane put her down and ask her where the dribbling fool is and then both stare at her lip. Jo says: "Dart will be here soon. He needed to finish something. And yes, it's the lip ring Dart had on last night. He doesn't know I am wearing it yet though." 

She winks at the guys and walks over to the bar, to give Jake a big hug. The guys sit down on a stool and stare at them hugging. Jake kisses the top her head and says: "Hello sister. It's good to see you in the cafe again." 

Jo agrees and turns to Dylan and Kane: "Guys this is Jake. He is my self acclaimed big brother. He owns this place." They introduce themselves and Jake gets them a beer. Jo walks into the kitchen to fill some bowls with salty snacks and spreads them out on the bar. The bar starts to fill up with men and Jo drafts one beer after another. The regulars all leave the first stool free and greet Jo with a wave or a smile. 

Jo catches Maria peeking in from the kitchen and gesturing her to come over. Jo steps into the kitchen and Maria hugs her warmly. "Dear Jo, I am so proud of you. And so is that big brother of yours. He keeps bothering guests with pictures of you." They laugh together and talk about both of their men.

Jo knows the exact moment Dart walks into the cafe, because Dylan and Kane yell out: "Hey dribbling fool!" Jo pushes the door to the cafe open, just as Dart is about to sit down. He stares at her with his mouth open and she winks at him. Now more of the guys in the cafe yell out: "Dribbling fool." Dart runs a hand across his face and grins at the guys. Jo leans back behind the bar with her arms crossed, staring at Dart with a cheeky grin on her face. 

Kane yells out: "You better go over there and kiss her man or one of us will." Dart gets up quickly and walks over to Jo, wrapping his arms around her. She leans in and wraps her arms around his neck to kiss him slowly. All the guys start howling and whistling and Jo laughs happily. 

Dart whispers in her ear: "You're killing me here." Jo whispers sorry, but shakes her head at the same time. Dart walks over to his stool, shaking his head as well. The game starts and the guys are all glued to the television.

Jo walks back into the kitchen, where Maria is sitting at the table with a stack of magazines. She smiles at Jo and says: "Jake is collecting them all. You are in all of them, one way or another." Jo sits down and takes one of them to read it. Most of them have a small segment with the questions they answered via email. 

She sees the fit magazine with Dart on the cover and pulls it towards her. She smiles and stares at the pictures, thinking she's very lucky to call a man like that hers. Maria looks over to her and winks. "Yeah, I bet a lot of women are extremely jealous of you. Even I got a little flustered looking at those pictures." 

Jo smiles at Maria and says: "Yeah, I even forget he is mine sometimes." 

Maria shows Jo the glossy magazine and says: "Well, you gave him a run for his money with these photos." 

Jo laughs and says: "Oh, he almost died when he saw those pictures. He had no idea, until they were already printed." Maria laughs and gets up to get two beers from the fridge. She hands one to Jo and holds hers up as a toast. "To us, strong, confident women and our handsome, strong men." Jo raises her bottle and nods. 

Jake knocks on the hatch and Jo gets up to heat up the fryer. She walks over to the fridge and gets the tray of wings out, placing it on the counter next to the fryer. She fries the first batch and Maria helps her fill up the bowls. They walk into the cafe together, carrying the Wings of Love and the men start cheering.