Chapter 20 Happy
HAPPY
Hannah is uncharacteristically quiet, and I’m worried that finding Brookes’s unconscious body affected her more than she’s letting on.
Is she okay? God, this is all so foreign to me, it’s confronting.
I genuinely care about this woman. Like, I want to make her feel better.
And in a totally non-sexual way. I mean, don’t get me wrong—I want her in every sexual way—but right now, I just need to know that she’s okay.
What happened with Brookes is a lot for anyone; I know firsthand the fear she felt when she saw him like that.
Glancing across at her, I take her in. She’s dressed cute.
A short black skirt that does things to me I don’t even want to admit to myself because, even in my mind, I sound like a pervert.
Shiny black loafers. And an oversized white button down that looks like she could have picked it out of my very own closet, with a red sweater knotted around her shoulder.
Totally preppy. Totally fucking hot. Totally not the time or place, big guy, I silently chastise my twitching dick.
“You hungry?”
Hannah startles, pulled from where she’s been staring out the window as I navigate the city streets. I place my hand on her smooth knee, squeezing gently.
“I’m starving,” she admits as if she’s only just realized it herself. “But we’re probably too late to make our dinner reservation, huh?”
I sniff a laugh. Honestly, if I walk into any restaurant in this city and they don’t know who I am by face, the moment I tell them my name, I’m guaranteed the best table, whether they’re fully booked or not.
It’s the same back in Los Angeles; it’s been like this for my whole life.
But, of course, I don’t tell her that. “Yeah. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still feed you. ”
I glance at her to see her flash me a serious side-eye. “Are you talking about your penis, because I really am hungry. For, like, actual food.”
My head falls back on a laugh I can’t contain. “I mean…” I trail off, tamping down my laughter. “Maybe later. But for now, I’m pretty hungry too. For actual food.”
She smiles, and fuck me, she’s gorgeous; that smile could light up the darkest midnights, I swear to God. I swallow back that thought, clearing my throat. “I know a place, but it’s out of the city,” I say. “You up for a drive?”
Hannah nods. “Yeah, Toast Malone stayed with his doggy daycare momma tonight, so I’m down for a drive.”
I flash her a grin and make a left at the next turn. And my hand remains on her knee like that’s where it belongs from now on, driving in a companionable silence to the tune of Taylor Swift singingly softly in the background.
I pull into a spot on the street outside Sal’s in the depths of Queens, unfastening my seatbelt and grinning at Hannah when she looks at me with a curious smile.
“Best sandwiches in all of the five boroughs,” I assure her.
“That’s a big claim,” she says, unfastening her seatbelt and following me as I hop out of the truck.
I walk around and wait for her. “Just you wait, Baby Draper. Juiciest fucking pastrami you’ve ever had, trust me.”
As we walk across the street, I reach for Hannah’s hand, but then I stop at the last second, second guessing myself for some reason.
But this was originally supposed to be a date, and it’s normal for people to hold hands on a date…
I think. From what I’ve seen in the movies, at least. So, shaking my head at my self-doubt, I take her hand, relieved when she links her fingers through mine.
And, as I open the door and we walk into the nondescript hole-in-the-wall twenty-four-hour deli, I’m smiling like a smug asshole.
I order two sandwiches—pastrami because it’s the bomb, and turkey because, well, it’s also the bomb. In fact, I’ve never had anything that isn’t bomb from this place, and I’ve been coming here for years.
We sit at one of the two tables in the back of the store, and it’s so small that my knees bump Hannah’s beneath the table.
I spread my legs enough so that she can insert hers between my thighs, and we smile at one another, the position close and intimate despite being in the middle of a goddamn deli.
I watch as Hannah bites into her half of the pastrami, waiting for her reaction. If she hates it, I might just question my very existence. She takes a big bite, chewing a few times, and then I see it, the way her eyes start to glaze over as the taste hits her all at once.
“Oh, wow,” she murmurs around a mouthful. “That’s… really good.” She nods, taking another big bite, and I release a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding, inwardly victorious.
“I’m not one to say I told you so, but… I did,” I say smugly, taking a bite of the turkey with a satisfied groan.
Looking around at the store, Hannah smiles. “This may very well be my new favorite place.”
“Our new favorite place,” I correct her with a wink, taking another bite of my sandwich.
Hannah wipes her mouth with a paper napkin, and I can tell she’s smiling, the flush in her cheeks a dead giveaway. And I know I’ve said it before, but fuck, she’s adorable. Man, I am in trouble with a capital fucking T, and I’m not even a little bit mad about it.
“Are you okay?” I ask after a few moments of comfortable silence. When she looks up from her sandwich and meets my eyes, I add, “After today?”
The way her smile falls from her lips makes me regret my question. I reach across and place my hand on her arm.
“I’m okay. I just feel bad. I’ve only known the guy a few days, and even in that time I could see how much he was drinking. It wasn’t normal. I-I… I don’t know. I wish I’d said something sooner.”
“Honestly, Baby Draper,” I begin, “nothing you said before today would’ve helped.
” I shake my head. “I’ve seen this. When a person is in that deep, he needs to hit rock bottom before he does anything about it.
Today, Brookes almost… dying…” I say the word softly, gently.
“That was his rock bottom. And it was either gonna be today, or next week, or next year. The point is, it always happens, and it’s never nice.
But it’s the first step for him to get better. ”
She studies me for a few beats, her eyes flitting between mine. “It happened to your dad?”
I nod. “The first time I found my dad the way that you found Brookes today, I was eleven.”
Hannah’s eyes widen.
“But it wasn’t alcohol. It was… heroin.” I heave a sigh at the memory that is, unfortunately, engrained into my mind. “He was passed out with a fucking needle stuck in his arm.”
“Oh my God, Happy.”
“He got clean, but it only lasted maybe ten months.” I shrug.
“He was in and out of rehab so many times, I lost count. It never stuck, until one day I told him I was going to be a father.” I press my lips together in a sad smile.
“And I gave him the option of finally getting clean and sober once and for all or… never seeing his grandchild.”
Hannah watches me intently.
“He went into rehab. He stayed there for six months. And he’s been sober ever since.
” I huff a self-deprecating laugh. “It sucks that I never really had a father the way my friends had dads growing up, but I’m so thankful that Lucky has a granddad.
And sure, he’s completely tattooed, and he cusses more than most grandparents do in front of their grandkids, but he’s so good with her.
And she is obsessed with him.” I grin at the thought.
“Thanks.”
Confused, I rear back, quirking a brow. “What are you thanking me for?”
Rolling her smiling lips between her teeth, Hannah shrugs. “Just… for tonight. For this—” She indicates the deli and our food.
“A couple sandwiches at Sal’s?” I joke. “You’re an easy lady to please, Baby Draper.”
Cocking her head to the side, she rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but chuckle before softening with a quiet, “You’re welcome.”
“You’re an enigma, Happy Slater.”
I grin, narrowing a dubious eye. “I don’t know what that means, but… thank you… I think?”
She giggles, shaking her head at me, and we continue eating our sandwiches to the tune of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons crooning through the old radio on the counter.
After we finish at Sal’s, it’s still early by the time we get back into my truck.
I don’t want to take Hannah home just yet because I know if I do, I can’t stay.
I need to get home to relieve Mom of babysitting duties and to pack my shit for our final road trip of the regular season tomorrow.
But I really don’t want our night to be over just yet.
Starting the engine, I consider myself before glancing at Hannah and meeting her big blue eyes that reflect the lights of the dash. “You wanna go see something cool?”
“Are you talking about your penis?” She narrows one eye.
With an indignant huff, I clutch a hand to my chest. “You and your one-track mind, Baby Draper.”
She laughs, and I flash her a grin as I pull out of the parking spot.