Chapter 21
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Rory
“New table in your section.” Heather bumps my hip playfully as she passes me in the kitchen. “Requested you specifically. I’d say job well done girl, he’s a looker, but he’s here with a girl.”
I look up from the salad I’m putting together, my lip snarling.
Fucking Mascen, back again.
“Great,” I mutter.
He might be a giant pain in my ass, but at least he does tip me well. Very well. So I can’t complain too much. But I find myself saying anyway, “Why don’t you take them, Heather?”
“Uh, because they asked for you, duh.” I’m pretty sure if she could flick my forehead she would.
“I know, but just tell them I’m too busy.”
“Jealous ex?” she asks.
I’m tempted to lie, because I know she’d cover for me if she thought I needed protecting but I can’t. Mascen might be a jerk, but I’m not afraid of him. “No.” I exhale a sigh and pick up the finished salad. “I’ll take care of it.”
Breezing out the door, I drop off the salad before approaching Mascen’s table.
“Nice to see you, Joe.”
“Joe?” He raises a brow. “Are you hallucinating, Princess?”
“Excuse me?” his date interrupts, clearly offended.
“Exotic—you know, the self-named Tiger King. We don’t sell meth here, you’ll have to look elsewhere.”
His eyes narrow but there’s a barely imperceptible twitch of his lips. God, he doesn’t want to smile because of me but he still can’t help being amused.
“Uh, is something going on here that I’m missing,” his date speaks up.
“Sorry, I’m Rory, your waitress this evening.”
“Do you two know each other?”
“Obviously,” we both blurt at the same time, then glare at each other.
“Now, what can I get you guys to drink?”
Mascen orders his usual house draft and his date orders water.
I let Aldo know what I need before getting the water myself, when I breeze back by the bar he has the beer waiting for me. “Thanks, Aldo.”
He grins at me, nodding his head as he reaches down to scoop ice into a glass. There’s a bachelorette party lining the bar, and more than one of them is sending flirtatious glances his way. Poor guy has his hands full tonight.
“Here you guys go,” I say in my politest tone, setting the glasses down along with a straw for the water. “Are you ready to order?”
“No, not quite?—”
“Yes,” Mascen interrupts his date, leaning toward me, “we are.”
The poor girl frowns, and honestly I can’t help feeling bad for her since he’s being a dick. Granted, he’s always like this so she must’ve known what she was agreeing to.
“Steak marsala—rare.”
“Do you always order the same thing?”
He laces his fingers together, laying his hands on the table. “Yes, I don’t like trying new things.”
“For you?” I ask the girl. Her head is currently pinballing between her date and me.
Finally, she stops, her eyes landing on him. “Home.” She picks up her bag. Giving me a not very nice smile she adds, “I don’t appreciate feeling like a third wheel on my own date.”
My mouth falls open, but I don’t have a response because she’s kind of right. If I was remotely attracted to Mascen in a sexual way I would think maybe this is some weird form of foreplay for us, but I don’t like him that way. Or any way.
She pauses, waiting for Mascen to stop her I presume, but when he doesn’t she huffs out a breath and slides fully out of the booth, walking out.
“Your date left,” I announce unnecessarily.
“I can see that.” He leans back in the booth, cocking his head to the side.
“Are you leaving too?”
His lips tip up on the corner. “You’d like that wouldn’t you? But no, I’m hungry and I want my steak.” He makes a shooing motion with his hand, arching a brow when I leave. “Go on, you’re the help, put my order in.”
My anger flares. I find myself tempted to pelt him in the head with my pen, but if Izzy saw I would certainly be fired. Aldo would just laugh.
But since I can’t seem to succeed at being a decent human being I lower until we’re eye level, his smirk growing the closer I get to him. “Just remember, this help can spit in your food.” With that, I turn on my heel to put his order into the system. Will I spit on his dinner? No, I’m not that mean or petty, but seeing the look of surprise on his face makes the threat more than worth it.
I spend the rest of the evening running back and forth to my tables, making sure drinks are filled, orders are out timely, and everyone stays happy. Mascen eats his dinner in silence, and even though we don’t trade barbs anymore I find myself continuing to seek him out wherever I’m in the room. When he doesn’t think he’s being watched there’s something melancholy about him. I think it’s in the way his shoulders droop and his lips downturn. Something is weighing on him. Something that has nothing to do with me and everything to do with him. I wonder what it is but I know I’ll never ask. We’re not friends anymore and I don’t think we ever will be again. We’re too different. He’s the spoiled prince and I’m the fallen princess.
The night winds down and I’m more than ready to head home—how funny that I think of my dorm as home now, but it’s far more comforting than the trailer I left behind. I haven’t heard from my mom once. I wish I was surprised but I’m not.
“Bye, Aldo,” I call behind me as Heather and I head for the exit.
“See ya,” he replies before the doors close.
Heather smirks at me. “You like Aldo?”
“What? No.” I’m so shocked by her question that I worry I sound defensive.
She gives a shrug. “He’s cute, you should go for it.”
“Uh…” I blink at her. “He’s a nice guy, but I don’t like him that way. But maybe you should.”
She pauses in the parking lot, placing a hand on her hip. “I’m thirty, I don’t do young’uns.”
“You’re thirty, that’s hardly old.”
“True,” she agrees with a grin, “but men don’t age as fast as us, sweetheart. See you later.” She waves goodbye, climbing into her red SUV.
At the end of the lot I slide into my truck. The ancient engine sputters and roars. If any of the nearby buildings have apartments, no doubt I’ve just woken someone up.
Sighing, I brush my hair out of my eyes and back out, the restaurant soon a tiny blip in my rearview mirror.
I’m not surprised to find both girls asleep when I get to the dorm. Kenna, especially, might like to have a good time, but she’s surprisingly responsible about getting enough sleep on days she has class.
Taking a quick shower, I change into my pajamas and slip into bed. My body is exhausted and I think I’ll fall right to sleep, but of course I’m wrong. While I might be tired physically, my mind hasn’t gotten the memo.
My thoughts swirl from Cole to Mascen, to my mom and Hazel, even to my dad, and back again. Covering my face with my hands I blow out a breath, hopefully breathing out my irritation with it. Rolling onto my side, I curl my hands under my head.
Sleep doesn’t come easily, but eventually it does overtake me, erasing all my thoughts with it.