Chapter 6 #3
Some guy sitting next to the seat Craig had vacated turned toward Bowman.
“Man, Pierce is the best quarterback this team has had in years. Don’t fuck it up.
I know Benjamin is your guy, but Pierce is a fucking great player.
He’s better. And faster. By next year, I’d bet my scholarship he’ll be captain.
And for the record, he’s right. If you wanna win, eat clean, don’t drink too much, and train hard.
Don’t mess around during the season. It wouldn’t be fair to the team if you slack off.
A few of us wanna play pro. Don’t kill our dreams because you can’t control your cravings. ”
That shut Bowman up because he stared at me and said, “Forget the brownies and the milkshake. I’ll get another side of wings—salt and pepper—and a pint of draft beer.
” He turned to face the guys. “I’ll cut down on alcohol too.
One beer and I’m done.” He glared at Mason across the table. “Happy now?”
Mason nodded.
The tension around the table was thick enough to be cut with a knife.
I extended an arm and forced a smile, trying to ease the air around us. “Sorry, but I gotta check your ID.”
Bowman sighed, fished his wallet out of his back pocket, and handed me his driver’s license. I noted his birthdate and handed it back. “Anything else I can get you, guys?”
“One chicken breast, with a side of wild rice, and steamed vegetables.” Mason’s order sounded exactly like it used to when we spent all our time together last fall.
“Anything to drink?”
“Just water.”
I nodded.
His fingers grazed the side of my thigh when he dropped his hand down, and I froze. My lungs failed to release air when I tried to breathe out, and I ended up coughing.
I clung to the final threads of self-control I had left and stepped aside. “I’ll be right back.”
Oxygen returned to my brain the more space I put between Mason and me.
“You okay?” Amelia, another server, asked me when I passed her. “Your face is all red.”
“Yeah. Yeah. All good.”
For the next hour, I served the football team’s table only when necessary. I put my focus on all the other patrons instead, carrying trays of food and drinks around the pub, doing my best to hide the angst swirling inside me with a tight-lipped smile. Every second, I could feel Mason watching me.
I neared a booth occupied by Jules and a group of girls from her support group for victims of impaired drivers. My friend moved to her feet to hug me after I placed their food on the table.
A tall guy with tousled jet-black hair, two dimples, and broad shoulders neared us, and Jules’s grin lit up her entire face.
“Jett. What are you doing here?” She cocked her head in my direction and elbowed me in the ribs.
“Mel, this is my big brother Jett.” She articulated each word to cue me to play along, then cleared her throat.
“Jett, this is my friend Mel. The one I told you all about.” Her cheeks turned scarlet.
I felt my own face warming up under his intense stare as his eyes traveled up and down my body, and his own smile widened.
He extended a hand, and when my palm connected with his large one, he leaned in to press a kiss to my cheek. “I’ve heard so much about you,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m glad we’re finally meeting in person.”
He pulled back, holding my hand for a few more seconds before letting go.
I swallowed hard. The guy was no doubt a hockey player, and his whole demeanor and self-confidence were hard to miss.
Contrary to what I’d gotten used to from jocks since working at Lola’s, he lacked the starving slash pervert vibes I despised so much.
Maybe Jules was right, and her brother really was a decent guy.
I smiled at him, not knowing what to say. I wasn’t used to flirting, and I bet it showed.
“You’re free on Saturday night? I have two tickets for a comedy show at The Giggle Depot Comedy Club, and Jules was supposed to come with me but canceled last night.” He offered me a half-shrug, a subtle pink hue coloring his face. “If you have nothing planned, maybe we could go…together.”
Wow, I had never been asked out so smoothly before. Sure, my dating history was kind of limited, but this was all new to me.
“Huh...” I eyed my friend, not sure if she’d really canceled a date with her brother or if our meeting tonight was all a setup.
“I think I’m free?” And now my reply sounded like a question.
I was so out of my comfort zone here. I stared at Jett from under my eyelashes, assessing him once more.
He was really hot, and none of my creep radars went off.
Yep, he was no Nathan Bellevue. Plus, Jules was vouching for him, so I shouldn’t be afraid to give him a chance.
“No pressure.” It was like he could tell the tug-of-war going on in my head but had decided not to let it deter him. “Give me your phone, and I’ll add my number. Just call me when you know for sure. It would be a shame to waste the ticket. I heard Justin Ward is that good.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard only praises about his one-man show around campus.”
Jett typed something on my phone and handed it back. Seconds later, his own device chimed with a notification. “Now, I have your number too,” he said with a mischievous grin. In that moment, he looked so much like his sister that there was no denying the family resemblance.
“I-I need to get back to work. It was nice meeting you.”
“Call me…or text me.”
I nodded and turned around, hurrying toward the bar when I smacked into a hard surface—one made of flesh and bones—and lost my balance. A muscular hand locked around my waist and pulled me forward. I bumped into Mason’s chest, the steady beating of his heart soothing the staccato of mine.
“Huh…thanks?” Why were all my sentences sounding like questions tonight?
His palm molded to my cheek, and we both sucked a breath in. “You okay?”
Without my consent, my eyes locked on his, and I lost myself in the blue pools.
He smoothed the length of my lower lip with the pad of his thumb, and time stopped.
A truckload of memories washed through me.
Everything and everyone around us disappeared.
It felt as if we were back in time, the last year apart erased.
Not breaking eye contact, I nodded. “Yeah. Thanks for…well…catching me.”
“Mel, I’ll always catch you. Every single time.”
I pressed my cheek into his warm palm and closed my eyes, and for a small moment, I missed his touch, the comfort he brought me, the familiarity between our bodies—everything we once were.
Someone tapped on my shoulder from behind, breaking the spell we were under. My eyes sprang open. Everything inside me was spinning, making me dizzy.
“Mel, table three wants their check,” one of my coworkers said.
“I’ll be right there.” I blinked, trying to evade the power Mason possessed over me and settle my insides. “Thanks again for catching me before I made a fool of myself. I gotta return to work.”
“Can I walk you home when you’re done?”
I shook my head. “I have plans…with a friend…later.”
He hung his head low. “Oh, okay. We should get together sometime… You know…catch up…talk…”
Jayden’s words from the other night played back in my head. Will you…huh…will you go back to him? If you see him, will you rekindle what you guys had if he wants to?
Even though my ex-boyfriend hadn’t said those words, I knew deep down that reviving the friendship Mason and I had once shared wasn’t a good idea—at least not for my heart. After all, he was still him, and I was still me.
I winced. “I’m not sure it would be smart… Anyway, I really have to go. It was nice…huh…bumping into you…literally.”
I scurried behind the bar counter to close table three’s tab, evading the boy who could easily steal my heart again if I let him, no matter how much time had passed since our last encounter.
Running away had become my default escape over the last year.
Every time things got tough, it felt like the only way out.
And right now, it seemed like it was once again my only option, or else I’d get burned.