Chapter 6
Kyle
It’s been a week since I thought I saw Green Eyes at the diner. I was surprised to see her; didn’t realize she frequented the place. My business associate loves their pie, so we met there to go over some documents that needed to be signed. It’s not somewhere I’d pick on my own, but I tried the pie this time and he was right. Maybe I’ll try to go again sometime and see if it was really her.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since Wes came home and said he’s pretty sure he met her. I’m skeptical that it’s the same girl, but he seemed really insistent. Even if he’s right, would she even be a good fit? We know nothing about her other than how gorgeous she is. Not a great foundation for a relationship. My phone chimes while I’m lost in thought, and I see a message from Wes.
Wes: You better not back out on drinks tonight. We’re going to Jerry’s
Me: I promise, I won’t back out. Might be late though.
Wes: I’ll save you a seat. See you soon.
I shake my head and try to focus back on the spreadsheets I was reviewing. We have some off-track projects that are impacting our financials and I need to do some investigating. Giving it another hour, I finally give up, realizing the only thing I’m doing is staring and thinking of her. This is ridiculous. I don’t even know her. I need to stop.
Looking at my clock, I realize it’s 5:30 and I have a thirty-minute drive into town. Deciding not to push my luck with Wes, I power down my computer, gather my stuff, and head out the door. As usual, I’m the last one out of the door. The CEO is insistent on keeping a good home/life balance and usually ensures everyone is out by 5 p.m. I had to compromise with him to let me stay late when he started noticing my habits. If I stay past 6 p.m., he starts taking away pieces of my yearly bonus. It feels fair. One year I actually missed out on almost a grand, so I’ve been diligent since.
When I park near Jerry’s, I take off my suit coat and roll the arms up. Having the sleeves down is so damn stifling when I’m trying to relax. I unbutton my shirt a little too, giving my neck some much-needed air. As I walk in, I’m slammed with noise, but it’s easy to find Wes’ red hair and I beeline straight for him. I take a seat and bump his shoulder with mine.
“Hey, how was your day?” Wes greets me.
“Could be worse. Yours?”
“The horrors persist, but so do I,” he states dramatically.
I chuckle and roll my eyes at him. He laughs and nudges a full beer closer to me.
“I took the liberty of ordering for you.”
“Thanks,” I tell him with a genuine smile.
As I sip, I scan the bar and see two guys on duty. My eyes also catch on a guy a few seats down from us, sitting at the end of the bar so he can see along the length of it. He’s bald with a goatee. While I can see he has a certain charm, he’s looking pretty stand-offish at the moment. Wes leans over.
“She’s not here yet, and that guy is a creeper,” he says softly.
I grunt in answer, not really sure how to respond to that. I’m sure he didn’t hear, and I force myself to look away before he notices my eyes on him. Wes and I sit and drink our beers, oscillating between easy banter and comfortable silence. As I’m thinking of flagging down a bartender to get a refill, she comes running in like a tornado. She’s tall and is finishing up her braid as she approaches. Bald guy grabs her arm as she passes and she stops, whipping her face toward him.
There are soft words exchanged, and she rips her arm out of his grasp before going to the cash register. I can hear her apologizing to the other bartender for being late as she hurries to get acclimated to the current customer and order situation. She waves at the bartender who is on his way out, and the guy gives baldie a look, but it doesn’t seem to phase him. Interesting.
She fills two drink orders before turning to the bar itself and looking for who needs refills. When she spots us, she takes the few steps our way, her eyes lighting up in recognition.
“ Whes !” she cries in greeting.
I almost spit out the last sip of my beer when I hear it come out of her. She sounds almost exactly like the TV show when she says it and I start cracking up.
“Oh not you too,” Wes groans and puts his hands in his head.
“Didn’t think you’d really come back and be subjected to my humor,” she says, ignoring his discomfort. “Your friend okay?”
“I’m good,” I manage to say before getting a good look at her.
It is absolutely her. The green eyes that I keep thinking about take me in and they widen. “Pool God,” she says softly.
“Pool what?” I blink, surprised by her words.
She blushes furiously. “Uh, nothing. What can I get you guys?”
“You’re not getting out if it that easily,” Wes warns her before ordering a beer refill.
She makes a face at him and gets our refills, then has to bustle down to the other patrons on this half of the bar to refill their drinks as well. She glances at baldie but his drink is still more than half full so she quickly looks away.
“Hey, get back over here!” Wes calls playfully.
“Do I gotta?” she whines, her head tipped back, a small smile in her eyes when she looks at us.
“Yes! I need to hear more about this Pool God nickname,” Wes insists.
“What Pool God nickname? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she insists as she walks over.
“Better tell us, or I’m gonna start calling you ‘barmaid’ when I come here,” Wes says with a teasing grin.
“FINE!” she exclaims, smiling. “The first time I saw him, he was staring at me across a pool. Then, like a total stalker and creeper, I checked him out when he got out of the pool.”
I start laughing. “Honestly, I was thinking the same on my side! I couldn’t stop staring at you when I was still in the pool.”
She blushes. “I guess we both have good taste. What’s your real name, Pool God?”
“Kyle,” I tell her. “Yours? Or do I just get to call you Green Eyes forever?”
“Rory,” she says with a small but pleased smile.
The crowd has thinned some now that we’ve reached the interlude between dinner crowd and night crowd, so Rory has time to chat with us more. We spend time getting to know each other, mostly likes and dislikes, but sharing some fun stories as well.
“So you were at the pool with your niece, right?” I ask her.
“Yeah, she takes advanced swim lessons, so I just wait there as part of my taxi driving duties.”
“Were you guys also at the diner the other day? I saw you and I thought it was you from the pool, but I was distracted and wasn’t totally sure. Although with eyes like yours, I should have known.”
“Yeah, it was us. I was so fucking embarrassed. Claire has no filter.” She laughs.
I like it when someone can laugh at stuff like this. Wes is the joker of the two of us, but I like people who don’t take life too seriously. I guess it makes sense that Wes and I are together then, actually.
“Don’t be. Kids can be little shits, but she seemed cool just based on the fact that she tried to call me over.” I chuckle.
“That girl has got some spunk in her, let me tell you. I couldn’t be prouder.” She grins.
Rory sees some drink slips come in and excuses herself.
“What do you think, man?” Wes turns and asks me.
“About what?” I ask, wanting to force him to say it.
“Oh my God, you’re so difficult. What do you think about taking her out? Seeing if she could fit?”
“It seems awfully quick for that,” I tell him, feeling unsure how we would come off asking her on a date.
“I know, but I think she feels the connection, too. Maybe we could just suggest a walk in the park or something.”
“Cuz that’s not cheesy,” I mutter.
“Fuck off,” Wes says, chuckling.
“Okay, but you have to let me ask her. You’re gonna make it weird.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Wes says, straight faced as he puts his hand as high on my thigh as possible.
I look down at his hand and pointedly back up at him. He grins, shamelessly.
“So, you guys were just about to tell me how amazing I am at this job, right?” Rory says as she walks back over.
“Oh, for sure, nobody slings a beer like you do, baby,” Wes says with a wink.
Rory rolls her eyes but laughs at his antics, anyway.
“So, Rory, we have a question for you, and I’m hoping you’ll hear us out,” I start.
“If you’re going to ask me to join your secret cult, it’s a hard pass.”
Wes starts cracking up, and I look between them. “You’re as bad as he is,” I tell her, chuckling.
She cackles in glee, and I wait until we’re all under control again.
“Wes and I would like to go on a date with you,” I tell her, point blank.
She looks between us; her face a little uncertain. “Both of you?”
“Yeah, it’s the trifecta of perfection,” Wes insists.
“You don’t have to answer right away, and we can do something super public, like a walk in the park or something,” I tell her calmly.
She glances down the bar at baldie, who is still sitting there with his drink, staring at her. There’s a weird possessiveness there that I know Wes has also taken notice of. Looking at him seems to steel her nerves.
“Yeah, let’s do it. Why not?” she says.
“I’m not sure it’s the most enthusiastic ‘yes’ I’ve ever gotten,” Wes quips. “I’ll take it, though.”
Rory laughs. “I would love to go out with you guys.”
“Excellent!” Wes says.
I shake my head at him. “Can I give you our numbers? Then you can contact us when you’re comfortable.”
Rory seems genuinely shocked by this offer. I wonder if she puts her own comfort first ever. She seems floored that we would put the ball in her court rather than force what we want. A slow smile spreads across her face.
“Yeah, that sounds great,” she says, and rips a piece of paper off from a nearby notepad.
I hand the paper back once our numbers are written down, but as she moves to pull her hand back, Wes nabs it and kisses the back of her hand. Her face fully flushes and she looks down, smiling and flustered, but pleased. Out of curiosity, I look over at baldie and he looks murderous. Interesting.
“I’ll text you guys tomorrow. Is that okay?” she asks.
“Perfect. It’s whatever you’re comfortable with,” I assure her.
We drop some cash on the counter, tell her to keep the change, and say our goodbyes. Standing outside the pub, Wes and I look at each other.
“Gonna say it?” he teases.
I sigh, a long-suffering sound. “You were right.”
He grins and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
“We need to keep an eye on baldie, though,” I tell him, with a small frown.
“Yeah, he was there last time I was too. I don’t like him.”
“Agreed. See you at home?”
“You know it,” Wes says, and we go our separate ways to our cars.
I can’t wait to see Rory again. I hope she texts soon. Maybe I’m a creeper and I’m overly obsessed, but I know I’m not going to be able to get her out of my head. My hand and Wes have their work cut out for them tonight.