Chapter Seventeen
Seventeen
Atlas
What started as a slip of my tongue turned into something special. Tegan was my girlfriend, and while I was absolutely giddy, there was a part of me that was already worried I was going to fuck this up.
I held her hand over the center console, fingers twined with hers as I drove us back into town.
Her phone vibrated and she slipped her hand away from mine.
“Hmm,” she said, staring down at the screen.
“Everything okay?”
“Do you have anything planned after this?” she asked, ignoring my question.
“If you count playing video games and doing laundry, then yes.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Have you seen me?” I asked, making her laugh.
“You’re right. That’s a silly question.” She paused for a second, tapping her fingers against her thigh. “Would you want to have dinner with me and my friends? I know we literally just started dating, but they really want to meet you.”
Dinner was easy enough, and if they were important to Tegan, they were important to me.
“I’d love to meet your friends,” I said, surprising myself a little bit. “Where are we going?”
“The diner on Main Street.”
“I’ve been meaning to stop in there.” I passed by it every day on my way to the gym, saw the glow of the neon sign late at night and smelled the freshly cooked bacon wafting out of the place in the morning. The thought made my mouth water.
“My friend Declan is the owner. The food is really good.”
“Is that who we’re meeting?”
“Mhm. Him and Selene. She works with me at the bakery.”
“Ah. The one who was supposed to help with the cake?”
She laughed. “Yeah. That’s her.”
“I’ll have to thank her.”
I pulled my truck into one of the parking spaces in front of the shiny silver diner. It must have been the dinner rush, because the place was packed.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tegan asked as I reached for my door handle. “It’s been a long day—”
“What? You don’t want me to meet your friends?” I asked with a smile, cocking my head.
“No!” she blurted. She was cute when she was flustered. “It’s not that at all. Selene is great, but Declan can sort of be a lot.”
It made me laugh, because I was all too familiar with best friends who could be a lot.
“Wait until you meet Fallon.” I tightened my grip on her hand, hoping to steady her nerves with my touch. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
Chatter and ’80s pop music filtered out when I opened the door for Tegan. With her leading the way, we stepped inside, and I swear it was like all the air was sucked out of the room. Every conversation stopped and every set of eyes in the place was on us.
“Hey!” Tegan said awkwardly, giving a little wave to all the people staring at us.
I assumed this wasn’t the normal greeting she received when she showed up at the diner. Things were so uncomfortable because she was there with me. I was under the impression that she didn’t date much, let alone bring someone around. That meant I was lucky, even if I didn’t feel it at the moment.
“Oh my gods, they’re here,” someone squealed, shattering the silence. It was like they broke a spell because everyone resumed their conversations, turning their attention away from us.
Tegan noticeably brightened up, tugging me toward a booth at the back of the diner.
“This is Declan and Selene,” she said, as we slid into the booth.
“Hello!” the guy—I’m assuming Declan—said, waving enthusiastically. He looked to be about our age, smiley and chipper with a bushy beard that really fit his face.
“Hi,” the girl—Selene—said, with a much more subdued wave. She had to be younger than us, early twenties if I had to guess. Tall and thin with curly brown hair. There was no way I could ever introduce her to Fallon.
Tegan introduced me next. “This is my boyfriend, Atlas.”
“Boyfriend!” Declan said, his brows drawing back. “That’s new.”
I looked at my watch. “Yep, as of an hour ago.”
“I’m so happy for you guys,” Selene said.
“You’re so tall,” Declan said, staring at me wide-eyed.
“Uh, thanks, I guess?” I rubbed my ears, feeling slightly awkward.
Selene elbowed Declan in the stomach, giving him a look.
“What?” he scoffed. “It’s just an observation.”
“Anyway,” Selene said, cutting in. “You own the gym down the street?”
I nodded. “Yep. I bought the old rec center six months ago, and after renovations, we’ve been open for about three months.”
“That’s so cool,” Selene said. “I might have to stop by and check it out.”
“For sure. I can give you some passes,” I told her.
“Is the pool still in there?” Declan asked.
I nodded. “Completely refinished but it’s still there.”
Declan brought his hand to his chest. “Tegan and I learned to swim in that pool.”
“Oh, me, too,” Selene chimed in.
“Is that right?” I said, smiling over at Tegan.
“We did—and I think it was pretty run down even then,” Tegan said. “I’m glad you could save the rec center. We had a lot of memories there.”
“Summer camp. Pottery class. Oh, remember that year our parents signed us up for karate?” Declan asked Tegan.
I loved this glimpse into Tegan’s past, the history of the town, and her friendships. It left me hungry for more, wanting to know everything about this woman and make my own memories with her.
“I can’t imagine you and Dec doing karate,” Selene said.
The thought of Tegan in a bright white gi, her bun flopping around on top of her head while she doled out punches and kicks, was adorable. Maybe I could get her to sign up for BJJ classes. She’d probably kick ass at it.
“Hey, I almost got my yellow belt, thank you very much,” Declan said, crossing his arms over his chest.
I don’t know why Tegan was worried. Declan was a little dramatic, but he was funny. I was having a good time.
“Yeah, and I remember you crying when you didn’t get it,” Tegan teased.
“We were five, Tegan Marie,” he said, slamming his hands down on the table.
“Tegan Marie?” I asked, amusement in my voice. Another tidbit about her I’d file away, hoarding them like I was a dragon and Tegan was the gold.
“Mhm,” Declan said. “Tegan Marie Rollins.”
“It’s a family name,” Tegan insisted. “What’s your middle name?” she asked me.
Oh man. I set myself up for that one.
“Eros. My dad’s side of the family is really into Greek mythology.”
“Atlas Eros Oberon,” Tegan said. I liked the way my name sounded rolling off her tongue. “I like it.”
Declan nodded. “Very Greek god–like.”
“Mmm. The god of love,” Selene said. She stared at me and Tegan, a smile spreading over her face. “Fitting.”
I’d never really found it fitting. Certainly not after a miserable fourteen-year relationship, but maybe the tides were turning.
“All right, what’s everyone eating?” Declan asked. He pulled a notepad and a pen out of his pocket and set them on the table. “Your usual?” he asked Selene and Tegan.
“Yep,” they answered in unison.
He scribbled their orders down on his notepad from memory. They must eat a lot of meals here together. It was comforting to see how close the three of them were. It meant that friendships were important to Tegan, and I hoped she’d be open to meeting my friends after this.
“Can you pass Atlas a menu, Tegs?” Declan asked.
“Oh yeah.” Tegan reached behind the condiment caddy, passing me a sticky laminated menu. A long menu.
I looked the list of dishes up and down, front to back. Strawberry milkshakes. Beer-battered onion rings. Bacon double cheeseburgers.
Everything sounded so good.
But—I needed to stick to my meal plan.
“Um, could I just get two grilled chicken breasts with a side of brown rice?” I said, with every bit of willpower I could muster.
Declan reared back, wrinkling his nose. “You sure about that?”
“The food here is really good,” Selene reassured me, like it might make me change my mind.
Tegan looked at me knowingly, but didn’t say a word.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’m sure.”
“Okay, then,” Dec said. He slipped out of the booth and disappeared inside the kitchen, returning a second later. “Carl is back there tonight. He’ll have our food out next.”
“Dec! It’s packed in here tonight,” Selene said, glancing at the bustling diner around us.
He shrugged. “So?”
“Shouldn’t you take care of the paying customers first?” she asked.
He waved her off, noticeably unbothered. “They’re fine. It’s not like they’re going to take their business elsewhere.”
Selene rolled her eyes, then shifted her attention to me and Tegan. She put her elbows on the table, leaning in to ask, “So what did you two get up to today?”
“We went to see the cherry blossoms in Rock Harbor,” I said.
Selene sighed dreamily. “How romantic.”
“It was very romantic,” Tegan said. “Especially the part where Atlas carried me on his back.” She reached for my hand under the table, giving it a little squeeze.
“You carried her on your back?” Declan asked, mouth hanging open.
“Just back to the car,” I rushed out. “Her feet were hurting.”
Declan made some sort of screech, one that I’m sure would have drawn attention if we weren’t right next to the blaring jukebox. “That is so cute,” he said.
“You two are adorable together,” Selene agreed.
I glanced down at Tegan to find her gazing up at me. We were pretty cute together, weren’t we?
While we were having our moment, a waitress appeared at the table, an older woman with lines etched deep in her forehead, and prominent jowls like a bulldog. Even with the tray of delicious food she was carrying, the scent of cigarettes wafted off her, enough to make my nose want to wrinkle.
“Thanks, Connie,” Declan said sweetly.
“Yeah, yeah,” Connie said, setting the first of many plates on the table.
She served Tegan, Declan, and Selene first, obviously familiar with their orders, before she set my chicken breasts and brown rice in front of me. It looked sad and beige, especially when you compared it to the greasy goodness that graced everyone else’s plates.
I stared at Tegan’s burger, feeling my mouth water.
I should have ordered one. It wasn’t like this was a daily thing.
While Selene and Declan dug into their food, chatting happily, Tegan leaned over, whispering in my ear, “If you stare at my burger any harder, it might explode.”
I chuckled. “It looks really good.”
“It’s a very big burger,” she said. “I could give you half.”
A tiny, barely audible whine crept up the back of my throat. “I shouldn’t.”
“Come on,” she urged. “It’s just half of a bacon double cheeseburger. We had such a great day. Might as well finish strong.”
Finish strong.
That sent my mind to devious places, dirty places that definitely did not involve bacon double cheeseburgers.
“All right,” I relented, but she was already holding a knife, cutting the burger in half.
Two very unequal halves.
“There we go,” she said, discreetly sliding the larger half onto my plate.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I picked up the burger, giving it a little squeeze before taking a bite. It was perfectly cooked, a juicy medium rare just how I liked it. The lettuce, bacon, and raw onion gave it the perfect amount of crunch. It was heaven on a bun. I could see why it was Tegan’s favorite.
“I’m glad you came to your senses. How is it?” Declan asked, staring at me while I chewed.
“It’s delicious. No wonder everyone looked at me like I had three heads when I ordered grilled chicken.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being health conscious, but this is your first time at the diner,” Selene said. “Indulge a little bit.”
Tegan nodded. “And save room for some pie. We can split a slice for dessert.”
While burgers and pie weren’t part of my meal plan, I wanted to enjoy myself. I wanted to live in this moment with my girlfriend and her friends.
I smiled at Tegan. “I’d love to.”
—
“Today was amazing,” Tegan said as I walked her to her front door.
“It was.”
But I could think of something that would make it even better.
Bending down, I cupped her face and she leaned into my touch as I smoothed my thumb over her soft cheek. She was such a contrast to me, so small and so fragile. It felt like I held the world in the palm of my hand.
I tilted my head, bringing my mouth to her pillowy lips. Her fingers threaded into my fur, her tongue sliding into my mouth with a contented sigh that went straight to my cock.
I groaned, deepening the kiss, wanting more from her. All the things I’d fantasized about leading up to this moment flashed through my mind. I hadn’t felt desire like this in a long time.
But we’d just started dating. I didn’t want her to think that sex was all I was after.
Reluctantly, I pulled away and rested my forehead against hers while I stared into her emerald eyes.
“Good night, Tegan,” I said, stroking her cheek again. She rolled her puffy lips, looking so hungry for me, I almost changed my mind. “I’ll text you when I get home.”
“Okay. Four a.m. tomorrow?”
“Yep. Hope you didn’t think you were getting off easy now that you’re my girlfriend,” I teased.
She shook her head, smiling warmly. “Not even for a second.”
I nuzzled her face, placing one last kiss on her temple before I finally let her go.
She pulled her keys out of her bag, unlocked her front door, and gave me a little wave before she slipped inside. I stood on the porch, waiting for a light to turn on inside before heading back to my truck.
It was the best day I’d had in a long time, and I smiled the entire drive home.