Chapter 5 #2
This place is filled with people of all sorts; it ranges from your average biker just passing through to your eclectic artist type who makes this area their permanent home.
I love coming here even though I rarely make it into town.
We usually stay at Megan’s house and order in whenever we don’t want to cook.
If I didn’t have a great job that I loved, this place would be enough of a temptation to make me want to never leave.
The food finally arrives, and we immediately dig in.
Both of us are in such a hurry that we scauld ourselves.
We fan our mouths and snort with laughter, trying not to choke on our food.
That’s not a deterrent though; the taste of the food is just too good.
We just take extra care to blow on our food before shoving it in our mouths.
We are just two girls enjoying our hangover brunch so much that we don’t even notice the guy that stops beside our table until he clears his throat to get our attention.
We look up mid bite. No, it can’t be. I place my fork down, squinting up at him as I take in his familiar features.
I internally gasp as I recognize him. It is the drunk Casanova .
If he is here, does that mean tall, dark, and handsome is too?
He waits until he has both of our attention before he asks, “Can I get you ladies a drink?”
I crack a grin and snort, Megan holds up both of our cups at the same time and says, “We already have drinks.”
Undeterred by her response he continues, “Can I get you another?”
I can’t help myself, I snort again and reply, “The refills are free. You don’t remember me, do you?”
He gives me a perplexed look, studying my face for a moment and then shakes his head.
“We’ve met? Shit, we didn’t sleep together did we?”
I scrunch my face in an amused grimace.
“Really? Do you make it a habit of sleeping with girls and not remembering?”
“Well, no…”
The look on his face is priceless. Poor sweet fool .
I’m about to give him a break and explain, when the man of my dreams walks back into my life.
The heavens open, tiny naked angels sing as I stare at the man I know would rock my world if he was so inclined.
Fuck me sideways and call me a good girl…
Be cool Kinley. Don’t fuck this up. This is our chance.
I get hot, bothered, and panicky just looking at him.
“Cam, what are you doing?” Donovan walks up behind Cam. Before he can answer I take a verbal leap of faith and answer for him.
“Oh, the usual, hitting on random women.”
Donovan’s focus hones in on me and instant recognition crosses his face, he cracks a smile, “Hey!This is a nice surprise.”
“Wait, you know her, too?” Cam interrupts, he has a look of utter confusion on his face.
Donovan looks at him incredulously, “So do you, dumbass. You tried to hit on her last night when we stopped at a gas station, and you were shitfaced drunk.”
While Donovan is explaining the situation to Cam, Megan whispers, “Is that the guy?”
I grin and nod; Megan fans herself with her hand and mouths, “Hot.” She puts her hand down right as Donovan and Cam turn their attention back on us. Camden looks at me, “I’m really sorry, I feel like an ass now.”
“Don’t be sorry; I actually found it really amusing. You know, women like to be hit on, you just need to get better moves, and might want to stay sober while you’re trying to do it.”
He gives a sheepish shrug; the poor guy looks like a whipped puppy. “Is there anything I can do to make up for being a dumbass?”
“Well, it’s always nice to get to know new people, but I think you can make it up to me by never using cheesy pick up lines on unsuspecting women ever again.”
Cam grins and Donovan chuckles, “She let you off easy man.”
I see that they are about to return to their table and desperately try to think of something to make them stay.Megan is one step ahead of me and takes over. “Would you guys like to join us for breakfast?”
A look of disappointment crosses Donovan’s face.
“We actually just finished. I’m on my way to pay.”
Megan, being the ultimate wing-woman responds. “Well, what are you guys doing tonight? We are going to throw some steaks on the grill; it won’t be too hard to make a few extra…”
Both of their eyes brighten with interest. Cam looks at Donovan as if he is a child that really wants his parents to say yes. “Don’t really have anything planned. I’m sure Brent and Aiden would be up for doing that too,” Donovan answers.
Fuck yes! That’s my girl! We smile up at them as Megan replies. “The more the merrier. You can bring the beer.”
They both grin. “That sounds reasonable,” Cam says.
“Oh, and Kinley is a great cook, hope you guys have a sweet tooth…since she will probably make something for dessert and stuff to go with the steaks,” Megan throws in for good measure.
“Well, we are all suckers for good food. What time?” Donovan asks.
“How about seven?” I ask. I can’t let Megan do all the work.
Donovan takes me in and nods. He moves closer to me as the conversation between him and Megan progresses.
I catch a whiff of his cologne, hints of woodsy citrus filter into my nose.
Gosh, he even smells good, too! His gaze is wholly focused on me, his eyes are such an interesting shade of blue, like the color was plucked straight from a crystalline lake.
“Seven sounds great. We will be sure to be there.” His lips move but his answer doesn’t register quick enough for me to answer. Yet again, Megan has my back.
“Great, ok, so you guys are going to need to know how to get to my place…which one of you is better at remembering directions?” Megan asks.
“That would be Donovan,” Cam points out.
Megan describes to Donovan how to get to her place and even draws him a map on a napkin just in case he has any issues. She also puts my number down; when I spy that, Megan gives me a wink.
While Megan continues to give Donovan directions, he casually places his hand on the back of my booth and I’m hyper aware of how close his hand is to touching the nape of my neck.
This man has no right to be this distracting.
I need to focus on anything else before I make a dumb decision.
Desperate to find something to steal my attention from the possibility of Donovan brushing his fingers on my neck, I shift my focus to Cam and talk to him, hoping that will do the trick.
“So, what have you guys been doing up here?”
“Oh, just doing some hiking and fishing. Donovan has a cabin that we stay in.”
Interesting, I wonder which one.
“So you’re just having a guy’s weekend?”
He grins at me, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”
“So, since you are bringing the beers, I’m going to give you a fair warning, you will be judged heavily on your beer selection. If it sucks, we might decide not to feed you.”
“What do you take us for—redneck frat boys?”
That makes me laugh. “Hey, fair warning, so choose wisely.”
Megan, having finished giving directions to Donovan, seconds me.
“Yes, please don’t bring crappy beer, or I might accidentally burn your steak.” She follows that up with a wink.
Donovan and Cam laugh and Donovan says, “Don’t worry, we will bring you good beer. It’s the least we can do since you are gonna feed us.”
His grin melts my panties. Good lord I feel like I’m in a cheesy rom com. Really, get your shit together Kinley.
“Well ladies we will let you get back to your food. I’m sure Aiden and Brent are wondering what happened to us. We will see you tonight.”
At that last part he looks directly at me and gives me a smoldering grin.
I get instant warm and fuzzy feelings from that look; I feel like one of my giddy high school students.
Hold it together Kinley, do not go gaga like a teenager over their crush.
The guys turn and walk away, and all I can do is watch them.
They round a corner and are out of sight when I turn to see Megan grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“You can thank me anytime for my quick thinking.”
“Megan…I absolutely love you!”
“I know.”
Megan and I finish our food and begin brainstorming what to make to go with the steaks tonight. We are going to need a lot of food; those guys look like they can eat.
Before heading back we stop at the local grocery store and get ingredients for the feast we are planning.
What can I say, we like to plan parties, and we love to cook, especially for other people.
As soon as we walk in, we divide and conquer.
Megan heads off to go look at the butcher’s case and I go straight to the produce section.
We are women on a mission to capture men’s hearts through their stomachs.
I decide not to go too fancy since I don’t know what these men like or dislike when it comes to food.
They look like they would all have a sweet tooth, giving me the great idea to make a berry cobbler for dessert.
A pasta salad will go great with Megan’s steaks, so I grab some veggies to go with it.
As I’m loading up my cart with ingredients, my skin pebbles as a chill runs up my spine.
I straighten. Someone is watching me. My stomach clenches and I swallow the lump in my throat, dread blankets over me.
I whip around, but there’s only a woman and her two young children.
No one is there. Ugh, Kinley, get it together.
You’re just excited and still hungover, your mind is making shit up.
I shake it off and get back to shopping, but the unease still lingers.
Megan finds me in the baking section of the store.She’s grinning from ear to ear as if she has accomplished something extraordinary.
“What are you grinning about?” I ask her.
“Oh, I just got eight huge, beautiful steaks from that stingy butcher for three bucks a pound!”
“How the hell did you manage that? Megan, did you show that man your tits?”
Megan gasps in outrage. “Fuck off, I would never!”
That makes me cackle. ”Well, that price is a steal. You had to have offered him something.”
“Kinley, you have no faith! I did nothing of the sort.”
Megan scoffs at me primly. As if Megan knows I’m going to keep probing to figure out how she got such a good deal, she hurriedly changes the subject.
“So, what are all the fruits and veggies for?”
I arch my brow at her as if to say, “I’m not done with you yet,” because I have been trying to figure out how to swindle that crazy old butcher into a deal ever since I started visiting Megan here.
However, I go along with the change in subject because I’m anxious to get her opinion on the food choices.
“Ok so, the fruit is for a cobbler, and the veggies are for a pasta salad. Do you think those will be good?”
“Yum, cobbler and your pasta salad sound amazing. Just make sure you make enough so I can have left-overs, please. What else do you need to get?”
“Ummmm, I think I have everything for the cobbler except the ice cream, and I need to get the pasta and the ingredients for the dressing. And that should be it…oh, and we can’t forget wine. Since we finished off your last bottles, I’m gonna need some while we cook.”
Megan grins at me.
“Don’t forget the guys are bringing beer, but I will go grab a few bottles for the rest of the weekend. You get what you need and we’ll meet back at the front. Anything specific you want?”
“Oh yeah, um, get that really good Moscato that you got last time for funsies, please, and maybe a good red to go with the steaks.”
“Ok, I will meet you at the front in a little bit.” Megan walks off towards the wine, and I continue getting the rest of the ingredients.
We meet at the front of the store a little while later.
Megan is loaded down with wine bottles and my cart is bursting with all the necessary ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
I also made sure to grab some extra stuff for breakfast. We hurry and pay for everything, get the cute bag boy to help load up the car, since it started to rain again, and we head back to Megan’s.