Page 29 of Cocky Bastard

“Aussie! Long time, man!” A woman in a striped shirt and wide-leg floral-print jeans with a flamingo bandanna holding back her green hair strolled over to us from between the tables and pulled Austin into a hug. She barely came up to his shoulder. “I thought you’d forgotten us.”

“Fuck that,” Austin said, squeezing her tightly as he grinned. “I could never forget you. Mostly because I dream of this place every time I want a damn burger.”

“Good, good,” she said as she reached up to tap his cheek fondly. “I’ve taught you well.”

Austin laughed and turned to me. “Kanan, this is Astrid, one of the owners of Balloon Dog, the best fucking burger joint in the world.”

“Hey! Nice to meet you,” Astrid said, shooting me a warm smile. If she recognised me, it didn’t show on her face and it was deliciously refreshing. “Come on in. Aussie said you guys wanted privacy, so I’ve put you at the back. It’s not the most exclusive thing ever, but nobody here is gonna rat you out.” She winked at me and beckoned us to follow her towards a little table at the back of the room, just out of sight of the door and the small window next to it. She put a couple of laminated menus down in front of us and pointed at a chalkboard hung on the far wall. “We’ve got a couple of specials on too. I’ll let you have a look at everything and then I’ll be back. Also, Aussie, Delphi said she’s made a ‘literal fuck ton’ of onion rings today, so we won’t run out. And the fried pickles are back on the menu since you wouldn’t stop whining about me taking them off.”

“I don’t know why you did that in the first place! Those fucking pickles are the tits,” Austin said.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Astrid grinned at him. “Next time I’m gonna take a picture of you with some and use it with that quote for marketing.”

“Do you want me shirtless? I could totally do that. You’d be overrun by horny twinks, but they all want meat in their mouths, so it’ll be good for business.”

“Oh my God,” I said with a laugh, nudging his foot under the table. “I can’t with you.”

“I know. He’s a dick, isn’t he? He’s been like that ever since I met him when we were seven.” Astrid nudged Austin’s shoulder playfully. “But he might have a point… I could definitely use porn to sell burgers. We’ll make you our very own pin-up boy, Aussie.”

“Fuck it, let’s do it! I’ll wear a crop top, some slutty denim shorts, and a cute pair of high-tops. Oh, and some long socks too,” Austin said, seeming far too pleased with himself.

I looked down at the menu and tried not to picture Austin in tiny shorts, a crop top, and knee-high socks bending over with a whipped cream-topped milkshake on a tray like those classic pin-ups. The idea alone was enough to short-circuit my brain and I wasn’t sure I’d survive the reality.

Even if he didn’t get all dressed up for Astrid, I’d have to ask him to get all dressed up for me. Because now he’d mentioned it, I couldn’t go the rest of my life not experiencing Austin like that. He’d look so fucking sexy I’d probably explode.

“What’re you thinking about?” Austin asked as he brushed his hand across the back of mine and I realised Astrid had left us alone to look at everything.

“Definitely not you in slutty shorts,” I said under my breath, trying to focus on the list of drinks on offer. They had milkshakes, another thing I hadn’t had in months. Maybe even years. When I’d been in Underground Dreaming, all our food and drink intake had been carefully monitored and after we’d split up, I’d never really developed the habit of eating whatever I fancied unless someone offered it to me.

“Really?”

“You don’t need to sound so delighted.”

“You know, I’ve got some incredibly inappropriate ones in a drawer at home… They pretty much show off half my ass. Want me to put them on later?”

I glanced up at him and sighed because his grin was ridiculous but I couldn’t help but find it charming. “You’re a bastard.”

“What? Why?”

“For offering to do that when we’re in public,” I hissed, shifting in my seat as I tried to ignore the way my cock had thickened uncomfortably in my jeans.

Austin smirked and leant slightly over the table, hooking his foot around mine underneath it to hold me in place. “Don’t worry, kitten. I’ll take care of you later. I promise.”

“You fucking better,” I grumbled, looking back at the menu as a smile slid across my lips.

“Trust me, I always keep my promises,” he said. “First, I’m going to feed you, and then I’m going to fuck you. It’ll be the perfect night.”

My heart did a strange little flip as he spoke, my insides clenching weirdly. This whole day had already been perfect. Fuck, every time I’d hung out with Austin recently had been perfect. I didn’t think it was possible for our time together to be anything different.

“What’re you thinking?” Austin asked. “I’m definitely getting fried pickles because, as I said, they are the absolute tits. And their barbecue bacon cheeseburger is literally the stuff of dreams, and the onion rings too. Obviously, there has to be fries as well because otherwise what’s the fucking point? Hmmm, I think I’m gonna get a milkshake too—maybe a chocolate one… or strawberry.”

“I think I’m going to get a milkshake too,” I said. “Yeah, I am. The chocolate one. And then…” I huffed out a breath becauseeverything looked so good I didn’t know what to choose. Did I want a beef burger? Or something with fried chicken? Both had options that sounded amazing. “I think I’ll get the barbecue bacon cheeseburger too. With fries and onion rings. And maybe some mac and cheese bites? I’m kinda hungry. You can keep your fried pickles, though.”

“What?” Austin sounded outraged and I snorted as I looked up at him. “What the fuck’s wrong with fried pickles? They’re lush.”

“They’re too vinegary,” I said, pulling a face at the thought of them. “And seriously, why would you choosepicklesas the thing to deep fry? There are so many better options!”

“This is fucking heresy,” Austin said. “And I thought I knew you. What other secrets are you hiding from me, Mr. Pendleberry?”

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