Page 57 of Hutch
“So no late night chats, huh?”
“Nope.”
“Fine. You have classes early tomorrow?”
“No. I don’t have class until one. It’s my lab day.”
“How about I take you to breakfast then? My treat.”
“I’m sleeping in tomorrow.”
“I have practice in the morning and a lab tomorrow later in the day. I was thinking we could go get breakfast at around ten or eleven. You get to sleep in and I get breakfast before class.”
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to be your friend?”
My eyes narrow. “That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
“Fine, but I don’t want you to pay for my food.”
“Fine, but I will pick you up.”
“Fine.”
He gives me a cheeky grin and waltzes away toward the large group of guys who are probably all hockey players. They laugh when he sits down and he just shakes his head. Several girlsapproach the table and try to get his attention. He looks up, smiles, and then goes back to talking to his friends. Undeterred, one of them tries to sit in his lap. He stops talking, says something, and then ignores her.
Two of the other guys offer them seats and they slide over to them, taking laps and the other available space in the booth. Joseph would have offered his own lap. I found out about that after we broke up, but when we were dating and I was working, he was always free with his attention. That hurt a lot when I found out.
Shaking my head, I turn back to the chore of placing the full shakers back out onto the tables. Hutch is different than the guys I’m used to. Granted, the guys I knew were asshole jocks who thought they were God’s gift. I grew up with that and didn’t realize how fucked it was until I got fucked over by someone who professed their love for me then cheated repeatedly. The cheating I didn’t know about until after, but it made me look at the people I grew up with in a whole new light. Not only that, but the culture itself. Its why I’m determined not to fall back into that trap again.
Even if the guy doesn’t seem anything like the boys I grew up with.
I can hear Nana telling me not to judge everyone by one bad apple. I’m just not ready to hear it yet.
Glancing back toward Hutch’s table, I shake my head again. I’m too tired to deal with these kinds of thoughts. Best to get this list started so we won’t have to be here long after close.
Ignoring him for the minute, I set about the list of closing chores. I can deal with him tomorrow.
CHAPTER 16
Hutch
Honestly,I’m lucky she agreed to go to breakfast with me. She completely shut down when she started to say something about her ex, Joseph. The name leaves a sour taste in my mouth simply because of how it affected her. Christa said it wasn’t her story to tell, but it wasn’t a good one. One day, I’ll get Daisy to tell me about him and why he put that look in her eyes. It was haunted. I want to understand the pain there. To make it better if I can.
And that starts with me being her friend. I texted her good morning as soon as I woke up. I knew she’d be passed out since it was four in the morning, but I’m determined to be the first person she speaks to every day. I made my mind up last night and texted her good night as well. I’m going to start scouring the internet for funny memes I can send her too. I want her to get used to seeing me in her DM’s. I’m going to wear down those walls of hers with sheer kindness and goofy, silly things.
As I pull into her driveway, two of the baseball guys are just coming out. They throw their hands up when they see me, but otherwise ignore me as they get in their cars, probably headedto class. They’re good guys at least. I know Jenny hosts a lot of parties here, but the guys who have girlfriends that live here tend to make sure people keep their shit together and don’t harass the women. I can’t stand that shit. Drunk or not, be respectful.
I get out and go in the house. It’s not locked, but then it rarely is during the day. She’s not in the living room, so I swing my attention to the kitchen where she’s sitting at the island yawning with a cup of coffee in front of her. It’s already 10:30. Did she just get up?
“Heya sleepy head. You ready to go eat?”
She glances at me and then at her coffee. “I just poured this. Didn’t think you’d be here until eleven.”
I shrug. “I thought we’d get a jump on it since you have class at one. You got your stuff ready? I can drop you at your building when we’re done.”
