Page 131 of Ripped & Shipped
“Okay. Yeah,” I agree.
“This is so cool,” Duke says, rubbing his hands.
I shoot him a look. He calms down, but he still wags his eyebrows once. If Ella Mae weren’t being hassled, this actually would be totally cool. The three of us haven’t done anything like this in years. It feels like old times.
Two days later, Aiden, Duke, and I pull into the Big Boy parking lot in Aiden’s family vehicle. Nothing that would identify me can be involved in this meeting, so I left my truck in Bordeaux and Aiden drove. Of course, this Beefy guy’s seen me online in the photos. If he scrolls back through some of Ella Mae’s reels, he’ll hear her use my name, but I don’t know if he’s got the sense of a ground squirrel, so he may not think to track me down.
I’m prepared to take this to authorities if things get worse. The reality is, most online harassment cases get ignored or disregarded. Nothing of consequence happens unless the harassment escalates to some type of real-life threat. And I’m not willing to sit by and watch that happen to Ella Mae.
“You ready?” Aiden asks, looking over at me.
“Yeah. As ready as I’ll be. I’m more than ready to send this guy a message.”
“Oh yeah, baby. We’re sending him a message alright,” Duke says from the back seat.
“Don’t make me regret bringing you,” I tell him.
“Moi? Never. You are going to be thanking your lucky stars I was here. Trust.”
I look over at Aiden. We share a knowing look.
“Okay. Showtime,” Aiden says.
We get out of Aiden’s minivan. Yeah. Minivan. We’re cool like that. Out on a stealth mission with goldfish crackers scattered in the back seat. We’re three big dudes, exiting a mom-van at a Frisch’s Big Boy. Nothing says,Your military days are over,like this moment.
I walk around to Duke and Aiden’s side of the car and—no kidding—Duke is sipping out of a juice box.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“What?”
“Where did you even get that?”
“Aiden had it in the pocket on the door for me. Like a snack for the ride out here.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Aiden says. “But Em puts those in the doors for the kids on long trips. I think that was Paisley’s.”
Duke looks down at the juice box, back up at Aiden, and shrugs. Then he puts that tiny straw back in his mouth and slurps the rest of the juice until it makes that obnoxious noise from him sucking air at the end.
I shake my head and walk ahead of Duke and Aiden, asking over my shoulder, “Do you both remember what he looks like?”
“Yeah. You showed us the picture at least ten times,” Duke says.
I walk into the restaurant, sizing up the whole situation. I make note of where people are sitting, and check to see if Beefy is here.
His real name is Raymond. He told us that when he sent the photo of himself lifting weights. What a dipstick. Of course, he thought he was sending all that to Ella Mae.
I’m looking around when Amber greets me.
She smiles eagerly and says, “Hey, Chris! I haven’t seen you in so long.”
Aiden and Duke exchange a glance.
I haven’t come here since that night with Ella Mae. I’m not sure why.
“I’m here with friends, Amber. We’re expecting a fourth to join us.”
“Right this way,” she says, grabbing four menus and making sure to exaggerate her hip movements as she walks.
