Page 18 of Revelry
I rolled my eyes. I heard that a lot but I was fine, I honestly didn’t know how to have fun so you couldn’t miss what you’d never had. What even was fun anyway as an adult with bills to pay and two jobs to hold down?
“Hey Tony, how’s business?” I asked, looking around and seeing a packed restaurant, just like usual.
“It’s good. These kids though, they’re always filming their TikToks and never pay attention or talk to each other.” He shook his head, and I followed his gaze to a table where the teens were glued to their phones. I wasn’t a fan. I didn’t have social media. My phone was for work and emergencies.
“Are they at least advertising where they are?” I asked.
Tony scoffed. “No! The restaurant is always in the background but the name is covered.” He gestured to a seat at the counter. “Please, sit.”
Not much had changed about Tony’s over the years except he’d added a counter by the kitchen with three swivel chairs for people who wanted to eat quickly without socializing then go. My favorite kind of meal.
It may or may not have been me who bombarded the suggestion box with that idea.
I talked to Tony while he fixed my usual pizza, just about work and business. We didn’t get too personal. We hadn’t since that night years ago when we’d awkwardly hugged and I’d cried on him. I cringed whenever I thought about it.
I was halfway through the pizza, munching on a burnt corner which tasted delicious, when Tony asked the dreaded question. “How come you never bring a girl here?”
He asked me this a lot and I always deflected. “How do you know I wouldn’t bring a guy here?”
Tony scoffed, gesturing with a pizza cutter. “You can bring whoever you like here as long as you bringsomeone.”
I shook my head and bit into another slice, the cheese stringing perfectly. God, cheese was good. I loved anything dairy. “Why are you so interested in my social life, old man?”
He quirked a bushy salt and pepper brow at me. “I didn’t realize you had one.”
“Touché. You’re my social life,” I quipped, and he snorted. He thought I was joking but I wasn’t. I spoke to people all the time, Kat, Duke, Harriet and Tony. But I didn’t havefriends,and I liked it like that.
“That’s what worries me,” he said, turning back to the oven, taking out the big pizza peel and swapping the pizzas over. I glanced over my shoulder, looking at the booths of kids laughing and joking, couples kissing.
I wasn’t missing out.
I’m sure I wasn’t.
“As long as you’re happy Tate,” Tony said, turning back to me and folding his arms over his chest.
“I am,” I replied, not as confident as I would have been ten minutes ago.
“Then that’s all that matters. Lord knows you’ve been through enough; happiness is the least you’re owed.”
Chapter Five
Gertie
“Can you two stop, I’m gonna vomit!” I snapped, instantly feeling awful.
Kat slid off Jack’s lap and into her own chair at the Cartwright’s kitchen table, then leaned across and wiped her smeared lipstick off his mouth.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed. “I haven’t had coffee yet and I’m stressed.”
“Why are you stressed, Gertie?” Maddy asked.
“I’m still waiting to hear about this divorce and Gary is dragging his heels. I filed a couple of months ago before I came back here.” I sat down at the table with a plate of bacon and eggs, coffee in hand.
Maddy rubbed my back. “Not long, Gertie, I promise. Then you’ll be free and back on the market, which is a yay for me!” she cheered.
I laughed. “I’m not going out dating with you, I have sworn off men. Forever.”
“Surely notforever?” Jack asked me, biting into bacon and resting his arm on the back of Kat’s chair, twirling a finger through the ends of her hair. My heart stuttered at the simplicity of the gesture, the affection in it. Gary hadn’t been that affectionate. I’d thought I hadn’t minded but after a while I did. I wanted someone who couldn’t bear the thought of not touching me. I wanted someone’s priority to be me, not their stocks or bonds or whatever. But that just wasn’t out there for me.
