Page 4 of Hunt for the Roses
Kate is the first one to speak as she slides her beer to me. “Dane, you must try this new IPA they have on tap.”
I gratefully take a sip of her IPA and raise my eyebrows as if I’m thoroughly impressed. “Shit, that’s good.”
“Right?!” Kate exclaims.
“Okay, you literally just started liking IPAs. Now you think you’re an expert or something,” Trent cuts in.
Kate plasters a smug grin on her face as she looks at Trent. “I’m an expert in a lot of things. Too bad you’ll never find out what some of those things are.”
Narrowing my eyes with a smile, I chime in. “So, do you guys need a minute? Or are you going to go at it like rabbits in front of us?”
“Dane!” Aria cuts in as if she’s offended.
Kate narrows her eyes back to me. “Ugh, seriously Dane, you’re such an idiot.”
“Well, if Trent isn’t gonna bite, I will,” I say and throw her a wink.
Kate scrunches her face. “With the amount of girls you hook up with? No thanks.”
“You’d love it,” I say, and then quickly throw her a kiss with my lips.
Kate rolls her eyes.
“Okay anyway! I have great news,” Aria interrupts. “My dad is opening his own restaurant here in Crestside. It’s going to be located in Dawson’s Marina. Bistro Eighty-Six.”
“Eyyyy!” Kate, Trent, and I all praise in unison as all of us at the table raise our glasses.
Kyle throws his arm around Aria as she nuzzles into his side, and then he’s the next one to speak. “And Aria just finished her last professional development class to get her salary advancement.”
“Eyyyy!” Kate, Trent, and I all exclaim.
“Well, I won’t be getting my salary advancement until the fall, but my goal was to finish by the beginning of June, and here we are,” Aria says with a wide smile.
“That’s amazing, Ari. You’ve worked so hard, you deserve this,” Kate says.
I take another sip of my beer before interjecting my usual joke. “Well, now you have no lame excuse to not come out with us Friday or Saturday nights.”
“I resent that. My excuses were always valid,” Aria challenges.
I shake my head and give her an accusatory look. “Not when you could have chosen to save the school work for a weeknight.”
Kyle chimes in next. “Hey, if the woman I love is neurotic about schoolwork and I accept it, you all have to accept it. It’s just who she is.”
Playing along, Aria raises both palms outward. “It’s just who I am. Take it or leave it, guys.”
I chuckle as I bring the glass of beer to my lips when Trent turns to me. “So, Dane, care to share some juicy details from last night? You dipped out on us pretty early.”
“Ooooo,” Aria and Kate say at the same time, their eyes lighting up with curiosity. As much as they’ll deny it, the girls thrive on gossip and drama. Aria and Kate never want to be a part of it, but if it has nothing to do with them, they think it’s fair game.
Girls.
I lift my backwards snapback and run my fingers through my dark locks as I respond. “I may or may not have brought home the knockout blonde.”
“Eyyyy!” Kyle and Trent say in unison as they clink glasses with me.
Rolling her eyes, Kate looks at Aria. “Men.”
Aria shrugs with a defeated expression. “But we love ‘em.”
