Page 31 of The Player in New Zealand
“Any kind of fizz, really. I love the texture of the shaken egg whites.”
“Egg whites?” Tane said, staring at me as we pulled up to a light. “There are egg whites in it?”
“You drank one,” I pointed out.
“I did?”
“The gin fizz I made! With the candied orange? How did you not know this?”
“I drink beers,” he defended.
“You own a bar.”
“Fine, point made. I don’t pay enough attention,” he grumbled, sulking.
“Don’t athletes love eggs? Protein and all that? Rocky Balboa slurping down a glass of raw eggs?”
Tane stuck his tongue out in disgust. “That’s old-school. Now we have protein shakes and supplements instead. Less salmonella.”
“Stop it,” I said, swatting his shoulder. “You didn’t get sick.”
“I know, I know,” he conceded. “I trust you.”
That made me feel warm all over. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Tane tapped the steering wheel with a finger as a comfortable silence settled over us for a moment. “Why don’t we order a non-alc tequila to test out, eh?”
“Deal.”
NINE
“Tane needsto bring a girlfriend to our cousin’s wedding next weekend,” Nina said out of the blue.
There were seven of us in the dining area, working to get ready to open on a Saturday. A few servers were polishing silverware, one was rolling the forks and knives into black napkins, and I was restocking purees.
Most noticeable was Tane, who sat at the bar, going through some paperwork. His head snapped up and he stared at Nina through the mirrors behind the bar. When she didn’t look up from wiping down menus, he spun around in his seat.
“I don’t need a girlfriend.”
“Our cousin’s getting married in a week in Auckland, and it’s kind of a big deal. Tane’s got a plus-one and he really needs to bring a girlfriend.”
“I do not need a girlfriend,” he insisted.
“See, he recently told our mother that he’s been seeing someone to stop her from setting him up. And I know he doesn’t want to admit to lying to her.”
We all glanced at Tane, who flushed. “She keeps trying to set me up with Shivani’s awful niece.”
“And the few times he’s brought ‘dates’ to family events, it has not gone over well. So he can’t bring just anyone.”
Tane emitted a growl. “I’m not interested in a fake girlfriend. No one does that in real life.”
“My brother, whoonce hired an escort to attend an awards ceremony with him,” Nina said, still not looking at him, “could absolutely use a fake date for this wedding.”
“That was one time! And stop talking about me as if I’m not here.”
“I think Claire should go,” Maureen, one of the servers, said, glancing up from the silverware.
“Wait, what?” Tane and I said together.
