Page 35 of Grump Hard
“Will do,” I say, with a grin. “We really are amazing at teamwork, aren’t we?”
“Scarily good,” he says with a wink. “At least scary for our enemies…”
I laugh as I start through the press of bodies toward the bar, soaring high on the wings of anticipation, only for my spirits to curdle as I see who’s working tonight.
Ugh, Kevin.
I never should have agreed to that date.
Candy always says not to date where you eat, and I spend way too much time at the pub to be on the outs with the horny bartender who tried to hump me at a music festival this fall.
Seriously, though. What kind of man thinks it’s okay to hump a woman on a first date? In broad daylight?
Even a discreet hump in a dark club after several drinks is borderline pathetic at our age. If we were in high school or college, maybe I could chalk it up to raging teenage hormones and move on, but a man in his early thirties should be beyond such things.
Luke would never.
But then Luke is clearly a superior species of male to this creature with gelled brown hair sticking up all over his head and muscles straining the seams of his too-tight sweater.
Still, at least our disastrous date has ensured Kevin notices me the instant I step up to the back of the line surrounding the bar.
He lifts an arm, scowling at the chatty skiers in front of me as he motions me forward. “Friend of the bar, incoming. Move over, guys. We’ve got to get this cutie a drink.”
The skiers part for me, sparing me only a quick glance before returning to their animated conversation about which musical is going to sweep the Tonys, reminding me again why I love gay men. It’s so nice to move through a crowd of guys and not feel like a piece of meat.
Weirdly, however, even Kevin keeps his eyes on my face, for once.
“Hey, Holly, happy holidays,” he booms in his signature too-loud voice. “What’ll you have?”
“Happy holidays to you, too,” I say as I slide Luke’s card onto the counter. “I’d like to start a tab, please.” I place the order, carefully watching Kevin’s expression for signs of surprise or annoyance when it becomes clear I’m ordering for two.
But he only types the order into the computer, and hollers—“Prep two Olds! On the rocks!”—to the barback behind him, then returns his focus to me with a grin. “So, hot date?”
“Not sure yet. Maybe.” I shrug, still not sure what’s going on here.
Kevin was still pestering me for a second date just three weeks ago, so…
His smile widens. “Sweet. I was hoping you’d find someone great. Emmie and I are back together. I kept trying to move on, but….when it’s real, it’s real, I guess. Right?”
Tension easing from my shoulders, I nod. “Totally! And you and Emmie are great together.”
Emmie is actually a pain in the ass, who has never met a social media battle she wouldn’t jump in the middle of and start swinging, loudly typing her fringe opinions in all caps for the world to see. But hey! That probably makes her perfect for Kevin.
She won’t take any shit—or humping in public—from him, that’s for sure.
“Good luck,” Kevin says, pushing the now-finished drinks across the bar. “Your food should be out in thirty to forty. Hope this guy treats you right.”
“He will,” I say, loving that there’s truly no doubt in my mind about that.
Luke was very decent to me, even when in the midst of being blackmailed. Now that he’s here of his own free will, on a date he initiated…
Well, I’m not surprised when he stands as soon as he sees me coming, taking the drinks and setting them down at the small table he found, before pulling out my chair.
“So, tell me everything,” I say, once we’re settled and have toasted to our victory and a great night ahead.
He arches a brow. “Everything?”
“Yeah, everything. I need to get caught up on the Luke Ratcliffe story from age ten to when you rolled into town, intent on stealing the Captain’s peg leg. What were you doing all those years? Where did you go to university? Where do you live in Manhattan? Have you ever been to Fiji? I really want to go to Fiji, but I’ve never met anyone who’s been there in real life.”
