Grams and Grandpa left shortly after, Grandpa being in a much better mood than when they had first showed up. I’m sure that had something to do with my hotshot…whatever he was. As soon as the place cleared out for the night, I was seriously going to have to corner him. Was that whole thing an act with my grandparents or had he really been telling the truth?
I didn’t have time to give it much thought as I hustled from table to table. “Score, our favorite waitress!” I looked up to see Nash, Nick, and Steve sitting at one of my tables, all smiling wide at me. What was this, everyone come in and visit Della night?
“Hey guys,” I replied as I set their silverware down on the table. “What brings you in tonight?”
“Just a little celebration,” Nick chimed in, giving me a sly smile as I set their menus down.
“Yeah,” Steve added. “Our dude here finally dropped Mariah. Can you believe it?”
I looked at Nash who seemed to be happy even though his smile was a little tight. I’m sure breaking off any relationship after three years had to be difficult no matter how good or bad it was. “Congrats are in order, I guess. Can I get you guys a pitcher of beer then?”
They all nodded enthusiastically, so I filled up a pitcher stopping to grab three glasses on my way back. “Here, we go.” I gave them a smile and then took their orders. Nash grabbed onto my elbow before I could turn away and quickly stood up to whisper in my ear. “Could we talk later when you have a minute?” I saw Nick and Steve eyeing us as he talked to me quietly, they were like two girls trying to get in on the gossip. “Alone,” he added.
“Um, sure.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat, only guessing at what exactly he wanted to talk about. This was going to be awkward. “That shouldn’t be a problem.” I swung around to head back into the kitchen, only to run into Justin’s chest.
“Whoa, babe, I got you,” he said, wrapping both arms around my waist. “If you wanted to dance, you just had to ask.” I giggled as he swayed my hips back and forth to the rock and roll music that was always playing in here. He dropped his lips to my forehead before pulling away and swatting me on the ass. “Get back to work now.”
I caught Nash’s eyes as I punched in my order, and I could tell that he was glaring at me. He had asked me constantly about mine and Justin’s relationship. I had told him that it was nothing serious, but really it wasn’t any of his concern.
By the time I handed the guys their check, Nash had said about two words to me. I didn’t know what else to say, but I wasn’t sorry for being involved with Justin. I hadn’t wanted to get involved with him while he had a girlfriend, but now that he didn’t have one, didn’t mean I was just going to drop Justin for him. His table was empty by the time I came back out to clear their plates. I guess that alone time he wanted to have, wasn’t a priority anymore.
After the restaurant was cleared out for the night, it was just Justin and I. I sat on the countertop, counting my tips and munching on a basket of fries as he finished his final cleanup. For some reason, Brian trusted him to close out the restaurant on the nights he worked. I guess he was a little more responsible than I thought.
“You know, it’s really hard to get any work done when you’re up there like that.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him like I had no clue what he was talking about and tucked my tips away.
“Sorry, from now on I’ll wear a cloak so I won’t distract you,” I answered, crossing my legs. “So what was that all about earlier?”
“What exactly?” He asked while lifting up my feet to wipe off the bar stool.
“Hmm.” I tilted my head at him, trying to decide what to even start with. “Well for starters, the whole pissing on my leg thing when Nash showed up.” He stopped to give me a guilty look like I had just caught him red handed in the cookie jar.
“You caught onto that, huh?”
I stared back at him, rolling my eyes. “I’m a woman, we catch everything.”
“Trust me, I know that you’re a woman.” His handed landed on my bare thigh, just teasing the hem of my skirt before dropping back down. “I guess I felt a little…jealous when I saw you out there with him. Figured I’d stake my claim.”
“Oh, really? So now you’ve turned into a caveman all of a sudden. What’s next, are you going to throw me over your shoulder and drag me back to your cave?”
“Don’t tempt me,” he simply replied before untying his apron and throwing it into the dirty clothes pile. I shook my head at him and pulled off his beanie he had thrown back on as he came to stand in between my legs.
“And with my grandparents? Are you really graduating with your Criminal Justice degree?”
“Uh, yeah. Is that so hard to believe?” His brows rose up as he questioned me.
“Well…yeah, it kind of is. I thought cops were supposed to be serious, focused on the job at hand. Not tattooed up and chasing girls all over campus. Do you really think you can handle that?”