On The Rocks

Shaking my head from those morose thoughts, I tear my gaze away from Hunter and watch as Casey carries over our drinks. We decided to go with Bloody Marys this evening because Brody makes a damn spicy drink, and they are on special tonight.

When Casey takes her seat, we all grab a glass and hold it up for a toast. We always do that every time we have a fresh drink, feeling the need to praise something good in our lives.

“It’s Alyssa’s turn,” I point out.

Smiling, Alyssa says, “To Guiseppe… who is the wizened old, Italian man that handpicked the olives that rest inside of our drinks right now. Thank you, dear friend, for making this drink fantastic.”

“Here, here,” Casey and I shout out, and then knock our glasses against one another while laughing.

“We’re starting to run out of things to toast to,” I say as I set my glass down.

“Speak for yourself,” Alyssa admonishes. “I think Guiseppe was completely deserving of that toast.”

“So, did Brody talk to you about doing his community service at The Haven?” Casey asks Alyssa. “Hunter had mentioned it to him.”

Alyssa’s mouth sets in a firm line. “I stopped by here late last week to grab a sandwich for dinner and asked him about it. He was noncommittal.”

Something about Alyssa’s tone doesn’t sound quite right, and she looks angry. This is something to behold, because it takes a lot to get Alyssa angry. She has the patience of a saint and the disposition of a sweet, fuzzy Golden Retriever.

Casey notices it too and prods her. “You’re holding something back. What happened?”

Alyssa shrugs, bringing a smile to her face to hide her discomfort. “It was nothing.”

“Alyssa,” Casey warns, implying she better cough up the truth or Casey was apt to beat it out of her. Well, maybe hold her down and tickle her, but you didn’t want to get on Casey’s bad side.

“It’s fine. He was just a little… um… rude when I approached him about it.”

Brody rude? That surprises me. While he’s quiet and withdrawn, and not full of the warm and fuzzies, he’s never been rude. Not even prison could do that to him, I’m sure.

“How was he rude?” Casey asks, not disbelieving but interested in hearing more about her brother… the man she was trying to get to know again.

“Maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe I’m too sensitive. But he sort of barked at me that he wasn’t interested.”

“Oh, hell no,” Casey exclaims. “He’s not getting away with that shit, especially when you were just trying to help him. I’ll talk to him—”

Alyssa sticks her arm out and touches Casey’s arm. “No, don’t. If anyone has a right to be that way, it’s Brody. Just leave him be. I’m sure he was having a bad day or something.”

“Who’s having a bad day?” Hunter asks as he sits down.

And just like that, my head starts swimming… because Hunter is sitting at our table. His gaze slides over me briefly before landing on Alyssa, but in just that microsecond, a world of meaning was conveyed. I saw it, but I hope no one else did.

He said, I want to kiss you right now, Gabs, and then I want to take you home and fuck you into tomorrow.

This makes me yearn deeply because even though Hunter wants me to still stay over at night with him, I’m thinking I should go home to my apartment to give him and John some time to catch up with each other.

“Nothing,” Alyssa says quickly, shooting a firm look to Casey to keep her mouth shut. Casey returns a smirk to her but remains silent.