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Carrie did, as did my mother, leaving Zee and I the half booth across from them.
There was such little room that the two of us had to touch from knee to shoulder, as well as him have half his thigh hang off the outside.
Liner, who’d been silent up until this point, pulled up a chair and sat, not caring that he’d forced Zee to get even closer to me to permit him room.
Not that I minded. Having Zee pressed up against me, his arm wrapped around my shoulder pulling me in close, was my version of heaven.
My hand went to his thigh, and my head went to his shoulder, as I stared at my mother staring back at us.
Her eyes went to the scars that lined my left arm to disappear under my shirt, only to move over to Zee’s right arm.
I couldn’t read her face, so it took me a moment to realize that her thoughts weren’t bad like mine always were when I thought about my scars.
“What can I get you three to drink?”
I looked up and smiled at Lucian.
Lucian didn’t smile back.
He never did.
In fact, it was so rare that I’d only ever seen him do it once. The moment that I’d walked out of the hospital, my head held high.
“Hi, Lucian,” I said happily. “I’ll have a Dr. Pepper.”
Zee snorted.
“You, kid?” Lucian turned his gaze toward Zee.
“Water, please, Lucian,” he said. “It’s nice to see you.”
Lucian’s eyes turned toward Liner. “You?”
“You serve beer yet?”
Lucian shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
Liner grinned. “Then I’ll have a beer. Whatever dark you have.”
“I only have light beer because it’s cheaper,” Lucian said. “Sorry.”
Liner grinned. “Then bring me whatever you have.”
Lucian walked away without another word.
“Beer this early?” my mother asked. “Really, Josiah?”
Liner shrugged.
Where he would’ve gotten mad at anybody else for calling him Josiah, his given name, he didn’t get mad at her.
“I’m thirsty and your daughter made me go to a haunted house,” he defended his actions.
My mother turned her eyes toward me. “You stopped at that place that’s about an hour and a half from here?”
I nodded. “Liner screamed like a little girl when he saw somebody.”
“Something,” Liner corrected. “The guy had this knife that looked like swiss cheese.” He shivered. “So many fuckin’ holes.”
“I see that your phobia is still going strong,” Carrie drawled.
Liner shrugged. “It’s not like I can control it.”
That was the entire point of a phobia after all. Irrational and unable to control.
Before I could reply to Liner’s comment, Lucian started to plop down our drinks, going as far as to bring Liner two bottles of beer, and Zee two glasses of water.
He looked at me. “You don’t need any more Dr. Pepper than that. You finish, I’ll bring you a water.”
I rolled my eyes, not bothering to argue with him.
“Now what do you want to eat?”
I looked at my menu-less state and said, “I’ll have a hamburger with cheese and ketchup, extra pickles. I’ll also have a short stack of pancakes.”
Nobody at the table commented on my order, knowing that I was an odd duck.
“You?” he asked Zee.
Zee placed an order for a wheat wrap with turkey and a side of baked chips.
Liner, a man really after my own heart, ordered a short stack of pancakes and a waffle.
Zee rolled his eyes as Lucian walked away to put our orders in.
“A short stack of pancakes and a waffle?” I grinned. “Why have I never thought to order that?”
“Because they’re practically the same thing,” Zee muttered. “And you’re already weird enough.”
Liner snorted and took a swallow of his beer.
“You’re just jealous that I find his order intriguing enough to try it sometime,” I teased, tickling Zee’s ribs.
Zee caught my hand and pressed it flat against his hard thigh, making me grin.
Zee always liked to act like he wasn’t ticklish, but I knew better.
He was so ticklish that he’d throw out wild punches in an attempt to keep me away.
“I’m excited that you decided to come,” my mother said, stealing my attention away from the contemplation of Zee’s thigh. “I was sure you’d say no.”
“I would’ve said no,” I admitted. “But Turner and Zee convinced me that it was okay to come. Apparently, they’ve had two deaths since I’ve been gone, but both of them wanted to be cremated, so I’m not needed as of yet.”
Zee grunted.
“Also, there’s the fact that I made her,” Zee cut in. “Mom, are you going to eat that bacon?”
Carrie pushed her plate toward Zee, and he snatched up the bacon and inhaled it in less than thirty seconds.
“I really need to get a workout or two in today,” he muttered, rubbing his belly.
I eyed his perfectly honed six-pack abs and rolled my eyes.
“You’re annoying.” I paused. “But I agree with you. I need to go run. I was planning to do my long run on Saturday, but now that we’re here for the weekend, I can do that today if you have time.”
