Totally confident.
She was also a total badass and killing it at life in every aspect.
“You just missed J, cuz. My boy was up here yesterday, helping me move.” I almost lost my shit at Pri’s side-eye when I mentioned Juanpa.
“Why would I care where Juan Pablo is, Nesto? You know I don’t mess with fuckboys.”
I grinned at her and decided not to push since she could most definitely kick my ass. I turned so I could say hello to Easton, who was looking at us with an amused expression. When I got to him he stood up and we did the compulsory dude backslap thing.
“Ernesto, good to see you, man! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming up? Pri said you’re planning to be here for a while.”
I sat down on the stool between him and Pri, running my hand over my fade. I smiled at Pri, who looked like she’d forgiven me for mentioning her sworn enemy, before replying to Easton.
“I let my mom convince me to try and get the truck going here. She said the food truck scene was starting to blow up and I should bring OuNYe up for a while, since there wasn’t really any Caribbean food around.” I grimaced a bit, still feeling out of sorts about my decision to come here. “I did a bit of research and decided to give it a few months. If I crash and burn, I’ll fuck off back to the city?—”
Just then Priscilla spread her arms out and yelled.
“Wait let me introduce you first!”
She waved her hand between me and the bartender.
“Nesto, this is my friend Marty, he’s the best bartender-slash-hair stylist-slash-aspiring-kindergarten-teacher in Ithaca. Marty, this is my cousin Ernesto, the man who is about to set the Ithaca food truck scene on fire.”
The three of us laughed at Pri’s introductions and I extended my hand to Marty. “Nice to meet you. So, what do you recommend?”
I pointed at the cocktail menu on the wall behind the bar.
“I’m thinking about the Beetarita.”
Marty nodded in encouragement. “It’s really good, the beet syrup is homemade and the tequila we use is really nice.”
“Sounds good, man. Hook me up.”
Easton raised his glass at Marty, and the bartender took it with a wink. I wondered if there was anything going on between them.
Easton was a very handsome man, a bit older than me, late thirties, but he looked like the cover of a Ralph Lauren catalog. Perfect bone structure, jet black hair and green eyes, with a body like whoa. He was also filthy rich. Pri told me his family almost disowned him when he decided to join the DA’s office after law school instead of going in on the family business. Not to mention, coming out publicly the first day on the job. The guy was legit.
Pri looked at me and smiled like she knew the kind of math I was doing. I tipped my chin at her and pulled her stool a little closer so we could talk.
“It’s so good to see you, cuz.”
She squeezed my knee as she sipped her wine, and in that moment, I felt more settled than I had all day.
We all sat there quietly watching Marty mix my drink, which looked very much like beet juice. When he was done he slid the glass over and grinned at the look on my face. “I promise it’ll be delicious.”
“Okay, Imma trust you on this one Marty.”
I lifted it up to get a closer look then tipped it in Pri and Easton’s direction.
“Here’s to life-saving texts from your favorite cousin.”
Pri laughed and clinked my drink with her wineglass.
“I was hard up when you texted, was just going to buy a six-pack and drink alone in the studio I’m subletting.”
She gave me a sympathetic look. “I got your back. So, tell us how things are going. I know how much you love talking about yourself.”
“I do not,” I said, feigning offense. Then I turned to Easton who was laughing at Pri’s antics. “Like I was saying, I’m just trying things out here for a bit. It’s going pretty well so far. I have a few potentially steady gigs. Ergos, the new B&B in town, wants me to park there on Friday nights.”
