Page 18 of Lucky Mother Pucker

Her eyes, which are big with surprise, narrow at me. She frowns down at the small notepad in her hand. “What do you want to eat?”

An uneasy feeling swoops through me. Guilt mixed with anger. At myself for how I got her fired.

“You work here?” I ask.

She lifts her eyebrow at me, her expression incredulous. “Nope. I just stole a uniform because I love cosplaying as a diner waitress.”

There’s a tick at the back of my throat. The urge to laugh. I swallow it back. That was funny, but I don’t think she’d like it if I laughed right now.

I clear my throat. “It’s cool you got a job here.”

“Yeah. Super, duper cool,” she mutters at her notepad. “I’ll give you a sec to look at the menu.”

“No, it’s okay. I know what I want.” That must have been why I saw her here the other day. She was applying for a job. I’m glad she got it. “Could I have the double cheeseburger with fries, please?”

She scribbles on her notepad. “Anything to drink?”

I think about what would piss my dad off the most. “A Coke. And a vanilla milkshake. And could I get a piece of cherry cheesecake for dessert?”

“Wow. Big appetite.” Her tone is still on the edge of sharp, but it’s a little softer too.

I start to smile. “I just came from practice. I’m on the Hollis U men’s hockey team.”

She looks up from her notepad and studies me for a long second. “I should have known. You’re built like a brick shithouse.”

I burst out laughing.

She quirks her eyebrow at me. Not like she’s annoyed. More like amused.

“No one’s ever called me that before.”

“That surprises me, considering how big you are,” she says.

“I’m not that big.”

She tilts her head at me. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’m not. Not compared to some other guys who play hockey. Believe me, I’ve played against plenty of them.”

“Okay, sure, compared to the Jolly Green Giant, you’re small. But next to regular humans like me, you’re huge.”

I grin. “Okay, fair point.”

“I’ll be back with your drinks in a sec.”

She walks off. That tension in my muscles starts to fade. I like this. I like that we’re talking instead of arguing. I like how blunt and sarcastic she is and that she’s teasing me about my size.

I still feel guilty about getting her fired though. But now that she works at the diner, maybe I can make up for it.

I’ll ask her to be my server every time I come here, alone and with the guys. And I’ll be sure to tip her a lot each time we eat here. It won’t erase the fact that I got her fired, but it’s something I can do to help her.

I thank her when she brings me my drinks. I take a long sip of the milkshake, close my eyes, and hum.

“You and that milkshake should get a room,” she says.

I cough and laugh at once. I grab a napkin and wipe my mouth as I watch her walk off. She’s a ballbuster. I kind of like it.

A few minutes later, she drops off my food. My phone buzzes as I eat with another text from my dad, but I ignore it. I’m not letting him ruin this.