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His face went from hopeful to angry. “How ‘bout you mind your own business?”
Nicole came up and stood in between Briana and Kent. “Is everything okay here, Bree?” she asked, looking pointedly at Kent.
Before Briana could answer, Kent reached up and snagged Nicole by her waist, pulling her into his side and squeezing her tightly.
“See, Bree? I don’t need you, either. There are other girls who are more than happy to take your place.” Kent leaned forward and tried to kiss Nicole, grabbing her bottom and trying to hold her to him.
She smacked him and pulled away. “Stop it, Kent. Don’t act like this,” Nicole pleaded.
“C’mon, Nic, don’tchyawanna hang out with me?” He gave her a bleary smile and tried to give her a pinch.
Her face flashed with hurt and embarrassment before turning to anger. “I’m not going to be one of your rebound girls, Kent.”
Then she turned and stormed off into the back of the restaurant.
Briana looked at Kent, who stared after Nicole with a confused look on his face.
“I wasn’t trying to make her mad,” he said.
Briana turned as Rich walked up beside them.
“Why don’t I give you a ride home, Bro?” he asked Kent, putting his hand on the other man’s shoulder.
Kent looked up at Rich and let him help him up off of the stool. “Hey, Rich. You don’t thi
nk Nic’s mad at me, do ya? I was just messin’ around.”
Rich grunted under the weight of the larger man and responded, “Nah, man. I’m sure she’s okay. Let’s get you home.”
“Thanks, Richie,” Briana said as they walked towards the exit.
“No problem, Bree,” Rich responded with a wink.
Roni came up and put her hand on Briana’s arm before Briana could walk into the kitchen.
“Don’t take it personally, Bree,” Roni implored. “It’s not just you that has him upset, so please don’t feel bad. There’s some stuff going on with our parents, and Kent hasn’t gotten any of the job offers that he was hoping for…all of that on top of what he sees as your rejection has just become too much for him. He’s going to be fine, he always is. He’s always been the strong one in our family. He just needs a little time to pull himself together.”
“Okay, Roni. Thanks” Briana said, instinctively pulling the other girl in for a quick hug. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Sure,” Roni said with a smile, then went back to the hostess stand to wait for the dinner rush to start.
Briana went back to check on Nicole before getting the kitchen set up the way she liked it. Nicole said that she was fine, that Kent had just surprised her, but Briana could tell by the look on Nicole’s face that there was more to it than that. It was obvious that Nicole didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so Briana didn’t press her.
Once the dinner rush started, she was happy to be in the weeds. With all of the drama going on recently, it was nice to just cook and not have to think about anything..
Kara came in and out with Nicole, explaining the process of putting in the order, checking back on it and sometimes getting the condiments ready. Nicole seemed a little frazzled, but Briana was sure it was just first night jitters.
When it was time for her break, Briana went out on the floor to see how things were going. Roni was working her way through the crowd with a table of four, Kara and Nicole were waiting on a group of rowdy guys, and Briana noticed Rich and Colin sitting at the bar.
She went up behind Rich, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek.
He turned around with a grin and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her soundly on the mouth.
“Hey,” Colin objected. “Get your hands off my girl.”
Briana giggled and smacked her lips in an exaggerated way as she kissed Rich back. “Thanks for taking Kent home,” she said, turning serious for a moment. “I really appreciate it.”
“Sure thing,” he replied with a wink, letting her off of his lap and turning to Colin. “Your girl?”
