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“Maybe you remember her mom from around town.” Ozzy turned toward her. “What was her name?”
Shay blinked, not expecting that question since she was curious about her father, not her mother. “Naomi Graham. Well, Stewart was her maiden name.”
Teddy pursed his lips and tapped his chin with a finger. “Stewart. Stewart. No, doesn’t sound familiar. Do you have any older siblings I might’ve gone to school with? You look a little younger than moi.”
“No, I’m an only child.”
“Why did you come back to town?”
“My class reunion was last night.”
Teddy’s mouth dropped open. “Girrrrrl, you went to your reunion? I can’t burn those invites fast enough.”
“Which is why he had to replace his laptop last time. The invites come via email.” Adam said dryly, then lifted another forkful of food toward his mouth. “Next time print the email first before burning the invite.”
She smothered a laugh. “I should have burned that invite.” But then she wouldn’t have met Ozzy.
“Well, I’m sorry I don’t remember you, but if you decide to stay, I’d love to get your tush in my salon chair, too. All the Fury ladies use my services. They refuse to go anywhere else. Just ask them. Even some of the guys sneak in, too, though they won’t admit it. Plus, you can’t find anywhere better in town for the juiciest gossip. If it’s happening in the Grove, I know about it.” He snapped his fingers twice and followed it up with a seated butt wiggle and a single clap.
“And he’ll give you his very thorough commentary about all that gossip, too,” Adam added, then lifted his water glass to his mouth.
Teddy squeaked. “You love it when I bring home all the news.”
“Only because you rattling it off at night is the perfect way to put me to sleep.”
Teddy slapped a hand to his chest and gasped in feigned shock. Adam gave his husband a quick wink, causing a bright smile to break out over the salon owner’s face.
Shay caught herself also smiling at their relationship, but as soon as she did, she automatically went to hide it by dipping her head.
She mentally groaned and forced her chin back up, instead.
Ozzy’s fingers flexed on her hip when she did so. “Gotta go.”
“Toodles, big boy. I expect to see you soon.” Teddy did a finger wave that made Shay smother another laugh.
In that short amount of time, she already liked the man and would love to have someone fun like him call her a friend. Her “tush” would definitely be planted in his chair if she lived in Manning Grove.
“You two have a good night,” Adam’s deep voice said as Ozzy used his grip on her hip to turn her toward the back of the diner.
“The same to you. Nice meeting you both,” she said over her shoulder as Ozzy grunted and steered her to the back of the diner and through the brown plastic accordion door.
She was right. It was a private room that must be used for larger groups, parties or meetings. But only two place settings and full water glasses sat on the long stretch of tables pushed together.
“The server won’t forget about us back here?”
“Nope. Club spends a fuckton of scratch here and we tip real good, too. So, they love to serve us. Ain’t gonna forget us.”
When she went to pull out her chair in front of one of the place settings, he was there doing it for her. After she settled in the seat, he helped push the chair back in, then took the seat across from her.
She ignored the menu lying on her placemat and simply stared at him across the table.
“What?” he grunted.
“I didn’t expect you to pull out my chair.”
“Can be a rude motherfucker when I need to be. You haven’t given me a reason to be.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said and rolled her lips under in amusement. Then she sobered, “Like how rude you were to Adam?”
“Pig,” he grunted, like that explained everything.
“Yes, you said that… Right in front of him, too.” Luckily the cop didn’t take offense. He was probably used to it. Her father never liked police officers, either, for some reason, but she never heard him call them a derogatory term.
Ozzy’s broad shoulders lifted and fell. He jerked his chin at her ignored menu. “Figure out what you want. Soon as we’re done eatin’, we’ll hit the road. Hope to fuck it’ll be a bit cooler out there. Had to peel my nut sac free from my thigh after the club run.”
Shay winced. “Club run?”
“When my brotherhood all gets together and rides.”
That sounded like fun and she was sure a huge group of bikers riding in formation was a sight to be seen. “I sweated a ton hiking today. But the view was still worth it, even if it was a bit hazy out there.”
