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“Exactly!” Amber said with a smile, sounding delighted. Now I was the one struggling to hold in my laughter. Amber put her hand on my arm. “Come to my house for dinner with my parents tonight, all right? They’ll be sure to cave after that, they always hated when you came over.”
I sighed as Billie rolled her eyes, not even bothering trying to hide it. That was my girl. Billie had no problem being sassy to anybody and damn the consequences. I could remember her doing that when I was over at her house, rolling her eyes at Morgan and sassing him for the littlest things while he sassed right back at her. He would always tell me afterwards that he was sorry I had to see that and put up with his little sister.
Of course, I hadn’t minded. I’d thought Billie was hilarious.
Now, I thought she was hilarious and sexy as hell when she did stuff like that.
“Sure,” I told Amber, seeing as she was waiting for an answer and I couldn’t really wiggle out of this, since I’d promised that I would help her. And dinner at her parents’ place wasn’t somewhere public, so that would be helpful. “But you’re going to owe me a big favor for this.”
Amber flapped her hand in the air, waving off my concerns. “Not a problem. You just show up and be your charming self.”
“Whatever you say.”
Amber slid back out of the booth and blew me a kiss. “See you then, lover!” she teased, and she sauntered out of the diner.
“I know she’s not all that bad,” Billie admitted, “but I really, really don’t like her.”
I bumped her foot with mine under the table. “Really? You don’t? I hadn’t noticed.”
Billie kicked my foot and I laughed, right as our food arrived.
Perfect.
22
Billie
I was working my shift on Wednesday at the tavern and keeping one eye on the door, waiting for Pike to show up. He should be here any minute. I was dying to know how his time with Amber and her parents had gone. It was sure to be spectacular, if I was remembering Amber’s snobby parents correctly.
A little spark of jealousy flared to life in my chest every time that I thought about Pike being with Amber, I wasn’t going to lie. Who knew what kind of physical affection they were playing up while he was over at her parents’ house. But I had promised Pike that I would give our relationship a shot, and give trusting him a shot, and I was trying to hold fast to that.
The thought of a relationship with Pike was, honestly, terrifying. It was also exhilarating, it was everything that I had hoped for—but it could also still go so terribly wrong.
But what if everything went right?
That was what kept me hoping. Kept me going even as my stomach was in knots from all of my fears, about Amber, about Morgan, about my parents, about the town gossip. The hope that all of this might turn out just the way that I had hoped when I had been a teenager, the way that I still couldn’t quite help but hope now.
It was a slow night, which annoyed the hell out of me because I wanted something to distract myself while I waited for Pike. I was going out of my mind here, waiting for him, not knowing what was happening, and wondering if maybe he wouldn’t show up at all and I’d be disappointed yet again.
But then the door swung open and there he was—and I’d never been so glad to have an empty bar to deal with.
I grinned, unable to stop myself, feeling like a warm bubble was swelling and expanding in my chest.
“Hey, what’s a guy got to do to get a tall drink of water around here?” Pike teased, walking up to me—or more like sauntering. He had heat in his gaze, and I just about melted as he planted his palms on the bar top. Fuck, his hands were big. I could remember how they felt inside me…
“Flatter her,” I replied, leaning forward on the counter and grinning back at him. “How did it go?”
“Amazing, I think that her dad nearly had a stroke at one point, he was so outraged. I actually showed up in my mechanics outfit, with grease still on it and everything.”
He wasn’t wearing his mechanic’s outfit now, although I wouldn’t have minded if he was. Instead he was wearing his pair of dark blue jeans that fit him so well, and a white t-shirt just tight enough to show off his pecs and his shoulders. His black leather jacket completed the outfit.
He’d changed outfits for me, I realized, and warmth spread through me. He’d wanted to look nice for me.
“They must’ve died when they saw you,” I said, trying to focus on the story and not get too sappy.
