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I feel their stares at my back, along with everyone else’s as we walk away. Even Mandie is looking at me strangely on our path to the bar to pick up an order.
She doesn’t say anything as she grabs the drinks for one of her tables, but it’s hard not to notice she’s leaving way more distance between us than before.
“Take these to Table Eight,” she says in a clipped tone. “That one by the window.”
I grab the tray. “Should I see if they’re ready to order?”
“No. You’re not cleared for that yet. Just deliver the drinks.”
I force a deep breath through the rebuke and turn todeliver the drinks.
“It’s true,” I hear her say to the bartender.
Well, fuck.
“Shouldn’t you be smoking?”
I glance at my coworker as she leans against the wall beside me. Leah, I think her name is.
“Excuse me?” I say.
It’s my last break of the night, and I wish I could say my first day of employment has been a dream. It hasn’t exactly been a nightmare—at least, not like I know nightmares—but the whispering and nasty looks from employees and customers alike hasn’t been great for my confidence. It’s why I tense from her comment until she scans me with an amused look.
“You’re a felon, right?” she says, waving over me. “So aren’t you supposed to be brooding there all tough in your leather jacket, slicked back hair… maybe a cigarette dangling from your pouty lips?”
I huff a laugh. “Is this 1950?”
She grins and shrugs. “Hey, you’re the one who robbed a bank and murdered an entire busload of nuns.”
I choke on the water I just swallowed. “I’m sorry?”
“Or was it orphans? The details got hazy by the time they were passed on to the tenth person.” She tilts her head and frowns. “Hold on. So youdidn’tmurder a busload of people?”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Darn. I was all ready to post the most badass update ever in my story for today.”
I laugh again and shake my head.
“So what’d you really do? Wait, you didn’t cut off theDo not remove under penalty of lawtag on a mattress, did you? That warning couldn’t be more clear, Tristan.”
“Not exactly,” I say, still smiling. Man, it feels good to talk to someone without being shredded. It’s almost like I’m an actual human being.
“Anyway, sorry, it was probably rude of me to ask. You don’t have to tell me. You’re just the first real live felon I’ve met.”
She’s right. I don’t have to tell her, but she’s going to find out before the night is over anyway.
“Hit and run,” I say, kicking at the gravel beneath us.
“Really? Damn.”
“Yeah.”
The mood settles, and I wait for her to come up with an excuse to leave. Bet she’s regretting taking her break at the same time I did. She’s definitely regretting talking to me.
“Was it with a bus?”
My gaze snaps to her in surprise, and I spot a grin spreading over her lips.
