AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you say so.”
“Idosay so,” I insisted. “Don’t you go trying to change me.”
“What? How would I do that?” he demanded.
“I work eighty-hour weeks. I love my career, and I’m incredibly good at what I do. I’m not giving it up to sit on the sidelines of life waiting for a man to pay attention to me.”
He frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I took a deep breath. “I ended a relationship a few months ago. Before I moved out here. He had this idea of what he thought I should be. He wasn’t happy when he discovered that reality and his expectations didn’t match.”
“Well, here we are,” he muttered. “Look, let’s just agree that I won’t try and change you, and you won’t try and change me. We’ll have fun and good times. We’ll have some laughs, and we won’t put any pressure on each other, and we’ll keep this easy. Deal?”
“Deal,” I said quickly.
I unlatched my seat belt and was out of the truck before Boxer was able to come around and help me. He draped an arm across my shoulder and pulled me into his side. I liked his casual, relaxed affection, and I liked that we’d set our expectations. This thing with Boxer had no future. It wouldn’t go anywhere. There was no danger of falling in love with each other because we were both clear on what we wanted.
Easy and light.
We walked down the alley to a thick, heavy wood door that he pulled open. There were red vinyl booths and a counter with red vinyl covered stools. Retro diner signs covered almost every inch of the walls. It was like stepping back in time.
“Are those pinball machines?” I asked in excitement.
“Yup. They’re vintage and they’ve been restored.”
I looked up at him and smiled. “You brought me here to play pinball?”
“Partly. Pinky’s also serves the best chili dogs I’ve ever had.”
“I can’t remember the last time I had a good chili dog,” I admitted.
“Well, tonight we fix that.”
I didn’t give him any grief about his after-surgery diet. It had been a couple of weeks. Boxer was moving around with relative ease and at some point, he had to get back to normal life. And that included his regular diet. I was just glad he’d laid off the booze the night I hung out with him at The Rex.
Pinky’s was nearly empty, but I had a feeling it would get busy later on. Boxer still had his arm around me as he guided me to a table.
“Shouldn’t we wait to be seated?” I asked, shooting a glance at the buxom, platinum blonde behind the counter who was wiping down liquor bottles and not paying any attention to us.
“Nah, it’s fine.” He gestured to the booth.
I slid into one side and Boxer took the other.
“How did you find this place?” I asked.
“It’s a secret.” He winked and then removed a red vinyl menu from between the vintage mustard and ketchup squeeze bottles.
“Why is it a secret?” I asked.
“You haven’t earned the truth yet, darlin’.”
“The truth about Pinky’s?” I leaned forward. “Is this a place that houses your nefarious activities? Is there some secret door in the back or something?”
He let out a laugh. “You’re cute when you’re curious.” He shoved the menu in front of me. “Decide what you want.”
“I thought we were getting chili dogs.”
“You want onion rings, fries, or tots?”
