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Another uneasy laugh escaped my lips, and I took a step back, having noticed Jim’s outstretched arm looming closer. His lips parted, about to say something equally as degrading, I was sure, until a chime at the door interrupted him.
I sent a silent thank you to whatever higher power sent Pam through the door at that moment. But when my eyes landed on the two people who had just walked through the door, a genuine smile slid across my face, overtaking the fake one.
“Enjoy your food,” I said, not bothering to look back at the two abhorrent excuses for men. “My mom will be back to check on you in a few minutes.”
I hastily made my exit, grabbing two menus from the front counter to give to the newcomers, not that they would need them. They’d been here often enough that they had their own table, which they wandered over to now. I didn’t bother to wait for Jim’s or Bob’s response, not caring what they had to say—not when the sole reason I still put up with this town had just walked through the door. Not Pam, no, she was still dragging on her cheap cigarettes, butts littering her spot by the door.Fucking bitch.
Jim and Bob grumbled under their breath about something, but I tuned them out, grateful to have some reprieve now.
“Are they giving you a hard time?” Merrick asked before I could even greet my two best friends, his dark, hazel eyes narrowed on the two drunken bastards. The muscles in his chiseled jaw pulsed, his hands clenched into fists on top of the sage green table as though he might use the two wastes of space as punching bags regardless of my answer.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” I giggled, willing my voice to portray the calm that washed over me when the two of them stepped foot inside the small diner. But it drifted away with the tide, tension radiating through my chest in response to the fine line I walked. If I ever told either of them what happened when they weren’t here … Well let’s just say I wouldn’t want to stick around for the aftermath. And since I needed this shit job and a roof over my head, at least for the next few months until college, I would rather just stick it out. Because there was no doubt in my mind that my parents would disown me if I lost them their best customers.
Besides, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if Merrick got locked up for beating two worthless assholes into a bloody pulp. He just turned eighteen two months ago, so it wouldn’t even be juvie this time. He was just starting to put his life back together.
Merrick dragged a hand back through his short, cropped, golden-blond hair, and my eyes fastened on the way the muscles in his forearm rippled at the simple movement.No, Giana, he’s been your best friend since you were five years old. No checking out his sculpted body.
“I better be the first phone call you make if they ever try anything,” Merrick demanded, folding his arms on the table and cracking his knuckles. The sound echoes across the otherwise silent diner in what I had no doubt was a subtle warning to creeper one and two.
“I can handle it Merrick,” I repeated, giving him a pointed look. At my insistence he huffed out a breath of exasperation but thankfully stayed seated. He knew how badly I needed this job, needed to keep my parents happy just for a little while longer. Three more months until college. I chanted the countdown in my head like a mantra. It had been one of the only things able to keep me sane for the past few years since we made the plan—that and these guys.
Kellan just watched me with his keen, sable eyes, as though he could read the thoughts that passed behind my own amber ones. My cheeks burned at his attention, knowing he could read me like a book. I pushed back a lock of my dirty-blonde hair, a few pieces coming free from the tight bun I normally had it in, giving me something to occupy my hands. Otherwise, I would end up playing with the fabric of my skirt like a schoolgirl with a crush.Snap out of it, Giana. We’d all been friends since kindergarten, and I wouldn’t let my feelings break up the friendship we’d worked so hard to maintain over the years. These guys were my safety net and I refused to ruin it. Besides, it wasn’t like either of them would ever return those feelings. But even if one of them did, that would completely mess with our dynamic. No, it was easier to keep my emotions to myself and hide the burgeoning attraction blooming within me for my two best friends.
“Sit with us,” Kellan said, his long fingers wrapping around my own to tug me onto the bench beside him. Some of the tension in my chest eased at his gentle touch. It was impossible to resist him sometimes. He had such a calmness about him, the perfect match to Merrick’s brutal fury. That’s probably why we all became such close friends—that and our fucked-up family lives.
“I have to put in your order though,” I argued weakly, not wanting to get up now that they were here. I worked since the moment I got out of school this afternoon, barely taking a break to scarf down a plate of fries.
“We hardly see you anymore, Gi,” Merrick grumbled, his eyes hurriedly glancing down to stare at the speckled pattern on the light green table as though that would distract me from what he just said. A small, sad smile stretched across my lips, the same lonely pang echoing in my own heart. We were all busy lately, we had our classes and final exams coming up, plus we all had jobs now.But this was part of the plan, I reminded myself. We were saving up for our big move together in three short months.
“I get that,” I murmured, letting the seclusion and loneliness I too felt, coat every word. “But I know you both must be starving. Growing boys and all that.” I chuckled, attempting to insert some levity into the conversation.
A deep rumble emanated from Merrick’s chest, and I almost choked on the gasp that escaped my lips. “I’m a man, don’t forget that.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. How the hell was I supposed to stay only friends with him when he did shit like that? I suppressed the urge to cross my legs at the lust that flooded straight to my core. “You better be right back or else I’ll come collect you, and then I’ll definitely have to kill those two donkeys for seeing me carry you over my shoulder in that skirt.” I sucked in a shocked breath at his warning, not exactly sure what to make of it. Was he checking me out too? No, he couldn’t be, could he …
“Take your time.” Kellan laughed, his hand reluctantly slipping from mine to push back his black curls. Thank fuck he broke up that conversation because I had no idea what I would have said to Merrick. Lately I could sense a flirty undertone to our conversations, but it never went this far. If I had the chance to speak, I’m not sure I could have stopped myself from needling him, pushing that invisible boundary between friends and more. And that would beverybad.
Deciding not to let my mind linger on that, I slid from the booth, almost stumbling in my haste to put some distance between myself and the very confusing situation that was developing before me.
“Kiss ass,” Merrick groaned out lowly. The impact his fist made with Kellan’s arm was audible as I walked back to the counter to write up their usual order.
“Those boys are back?” Greg grumbled, appearing in the small window, his voice hoarse from all the cigarettes he too smoked.
“Yes,” I sighed in exasperation. It was the same thing every time they came in, which was becoming less frequent each week. But we made sure every Friday night to hangout, no matter what.
“You know I don’t like you hanging around with those two.”
I choked down the laugh that threatened to burst from my lips. Of course he had a problem with my friends, the two people that had always been there for me through thick and thin. Meanwhile, he cared so little about me that he continually made me interact with customers who were inappropriate with me, if I was lucky, and sexually assaulted me if I wasn’t. Yup, because that makes so much sense …
I bit back the retort on the tip of my tongue before handing the ticket order to Greg. He grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and snatched the paper from my outstretched fingers before trudging back to the grills.Fuck you too.
My gaze swiveled to the door as a chime tinged throughout the quiet diner. Finally, smokey the dragon was back from the twentieth half hour break.
“Check on your table, Pam,” Greg shouted over the sound of meat sizzling on the flat top. Thank fuck, because there was no way I was about to go and check on those nasty men, especially not in front of Merrick and Kellan. Because if they saw how the two of them acted toward me, I guarantee there would be blood splattered over the floor tonight, and it wouldn’t be my friends’.
Kellan was normally the calm one, but that didn’t mean he was entirely passive. His muscles were finely honed, despite the fact he was an artist, not a fighter … Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He’d gotten in plenty of fights alongside Merrick as a last resort.
Pam muttered something under her breath before heading over to the two pieces of trash, a waft of smoke blowing my way from the door closing behind her. My nose scrunched up at the foul smell, and I hurriedly made my way back to Merrick and Kellan, grateful for Pam’s distraction.
