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Kieran was there with a guy I recognized from the diner, Tony, who often came in for lunch. Which meant I had an in. A reason to talk to him. I wasn’t going to miss it.
Putting the sticks down in front of the girl at the end of the bar, I grabbed her nearly empty glass and poured her a new drink. I wasn’t exactly a bartender and was pretty sure I overloaded the alcohol, but I wasn’t going to worry about it. Instead, I whipped around the bar, cutting Jessica off as she made her way over to wait on them as they sat in a booth, and smiled wide.
“Oh, hey, Sofia,” Tony said. “They got you waiting tables today too?”
“I do everything some days,” I said. “Hello, Kieran the Fireman.”
“Hello, Sofia, the Everything Some Days,” he said, grinning.
I felt like my cheeks were going to split the sides of my face open if I smiled any harder.
“I heard you were entering the chili cook-off,” I said.
“I am,” he said.
“Good. I look forward to beating you.”
He laughed, and I felt light-headed. What was I saying? I came over to flirt, not pick a fight.
“I look forward to the challenge,” he replied.
He held out his hand, and I took it, the touch of his skin on mine like electric fire. Jessica appeared beside me and glanced between us as what felt like an endless handshake went on and on and on.
I was positive there was more conversation, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember anything until Jessica interrupted. I knew words came out. I was sure they were somewhat normal words and that the connection between Kieran and I was intense enough that the words themselves probably didn’t matter much.
“Thanks for covering,” Jessica said. “Now, can I get you boys something to drink?”
“See you around,” Kieran said, his eyes still burning into mine.
“See you around,” I echoed, turning quickly and heading back into the kitchen, hoping like hell Leo got there soon so I could take a break and stand in the freezer for a while to cool myself off.
8
KIERAN
After a long day of grumbling firemen, all of whom were reluctantly logging their time in the gym and otherwise not sitting around all day doing nothing, I needed to go blow off some steam. Firing Walker had been one of the easier decisions I had made, but it took a lot out of me to deal with the stress of how everyone else would react to it, and I felt like getting a good late lunch somewhere other than cooking for myself at home would be good for me. It would keep me out and engaged with the world and hopefully a good note to end the day on rather than the argument I’d had over whether or not playing Switch games counted as “improving eye-hand coordination.”
I texted Tony to ask where the best lunch was, and he mentioned that Sergio’s was the place he would go at this time of day. When I told him I was off work already, having gone in at five, he suggested he meet me at Sergio’s, and we could have a pizza and a beer and maybe catch the baseball game. Sergio’s was pretty much the only place in town to go and watch sports and eat other than your own home.
Baseball was pretty much the only sport I followed, so I was down for it. Being in Tennessee, we had a handful of teams that aired locally, but following the Cubs was my thing. A game against the Pirates was on at one, meaning if we got there by two, we could catch most of it. Besides, maybe I could run into Sofia again.
I met Tony in the parking lot of the restaurant, and he guided me over to the bar entrance. As we opened the door, the smell of fried mozzarella sticks, fresh dough pizza, and an almost overwhelming level of oregano and garlic hit me, and I loved it. My stomach grumbled, and a smile crossed my face.
“Man, this place smells good,” I said.
“Wait until you get a bite of their cheese sticks,” he said. “I come here on Tuesdays because the girl that works in the kitchen makes this dip for them that’s not marinara, but it’s like it, except it’s got this edge to it. I’m not sure what she’s doing to it, but it’s fucking awesome.”
“You talked me into it,” I said. “Also, this is all on me. As a thank-you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Tony said, but I was already waving him off as we sat down in a booth directly across from a TV.
“I insist. You came over and helped me out and didn’t know me from Adam. I owe you beer and pizza. Hopefully we can do this often.”
