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Leaning back against the wooden lawn chair, I close my eyes, thinking about Conrad. “Blaire, I can’t explain to you how much I’ve fallen for him. I’m just scared he doesn’t feel the same way about me.”
Turning my head, I look over at my best friend. She waves her hand at me. “That is crazy. The way he looks at you is a man falling in love or already there. You two have been dating for far too long for him not to have fallen for you.”
A weak smile grows on my face. “It’s been six months and sometimes I feel like I’m still fighting to get him to acknowledge that we’re even a couple.”
When Conrad and I first started seeing each other, he only wanted a friends-with-benefits relationship, even though he would treat me like a girlfriend and say things that made me think he wanted more. While I desired a real relationship with him, I held off on asking for more to wait for him to come around. It wasn’t until I walked into a party at his house and found him making out with two girls that I stood up for myself. When he came to my door the next morning apologizing and saying what a mistake it was, I told him he was either with me, or he had to let me go. He struggled to make the decision because he had never been in a monogamous relationship before but ultimately agreed to be with me and only me.
Blaire’s eyebrows pull together as she thinks. “Maybe he’s still struggling with being in his first relationship. Conrad was Mr. Playing the Field for years. You can tell he cares about you, but I’m sure maneuvering a relationship has been a struggle for him when it’s a new experience.”
“It didn’t seem to take Camden long, and doesn’t he have just as much relationship experience?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
Her eyes drop to her hands in her lap. “No, I guess it didn’t.” She takes a deep breath. “I know I’ve said this before, Em, but you deserve someone who knows what they want. You’re incredible and one of the most amazing people I know, and to keep fighting for a man to grow up and see the prize he has right in front of him is unfair to you. He needs to open his eyes to the woman who loves him right here.”
My heart hurts at her truthful words. Blaire has always been honest with me about my relationship with Conrad. While she likes him and sees how sweet he can be, he also frustrates the hell out of her with his wishy-washy attitude toward us being together.
“Maybe I’ll try talking to him tonight. I don’t know how much more of this back-and-forth I can handle. Sometimes I don’t know which Conrad I’ll get on any given day, the standoffish or loving one.”
Camden calls out to announce the steaks are ready. Mateo and Levi take over, setting the table, and Camden sets the pan of steaks in the middle beside the mashed potatoes and corn. We all grab our own drinks and settle around the table. Conrad comes to sit beside me, kissing my temple before settling in his seat. He grabs my plate and puts a steak on it before getting his own. I smile at his thoughtfulness.
We pass around serving dishes filled with food and load up our plates. Having steak reminds Mateo of the time Maddox was on duty for their weekly “family dinners” and how he burned it, causing them to order out that night. Since then, he has been banned from cooking on his own and needs supervision.
Conrad’s left hand rests against my thigh as he eats his food. His thumb strokes the inside, causing me to burn up all over. Anytime his hands are on me, my body lights up. It is one of the reasons it’s hard to resist him when he would come back after hooking up with someone else when we were in the friends-with-benefits stage. Conrad knows he has this power over me that makes it hard to say no to him.
“Do y’all ever wish life could be like this all the time? No stress from classes, work, or soccer. Just peaceful days,” Blaire says with a faraway look on her face.
“Yeah, except for the fact that only rich people live like this and we need to make money,” I reply with a laugh. I glance over at Maddox to make sure he isn’t offended, but he’s laughing alongside us. Conrad tenses beside me but covers it up with a fake laugh.
“That’s true,” Blaire agrees. “Although if I didn’t have to carry a tray full of heavy cocktails again a day in my life, that would make me happy.”
I laugh because this is something we have both talked about. Being a waitress is straining, but I’m used to working hard. Since I was fifteen, I’ve had a job. It started at a fast-food chain near my house since I couldn’t drive and would have to walk to work. At seventeen, I was able to move away from the food industry to retail and worked as a cashier at Gap. I transferred to their store closest to Braxton until getting a job at Whiskey Joe’s, a local bar near campus, last year. Blaire started working with me there last summer and while it is hard at times, we love working together and with our other coworkers.
“Part of me feels like you two are being wimps. How could waitressing be that hard? You just take orders and bring them back to the table when they’re ready. The actual act of getting the drinks and food ready isn’t even part of your tasks,” Maddox rattles off.
I raise my eyebrow at him. “You’re joking, right?”
He looks between Blaire, whose glare matches my own, and me. “With the looks on your faces, I want to say yes.”
An evil smile comes across Blaire’s face. “How about everyone at this table gives you a drink order and when we’re finished, you tell each of us what they are?”
Maddox puffs his chest out. “Fine. Give me a notepad.”
I shake my head. “Oh no, no, no, Maddy. Notepads are not allowed. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of a bar, you have to memorize your customers’ orders.”
Conrad leans back and laughs. “This should be good.” His hand on the back of my chair begins playing with my hair, sending shivers down my arms.
Maddox glares at me. “Fine. Piece of cake.” He looks toward the end of the table to his right, where Levi is sitting. “You start, Mountain Man.”
Levi’s head jerks back at the nickname. “Um…an old-fashioned.”
One by one, Maddox goes in a circle, taking everyone’s drink order. He stops at Camden, who is tapping his finger against his chin. “Any fucking day now, princess.”
Camden smiles. “Whiskey sour.”
Maddox moves on and stops at Trazia. His eyes widen slightly as she bites her lip before answering. “Oh, um, a virgin strawberry daiquiri.”
His nostrils flare. “Figures,” he mutters under his breath.
She gasps slightly and looks over at her brother to see if he notices. His head is turned as he talks to Blaire and misses the interaction between the two.
