AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Whiskey and cranberry would be great.”
I normally didn’t enjoy drinking on a first date, but circumstances were different tonight. My stomach perched on the edge of throwing up and my nerves were shot. Hard liquor would at least calm me down enough to hold a conversation. Ben frowned at the menu.
“Well, this one says potato,” he said, pointing out “Patatas Bravas” on the menu. I scanned through the rest, unsure of just about every other dish.
“Well, this one has ham, so that can’t be bad. And I’m pretty sure Manchego is a cheese, so that one should be safe.”
Ben ordered the three plates, throwing in a fourth that neither of us could decipher the ingredients to for fun.
“So, who will we know at this thing?” Ben asked, moving his legs under the bar, knee resting against mine.
“Warren, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Ben repeated.
“Nolan is still single, right?”
Ben shrugged.
“Jenny?” Ben asked after the cute redhead who’d been two years after us in high school.
An unfamiliar sting of jealousy buzzed through my body before shaking my head. “She’s dating Cornbread, strangely enough.”
Ben pursed his lips before nodding. “That makes sense. He’s really smart and fun to talk to. I could see Jenny going for a guy like him.”
“Are we talking about the same Cornbread?”
“I don’t know any other bartenders named Cornbread in Franklin Notch.”
“He talks to you? Like conversations?” I squinted, trying to decide if Ben was just messing with me. No. Definitely not.
“I stop by for a drink sometimes when I’m free. Usually late afternoon when it’s just the two of us.”
“Seriously?” I’d been going to the bar since I was twenty-one and the cranky bartender barely acknowledged me. “You’re having full conversations? He’s never forgiven me for asking him to make me a margarita!”
Ben shrugged, nonplussed. “Like I said, the bar is usually empty. We struck up a friendship.”
“Wait, you consider him a friend? Is he part of the Thursday night thing?”
Four years ago, Ben had blocked Thursday night off in our shared calendar and never explained why. If he hadn’t been dating Emily at the time, I would have guessed he found a second girlfriend. Instead, the eight-hour block of time just tormented me each week.
“No, but I should ask him.”
I spluttered into my drink, sloshing whiskey onto the table as I slammed it back down. “Cornbread gets an invitation? And I don’t?”
Ben laughed. “You wouldn’t like it. Besides, I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
“It’s not Fight Club, Benny. Unless it is Fight Club.”
“Even if it was, we still couldn’t talk about it.”
“So, let me get this straight?” I pouted. “Cornbread is a brilliant conversationalist, has a girlfriend, and warrants an invitation to your Fight Club.”
He rolled his eyes as the first of our tapas arrived. “You can’t know everything, Thea.”
“But I can try.”
CHAPTER18
