In truth, seedy places were not an area Hannah had any experience in, but this was supposed to be a learning experience, so she’d make it work. “I’ve only lived in Portland for college. I moved here from Washington, so I definitely don’t know most of the places around here too well. The seediest place I’ve gone is Voodoo Doughnuts at, like, three a.m. after a night of drinking.”
“I want to say that that doesn’t count, but I’ve been there at three a.m., and it kinda does.”
Hannah found herself beaming. She seemed to crave Emily’s approval, though she wasn’t sure why she wanted it so badly. At least this meant she wasn’t quite as sheltered as she often felt like she was. Growing up as a spoiled rich girl had some complications, but they weren’t interesting ones. “Yeah, one of my sorority sisters refuses to go alone there anymore, which is likely why I’ve gained about ten pounds this year.”
“Well, it’s working for you,” Emily said, smirking before a red light.
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me I’m not fat?”
“You’re not, but you look gorgeous as you are, so that’s what I’m gonna go with.”
It was hard to argue with that logic. Hannah leaned back, staring out over the Willamette as they crossed and doing her best to keep her nerves under control. She so rarely left downtown that it was still a novelty to see the water beneath her, even though she used to get a closer look at it quite regularly.
“We’re almost there,” Emily said, stirring Hannah from her reverie.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to go all quiet.”
“It’s fine. I like watching it too.”
The words relaxed Hannah far more than they had any reason to. Oh wow, you like to look at water. Clearly, we’re soulmates! Maybe it was only because of how silly it made her feel that it did relax her. Clearly, Emily was putting a lot of thought into her behavior, so maybe she was nervous too. “To be honest, I haven’t been on a date in a while,” she admitted, in the hope of clearing the air and maybe feeling out how much of a chance she had at things progressing anywhere with the drop-dead gorgeous woman.
“Seriously? How? I mean, have you seen you?”
With lines like that, Hannah wasn’t sure they’d make it through dinner before she pounced. It had been as long for that as it had for dating, so she might have been on a bit of a hair trigger. “I’ve been busy with school,” she muttered, feeling the need to justify herself.
“Yeah?” Emily asked, glancing over as she pulled into a parking spot. “What’re you studying?”
She should have expected that question. She hated talking about her major with other people. They never seemed to understand why she’d like it. “Aren’t we going inside?”
“Yeah, we are. Am I not allowed to know?” She flicked the button on her seat belt, her hand moving to the door to leave, her blue eyes still on Hannah.
“Accounting,” she muttered, throwing open the door and stepping out.
“What’s wrong with accounting?” Emily asked, chasing Hannah as she tried to lock the car. “You’re going the wrong way.”
“Oh.” She’d only gone a few steps, but apparently, the larger restaurant was not the correct place. As if she could even be more embarrassed.
“Why are you acting so weird about being an accountant?”
“Everyone makes fun of me for it.”
“Then everyone you know is an ass.”
The laughter came harder than she’d expected, and it quickly grew into a hearty guffaw, but Emily joined right in, so it alleviated her embarrassment rather than adding to it. “April’s not an ass,” she insisted, far too late for it to be believable. Megan could certainly be one, but April barely counted as such. “She can’t wrap her head around why I like it. She’s convinced it’s only because it’s a stable job, and I mean, it is, you can get really consistent work with an accounting degree, but I like making the numbers settle themselves. It’s not, like, my big passion or anything, but I’m pretty sure you can’t major in drinking.”
“You are going to be so happy with this place if that’s your passion. It’s like a three-hundred-level class in intoxication.”
“I think I need graduate courses at this point.”
“Well, then, it’ll be an easy A.” Her teeth flashing in a playful grin, Emily took her hand and began leading her toward a hole-in-the-wall-looking joint.
Hannah tried not to read into the fact that they were already holding hands. The bar was a bit less seedy than she’d expected from Emily’s words, but it was a little on the gaudy side, with a retro sign out front and a garish color scheme on the patio. “I promise, the food’s better than you’d think, and the drinks are amazing and reasonably priced.”
“Far be it from me to doubt a bartender on her alcohol.”
Inside, a photo booth took up a substantial portion of the small room with two pool tables. “You play?” Emily asked.
“Not much, but I’m happy to let you teach me.” She’d played pool quite a bit when she was younger, and they had one in her sorority house, but it had been a while, and she was more than willing to let her rustiness shine.
“You hustling me?”
She held a poker face the best she could and said, “Only one way to find out.”
“Well, I already said I was taking you to dinner, so I’m not sure what to bet then.”
“Loser gets first round.” Her charade was already fading. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, other than a clichéd lesson on how to hold a cue while Emily’s arms were wrapped around her. In fact, that was exactly what she’d been expecting. She couldn’t help but be competitive when given the chance.
“And here I was going to suggest strip pool.”
Blinking, Hannah stared, trying to see how serious Emily might be. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d lost her shirt in a bar, and if she had her way, it wouldn’t be the last. She was starting to feel more confident now that they were in her environment, though she didn’t want to think about what a bar being her environment said about her. “Maybe back at my place. We have a pool table there.”
“Probably not the best thing to tell me when you’re trying to hustle me.”
Giggling excessively as she grabbed a couple of cues from the wall, Hannah said, “I’m a terrible hustler.”
“Now you’re trying to hustle me at hustling.”
“Wait, what?” Her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out precisely how that would even work.
“You break.”
She did and earned her place as solids. She was downright dreadful at pretending to be bad at pool. There was no way she could’ve kept it up for an entire lesson. It was three more shots before Emily even got a turn. Emily was surprisingly good and made it all the way to the eight-ball before Hannah had another turn, but she still managed to come back with a narrow victory. Emily bought them mason jars filled with beer.
“Rematch?” Emily asked, sweeping a strand of hair behind her ear. Watching her sip from the jar, Hannah was reminded of how sexy she was.
“Think you can take me?” Hannah managed, trying to hide herself in bravado.
“I almost did last time.”
“Let’s save it for my place.” She swallowed, masking her hesitation with a large swig. She shouldn’t be so presumptuous when their date had barely started, no matter what sort of thoughts Emily might be sending through her mind. “I haven’t eaten today.”
“Well, then, I suppose I ought to remedy that.” Emily gestured toward a table and slid a menu to her. “It’s happy hour. Their grilled cheese is amazing, though I was thinking of getting the pulled pork sliders. We could get both and split them? Or more, if you’re hungry.”
“I could eat a horse.”
“I think the closest they have is cow, unfortunately.”
Rolling her eyes, Hannah glanced at the menu. “Both of those and some tacos?”
“Throw in some chicken sliders too. I forgot to eat lunch, now that I think about it.”
Emily bit her lip, staring at the pool tables. “I may have been a little nervous. I haven’t been on a date in a while myself.”
“You could’ve said that earlier. It would’ve made me feel a lot better.”
“Yeah, but I was trying to look cool.” If there was any chance Hannah was going to manage to be mad at her, then that cocky grin certainly eliminated it.
“You’re lucky you’re hot.”
Her cheeks coloring slightly, Emily flagged down a waitress and told her their orders.
“So how’d you find this place?” Hannah asked, looking for something more to talk about.
“Wow. I should have thought ahead for this.” She looked like a deer in headlights, searching desperately for a good excuse. “Well, fuck. It makes me sound like a horny schoolgirl, but they have a women’s arm wrestling contest here sometimes, and I came to watch with a friend. So many gay girls. It was amazing.”
“Sounds like fun.” Why had no one ever informed her there was such a thing? She’d have been here ages ago. Saying that out loud seemed a bit scarier after Emily thought it made her look bad to be interested in it.
“It is. Maybe we…well, that’d sound weird.”
“Asking me on a second date already?” she teased, finding that this whole thing was a lot less scary than she’d built it up to be. If it was only pool and drinking, she should’ve been dating this whole time.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Emily mumbled, burying her face in her drink, clearly trying to hide her blush.
“How long have you been a bartender?”
She looked relieved to be let off the hook. “A little over a year. I mostly like it and not just ’cause I can get booze out of it. It’s fun with a schedule that doesn’t require I be up at normal-people hours.”
“I hear that.”
“Accounting doesn’t have that benefit. Though if it’s your calling, I assume you can manage the schedule.”
“I’m still hoping there’s some secret night shift accountant job.”
“You never know. So how about you? How long have you been in college?”
“This is my fourth year. I’m about to graduate,” Hannah said as their waitress returned with heaping plates of food. It smelled amazing and looked even better. It also did a fantastic job of reminding Hannah how hungry she was. She took a bite of the grilled cheese right away, and it was at least as good as she’d hoped. Though she might have just been starving.
“Good, right?” Emily asked, grinning as she grabbed her own slice.
They made it through all the food as well as two more massive beers before they had any inclination to leave. Emily was proving to be pleasant company, and Hannah was enjoying getting to know her. That strip pool game was sounding more and more appealing by the moment.
“Wanna get out of here?” Hannah asked, hoping she didn’t sound too insistent.
“I’d love to.”
Outside, the pavement shimmered, and the whole place smelled mildly of rain. They must’ve missed a shower while they were inside. It was Portland, after all. “You sure you’re okay to drive?” Hannah asked.
“Probably,” Emily said and promptly slipped in a puddle.
Hannah caught her, taking advantage of the misstep to sweep her off the ground and hold her in her arms, blushing as she met those light blue eyes again, noticing the flecks of green for the first time. “I got you.”
Emily stared before returning her gaze. “Wow.” Her hand rested on Hannah’s shoulder, and she made no effort to be released. “You’re really strong.” She squeezed her bicep playfully.
“I work out.”
“It shows. What the hell do you do to manage this?” Her feet dangled, almost kicking Hannah as she laughed.
“I do reverses from twenty every morning. It’s the perfect hangover cure.”
“I have no idea what that means, but I am one hundred percent certain that exercise is the opposite of a hangover cure. That would just make your hangover worse.”
She was starting to feel like she should’ve set Emily down a while ago, but not having her in her arms sounded dreadful. “I learned it as a warmup when I rowed crew freshman year, and it always worked for my hangovers.”
“Why’d you quit rowing?”
“I was hungover every morning and didn’t want to get up at four.”
That smile again. It was hardly making setting her down more appealing. “I can’t argue with that logic.” She let out a shaky breath, licking her lip. “Wanna go back to your place? We can skip the pool.”
She really did. “Absolutely.”
Chapter Three
The loud knocking at the door drew Hannah’s attention and caused Emily to groan and throw the comforter over her head. Hannah pulled it back off and hopped out of bed. Clearly, Emily wasn’t handling the previous night’s drinks too well, but she felt fit as a fiddle. Throwing on the first clothing she could find, which ended up being Megan’s jeans and Emily’s T-shirt, she opened the door, stepping into the hall to limit Emily’s torture.
“I take it the date went well?” Megan asked, seeming barely able to contain her mirth as she rolled on the balls of her feet, biting her lip to keep from grinning. “She still in there?”
“She’s trying to sleep.”
“April made pancakes if you want to come downstairs and tell me about it.”
She had worked up a good appetite over the long night. “Yeah, all right, I could eat. Any bacon?”
“There’s tofu bacon,” Megan said as if there was no possible way that could be an acceptable breakfast food.
“I thought that was pretty good the last time she tried going vegan. You know how much she loves breakfast food, so I’m gonna support that.” Rolling her eyes, she moved past Megan to head downstairs. That judgmental attitude was not helpful when she knew how much veganism meant to April.
“Sorry. She’s just a way better cook than I am, so it sucks when she stops cooking actual food.”
“Your cooking is fine,” Hannah said, giving her a quick smile and ignoring the latest jab at April.
In the kitchen, Megan took a seat in front of a half-eaten stack of flapjacks, digging back into her food with undisguised glee. Apparently, the vegan pancakes weren’t as big an issue as the vegan bacon.
“Morning, Hannah,” April said, setting a plate in front of her. “I tried cooking the bacon in brown sugar this time, and I think it made a big difference. You up for being my guinea pig? No one else in the house has been up for trying it.”
“You know I’ll eat anything you put in front of me.”
“Yeah, I could hear that last night,” she shot back with a playful giggle. “I’m glad to hear your date went so well. It is the girl from the party, right?”
“Yes,” Hannah said, trying her best to keep her voice down. “What, do you think I found some other girl in the middle of my date?”
April shrugged. “It has happened.”
“It has not,” Megan said. “How would that even end up happening?”
“It just does,” April said, taking a bite of still-sizzling bacon as she set a fresh plate on the table and turning her attention back to Hannah. “See how much better this is?”
“It’s amazing.” She finished her second strip, sadly realizing she only had another week of April’s cooking left.
“Nice deflecting,” Megan grumbled, trying to wipe a drop of syrup from her dark brown hair. “So, Hannah, what happened on your date? She take you anyplace interesting?”
Hannah reflected on the previous night, thinking of how she’d felt that connection with Emily, how naturally it had all come together. “We went to this cute little dive bar and had a bunch of mason jars of beer.”
“Mason jars?” April asked. “I’ve never seen a bar do that.”
“Yeah. It was pretty great. Their food was good too, but I don’t know what it was about last night. I sure as hell had no idea what I was doing—other than at pool—but talking to her was so
easy and wonderful. I’ve never had that happen before. And she’s so beautiful, and I didn’t have to try when I was with her, like she just sort of got me. Megan, you were right, I could’ve worn a dress.”
“That mean you’re going to let her see you in one today?”
Hannah tapped nervously on her fork as she considered. It was so rare that she was actually read as gay, and she didn’t want Emily to think she was anything but. This wasn’t an experimental thing. She’d felt this way her whole life. She supposed that after the previous night, she’d probably persuaded Emily, but it was still a little intimidating. “Maybe a skirt and top. That could at least look a little queer if I went for the right shirt.”
“I have a denim shirt if you need it.”
“I will consider it.” She hid her shame with a forkful of flapjacks. She hated that she did this—she knew gay people could look any way they wanted—but it was something she was still really sensitive about and hadn’t had enough time to grow accustomed to.
“Hannah?” a voice called from the stairway.
Both Megan and April stared excitedly at the bottom of the stairs. They’d already seen Emily the other night, so Hannah wasn’t sure why they were making such a big deal.
“Oh,” Emily muttered, stopping short a few steps into the kitchen when she found several sets of eyes watching her. “Hi. You are allowed to have guests, right?”
“Of course we are,” April said, pulling out a chair. “Are you hungry? There’s some more bacon, and I have more batter if you want pancakes.”
“They’re delicious,” Hannah added, biting her lip as she warred between jumping up to hug or kiss Emily and sitting there trying to maintain her cool.
Before she had the chance to decide, Emily hooked her leg behind her chair and pulled her into a quick kiss good morning. She sat, looking pleased with herself while Hannah tried to hold on to what little composure she had left. “I would love some.”
“It’s tofu bacon,” Megan warned.
“I would love some pancakes.”
Thor: Daughter of Asgard Page 2
