“No way, really?” I let out a squeal and stood on my tiptoes to wrap him in a tight hug. “I think I can handle that. Thanks, dad.”
Getting a car, no matter if it was the junkiest thing on four wheels, seemed like I was getting a little chunk of my freedom back. I was proud of myself for having come so far in such little time and knowing that dad was too, made it all the better.
Chapter 13
The semester seemed to be going by in a blur. Between visiting with my dad, working, and school, time was whizzing by. I think I had made it through a lot and now I was just enjoying life. The highs and the lows.
“What is with you today?” Callie snapped her fingers, pulling me out of my daze and I dropped the apple that I had been holding for the past ten minutes.
“Sorry, late night,” I replied, avoiding Zoey’s eyes that were looking at me suspiciously. This time it wasn’t my past that haunted my dreams; instead it was two boys running through my head. Nash had been steering clear of me lately, but dropping hints here and there that he and Mariah were going to be over soon.
I really wasn’t sure how I felt about that or him. I don’t know if I should feel guilty if he broke up with her, and I didn’t want to jump into a relationship with him. I had tried to explain to everyone that Justin and I weren’t seeing other people, but we weren’t really official, and all that got me was some very strange looks.
Justin had described what was going on between us perfectly. We were having fun. I loved going to work; he always made it interesting. We had gone on a few more dates, always something different, and we took turns picking. Nothing was ever really serious with Justin.
“Oh yeah, I was out partying all night, Zoey, I’ll make sure to call you next time.” I rolled my eyes at her pursed lips and picked up my fork to stab a piece of lettuce.
“Speaking of parties, there’s one this weekend,” Callie said in a sing song voice. “We totally have to go together. Drew invited me.” Her eyes went all gooey at mentioning her boyfriend, basically the love of her life.
If soul mates existed, those two were definitely each others. It was almost sickening, but it was cute, and I was happy for her. “It’s at his frat house, which I know isn’t really your scene, Zoey, but I figured a party would be fun. What do you two think?”
Without looking at each other, Zoey and I simultaneously answered with a quick no, and Callie let out a groan. “Oh come on, we’re in college. Why don’t you two actually act like it? We’re supposed to be going to parties every night, coming to class hung over, and talking about the epic time we had.”
I snorted and dropped my fork. “Oh, I’m sure we could have an epic time, Callie. I just don’t want to get into any trouble and those kinds of parties almost always equal trouble. I’m sure Zoey would be more than happy to go with you though.”
Zoey glared at me and gave Callie a sharp shake of her head. “No way, I’m not going to a party at Drew’s. You’ll ditch me as soon as we get there, and I’ll have to be beating all the gross, pervy guys off with a stick.”
“Please, pretty please with cherries on top. You wouldn’t want me to go alone, would you?” She was clearly ignoring the very important fact that Zoey had pointed out. She would be there with Drew, but I guess I saw her point. Callie stuck her bottom lip out into a pout and looked between the both of us.
Zoey snorted and muttered something about Callie being delusional, and I elbowed her in the side. “Fine, how ‘bout this: We’ll all get ready at home and go over there together. Zoey and I will stay for a little while and then leave you with Drew when we’re ready to go. But just a little bit.”
“That sounds perfect,” Callie squealed while clapping her hands together. “O-M-G, I can’t wait!”
I smiled at her enthusiasm even though I definitely couldn’t muster much of that up right now. Zoey stiffened next to me, letting out a groan, and I looked over her shoulder to see Nash approaching our table. A groan that matched hers escaped my lips, and I turned around, hoping he would just get the hint and go away.
“Hey, could I talk to you for a sec?” I felt his large hand land on my shoulder, and it took everything in me not to shiver at the tingles his simple touch extracted.
Great, no such luck. I slowly turned around, trying to avoid those big brown eyes. “I don’t think we have anything to talk about, Nash.” I glanced towards his usual table and saw Mariah glaring back at us. “And I don’t think your girlfriend appreciates you being over here.”
“She’ll get over it,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders and pulled on my hand. “It’ll just take a minute.” I let him walk me out of the café with, of course, questioning looks from Zoey and Callie. I was sure I would be getting grilled later on.
“What do you want, Nash?” I yanked my hand away from his as soon as we were out in the hallway and leaned against the wall.
“I just wanted to apologize.” He ran a hand roughly through his short hair. “Every time we’re together, it’s like my brain decides to shut off. It’s just…you seriously mess with my head, Della. You always have, and you don’t even know how much.” I waited silently as he paused, and I could see his strong jaw tic. “I’m breaking up with Mariah, I just thought I should let you know.”
“Nash, if that’s really what you want to do, then go for it. Please don’t let me effect your decision in any way. I told you I was fine with just being friends, and I meant it. So if you’re breaking up with Mariah just because of me, maybe you should rethink things.”
He huffed out a breath, looking over my shoulder at Mariah who was still glaring our way. She had to know something was up. I was surprised she wasn’t over here demanding Nash not talk to me.
“Things between us have been tense for awhile, so while this kind of has to do with you, I’m not saying it all does. But Della, you need to realize that you coming back, shifted my perspective on things. I’m not saying I’m ready or you’ll be ready to jump right into a relationship, but I just thought you should know.” His brown eyes turned soft as he reached out to squeeze my hand. “We’ll get together soon, yeah?”
I answered with a nod of my head, not even bothering to bring up Justin once again, and turned on my heel with a heavy feeling of guilt on my chest when I met Mariah’s eyes that looked defeated. She must have had some kind of clue of what was going on, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t let Nash end things without some kind of fight. She was a tough girl, I would give her that.
*******
“Well, don’t you look as cute as a button, Della.” I gulped thickly, but managed a small smile when I realized who was seated at my newest table. Grams and Grandpa. I could feel my grandpa’s scowl without even looking and I tried to tug on the short piece of material that was basically covering my chest.
“Thanks, Grams, I can’t believe you two are here. You should have told me you were coming.” So maybe I could have called in sick or something. I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “Are you two out having a date night?” I looked between her and Grandpa and smiled at the love you could feel between the two of them even after all the years they had been together.
“We sure are, your Grandpa had to practically drag me out of the house, but after he informed me that we were coming to visit you, I was more than happy to come along. Of course, we wanted to see our favorite waitress.” I grinned as she clapped her hands together, and I poised my pen to take their order.
“Della, you have an order up. Get that sexy ass back here,” Justin’s voice called from the pass through window as I was finished taking their order.
I’m sure my cheeks were a nice bright shade of red as I turned around to scowl at him. He gave me a confused look before shrugging his shoulders and heading back into the kitchen. I was used to Justin by now, and it was sort of the way it just was between the two of us. Grandpa, on the other hand, was scowling at the window Justin had just occupied. I turned to grab my order, hoping to get out of this awkward situation, but Grandpa placed a
hand on my elbow.
“Della, is that boy giving you trouble? Because that is sexual harassment. Maybe I should have a talk with your manager. I all ready don’t approve of the uniform they require here. What kind of establishment is this?” He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and glared at Grams and I.
“Its fine Grandpa, trust me. That’s just Justin. He’s my…well we’re sort of...,” I squirmed in my spot, avoiding his eyes. Grams gave me a reassuring smile; at least I always had her on my side. “dating,” I finished quietly.
“Sort of dating, Della? What does that even mean? And with the likes of him? Maybe you haven’t progressed as much as we thought. I knew you should have been living with us so we could keep a better eye on you. In fact-”
“Now, Harold,” Grams interrupted calmly. “I’m sure if Della is seeing this boy, then he’s perfectly nice. Della’s mature enough to choose who she dates.” I did a silent cheer in my head for at least having Grams on my side. I knew she was always my favorite. “But I think we should meet this boy, if that’s all right with you.” Wait, what? Never mind Grams, you’re no longer my favorite.
I bit my tongue before I could argue the fact that I was a big girl and could make my own dating decisions, with or without their approval. But I swallowed over the nerves in my stomach and decided just to give in. No reason to ruin their night by arguing.
“Okay, I’ll see if he’s not too busy, and maybe he can come out to meet you guys. I’m going to go put your order in, and it should be right up.”
I walked away and put in the order, reluctantly turning towards the kitchen once I was done. It wasn’t that I was ashamed that I was dating Justin or whatever we were doing. Grandpa was just stuck in his ways and would think he was trouble with his tattoos and piercings. I mean, he tended to be a little trouble, but all in all, he was fun to be around and a nice guy when he wanted to be.
“What’s going on, princess? Caught up on your work, so we can have a little quickie in the storage room?” He threw down his towel and began removing his apron quickly.
The other guys laughed loudly as Justin gripped my hips, pushing me towards the back. “Very funny,” I replied, pushing on his chest. I knew he was just teasing, mostly anyway. We hadn’t made it much past the heavy make out sessions, and I think I was actually a little afraid to go any further.
“Nope, sorry, not tonight. I was hoping you would come out front with me for a sec. I have someone I need you to meet, two someones actually.”
“Anything for you,” he followed closely behind me, and I swatted at his hand that was guiding me forward by pushing my ass along. “Please don’t be a jackass.”
I stopped at the table, and Grams and Grandpa immediately looked up at the two of us. Grams eyes lit up when she saw Justin up close. It was hard not to feel that way when you saw him for the first time. Past the tattoos and piercings, Justin was really beautiful.
His messy brown hair, that was so dark it was almost black, was pushed back, revealing his sculpted cheekbones and the two dimples that rested in each of them. Even his nose was perfect in the way that it was just the right size for his face and had a tiny little bump right at the bridge. He was clean shaven tonight, but I loved when he had just a little stubble running over his face.
“Justin, these are my grandparents. They wanted to meet you. I told them we were…dating.” He cleared his throat, standing up straighter and stuck his hand out to Grandpa. “Nice to meet you, sir. Della talks about the two of you all the time.”
“Mmm hmm,” Grandpa mumbled as he gave Justin a firm handshake. I saw Justin slightly grimace by the death grip Grandpa was giving to him, and I felt kind of bad. “Strange, we haven’t heard much about you, up until now. Is there a reason for that?”
“Not that I’m aware of sir. Della must have been wanting to keep me a surprise, I guess.”
“Surprise indeed. What are you doing with yourself young man, besides working here? We can’t have our Della around someone with no motivation.”
“Harold,” Grams said in a warning tone, still giving Justin a flirty smile. Geez, I always thought I had gotten that from my mother but now I was sort of rethinking that one.
“Well, sir, I work here in between going to school. I’m in my last year, and I’ll be finished up soon with my Criminal Justice degree. I’ve all ready applied for the police academy this summer.” I looked sideways at Justin in shock.
We hadn’t really talked much about school, since things were never really serious when we were together. So to hear Justin would someday be a police officer was like hearing that I was about to be elected as the next Pope.
I could tell my grandpa was just as shocked as I watched in amusement as his eyebrows shot up. “That’s…wonderful to hear then, son. You’re very ambitious for being so young. You’ll have to come over to the house for dinner one night, so we can discuss this more.” Son? Really, Grandpa, laying it on a little thick now, aren’t we?
“Sounds great,” Justin replied before squeezing my hand lightly. “I’ve got to get back into the kitchen before all of the orders back up. You two have a lovely night.”
Grams and Grandpa left shortly after, Grandpa being in a much better mood than when they had first showed up. I’m sure that had something to do with my hotshot…whatever he was. As soon as the place cleared out for the night, I was seriously going to have to corner him. Was that whole thing an act with my grandparents or had he really been telling the truth?
I didn’t have time to give it much thought as I hustled from table to table. “Score, our favorite waitress!” I looked up to see Nash, Nick, and Steve sitting at one of my tables, all smiling wide at me. What was this, everyone come in and visit Della night?
“Hey guys,” I replied as I set their silverware down on the table. “What brings you in tonight?”
“Just a little celebration,” Nick chimed in, giving me a sly smile as I set their menus down.
“Yeah,” Steve added. “Our dude here finally dropped Mariah. Can you believe it?”
I looked at Nash who seemed to be happy even though his smile was a little tight. I’m sure breaking off any relationship after three years had to be difficult no matter how good or bad it was. “Congrats are in order, I guess. Can I get you guys a pitcher of beer then?”
They all nodded enthusiastically, so I filled up a pitcher stopping to grab three glasses on my way back. “Here, we go.” I gave them a smile and then took their orders. Nash grabbed onto my elbow before I could turn away and quickly stood up to whisper in my ear. “Could we talk later when you have a minute?” I saw Nick and Steve eyeing us as he talked to me quietly, they were like two girls trying to get in on the gossip. “Alone,” he added.
“Um, sure.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat, only guessing at what exactly he wanted to talk about. This was going to be awkward. “That shouldn’t be a problem.” I swung around to head back into the kitchen, only to run into Justin’s chest.
“Whoa, babe, I got you,” he said, wrapping both arms around my waist. “If you wanted to dance, you just had to ask.” I giggled as he swayed my hips back and forth to the rock and roll music that was always playing in here. He dropped his lips to my forehead before pulling away and swatting me on the ass. “Get back to work now.”
I caught Nash’s eyes as I punched in my order, and I could tell that he was glaring at me. He had asked me constantly about mine and Justin’s relationship. I had told him that it was nothing serious, but really it wasn’t any of his concern.
By the time I handed the guys their check, Nash had said about two words to me. I didn’t know what else to say, but I wasn’t sorry for being involved with Justin. I hadn’t wanted to get involved with him while he had a girlfriend, but now that he didn’t have one, didn’t mean I was just going to drop Justin for him. His table was empty by the time I came back out to clear their plates. I guess that alone time he wanted to have, wasn’t a priority anymore.
After the restaura
nt was cleared out for the night, it was just Justin and I. I sat on the countertop, counting my tips and munching on a basket of fries as he finished his final cleanup. For some reason, Brian trusted him to close out the restaurant on the nights he worked. I guess he was a little more responsible than I thought.
“You know, it’s really hard to get any work done when you’re up there like that.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him like I had no clue what he was talking about and tucked my tips away.
“Sorry, from now on I’ll wear a cloak so I won’t distract you,” I answered, crossing my legs. “So what was that all about earlier?”
“What exactly?” He asked while lifting up my feet to wipe off the bar stool.
“Hmm.” I tilted my head at him, trying to decide what to even start with. “Well for starters, the whole pissing on my leg thing when Nash showed up.” He stopped to give me a guilty look like I had just caught him red handed in the cookie jar.
“You caught onto that, huh?”
I stared back at him, rolling my eyes. “I’m a woman, we catch everything.”
“Trust me, I know that you’re a woman.” His handed landed on my bare thigh, just teasing the hem of my skirt before dropping back down. “I guess I felt a little…jealous when I saw you out there with him. Figured I’d stake my claim.”
“Oh, really? So now you’ve turned into a caveman all of a sudden. What’s next, are you going to throw me over your shoulder and drag me back to your cave?”
“Don’t tempt me,” he simply replied before untying his apron and throwing it into the dirty clothes pile. I shook my head at him and pulled off his beanie he had thrown back on as he came to stand in between my legs.
“And with my grandparents? Are you really graduating with your Criminal Justice degree?”
“Uh, yeah. Is that so hard to believe?” His brows rose up as he questioned me.
Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection) Page 10
