by Xavier Neal
“Fine.”
“That’s not the word yes.”
I twitch a glare. “That’s all you’re getting.”
Levi chortles at the same time Lani reaches our position.
“Mr. Stone-”
“Levi is fine,” he corrects her with a wide grin. “You’re the best friend.”
Her dark eyebrows crinkle in confusion. “Uh…I prefer to be called Lani.”
He swiftly nods. “Lani it is. Pleasure to meet you. Mind if I borrow your pen?”
She shoots me another displeased stare but hands it over.
Levi grabs a napkin and commands, “Give me your number, and I’ll text you the place later tonight.”
“A napkin? Really? You don’t believe in cell phones?”
His blue stare connects to mine. “I believe in being a professional and leaving it in my dressing room.”
“Professional? That’s what you call making an entire set wait on you to get a date?”
Lani loudly huffs, “Just give him your fucking number, Kady. This whole thing is costing the studio a shit ton of money.”
Levi’s laughter causes me to cringe.
Is it normal to wanna kiss someone and knee them in the testicles? No. No. I meant at the same time. Like bumping tongues while using my leg to Mike Tyson the shit out of his balls.
After I ramble off my number, he shoves the napkin into his pocket, and slowly begins to back up towards the impatient crowd. “I’ll see you two later tonight.”
Lani lowers her voice to just above a whisper. “What the fuck did you just get us into?”
My face scrunches in bewilderment.
Valid question. What did I just get us into? More importantly, how do I get us out of it?
Chapter 2
Levi
“You held up production on one of T.V.’s top ranked shows of the year to get a date?” Calen Connelly, my best friend, questions with bewilderment still in his voice.
I lean back in the round booth seat. “It was romantic. I would think you of all people would get that.”
Dude’s a total fucking sap. He once took a chick on a helicopter ride of the city for Valentine’s Day, and they weren’t even dating! Nope. They weren’t even weekend hook-ups. It was just this chick in our apartment building he had been crushing on, basically since we moved in. She’d been dumped by her boyfriend, so he used his rebound opportunity like a champ. Or maybe a chump considering how it all went down. He blew his load without ever getting to blow his load. Dropped a shit ton of cash trying to win her, and she used the date as ammo to make her ex jealous. Which worked. They got back together two days later. I should remind him of that humiliation now to stop his bitching about my tiny act of romance. You saw it. That shit was romantic.
“Do I need to explain to you the difference between romance and stalking again?”
His retort grabs a chuckle out of me. “Do you really think what I did was too much or are you just pissed off I changed our plans last minute?”
“That was a dick move.”
When I demanded Kadence come meet me for a drink the fact my best friend was coming to town for the weekend had escaped my memory. I didn’t think he’d mind skipping live music and beach bunnies for the night. Apparently I was wrong.
“If it makes you feel better, she’s bringing a friend with her.”
“It doesn’t.”
“It should.”
“But it doesn’t.”
I drop my hands into my lap. “Tonight’s on me.”
“All of it?”
“Every last dime.”
Calen cocks a crooked grin and lifts his finger in the air to summon our waitress. When she arrives he requests, “Can I get a glass of top shelf whiskey and lime?”
Asshole.
“Whiskey preference?”
“Wilcox.”
“Single or tall?”
“Tall.”
The adorable blonde offers him a polite smile and turns to me. “Anything for you, sir?”
I decline with a shake of the head.
Once she’s out of sight, I toss him a sharp stare. “Now who’s a dick?”
“Still you,” he insists on a laugh. “So, what is it about this chick anyway? She just really hot or is this mainly about the challenge she presented by initially rejecting you? Could you tell me that part of the story again? It’s my fucking favorite.”
That was a bit on the surprising side. Typically, it’s me who has to do the denying, politely of course. I mean I’m not a complete asshole. Hey. Hey. Flaking out on dude’s night at the beach to potentially end up in the sheets with a sexy little number, doesn’t make me an asshole. It makes me selfish. I can live with that. Besides, I have no doubt an evening with Kadence is going to be more entertaining than beach boy classics with chicks too young to realize just how old those songs truly are.
“From the moment we started talking…,” a smile helplessly crawls onto my face, “it was like I couldn’t get enough of her. She’s sexy. She’s funny. I’d put my money on smart.” With another shrug, I add, “I don’t know, man. There’s just something there I can’t exactly explain.”
Intrigue lifts his eyebrows.
“Something I haven’t felt in a really really long time.”
Seven years to be exact.
The waitress places the beverage in front of Calen before sauntering away to deliver the other drinks on her tray.
I take the opportunity to veer us away from a subject that would put a damper on the entire evening. “What the hell is a whiskey and lime?”
“Whiskey, lime soda and a lime wedge.”
“Why the fuck wouldn’t you just drink it straight?”
“You should worry less about what I’m drinking and more about which credit card you’re gonna use to pay for it.”
The playful reminder of my earlier promise receives a smirk.
Benefit of being a well-paid actor on a high grossing television show. Blowing a few hundred bucks to make a good impression on a first date doesn’t even register. Then again, I know Calen. He’ll go out of his way to make sure it does. Nah. It’s not because he’s a dickhead. It’s because it’s a rarity I go through this much trouble for a woman on a date. This shit will end up in my personal history book, most likely with an idiotic title. ‘Throwing a Fit to Snag the First Date’. Oh, and if this doesn’t go well? The epic fail will warrant a follow up chapter. ‘Dating Disasters from The Overly Confident’. Laugh all you want, but she said yes. And she said yes because despite whatever bizarre bullshit rules she has about hooking up with actors, she was just as interested in me as I was her.
Suddenly, I spot Kadence and Lani strolling through the far entrance of the upscale bar. It only takes a brief moment before her brown eyes find mine. She shoots me a slightly shy smile knocking out all the air from my lungs.
How does she do that to me every time she grins?
Calen instantly notices the change in my focus and follows my line of sight. To my surprise his voice is equally airy. “Is that them?”
My lips remain closed. “Mmhm.”
“Tell me, she’s the one wearing no sleeves.”
“Mmhm.”
“Good.”
Wait. Why did he say good?
The two women begin what feels like a slow motion strut to the table. Kadence’s beautiful body is showcasing curves I don’t recall seeing earlier in her jeans and Wicked t-shirt. Her sleeveless black dress leaves no gap for my eyes to burrow themselves between her tits, but has a slit high enough to have me mentally debating all night whether or not she’s wearing panties.
Is she? Do you know? What do you mean you wouldn’t tell me even if you did?
As soon as they’re close enough, I’m up on my feet, and greeting her with a wide grin. “Hey.”
Another bashful expression graces her face. “Hey.”
Our eyes linger in one another’s.
Damn, she’s breathtaking. We’re talking literally
breath taking. Feels like I can’t breathe. Like I don’t know how anymore.
Her smile reaches her ears.
And now I do….
Calen sharply clears his throat, and I attempt to shake the feeling. “Calen meet Kadence, the beautiful woman I hit with a door today.” She gives him a small wave. “And Lani, her best friend, who deserves an award for not bitch slapping Miranda with a script.”
Lani rolls her eyes. “If I had to work with that woman every day I would quit this business and fucking train seals. They’re easier to train than she is.”
Calen casually states, “It can actually take quite a bit of time to train those creatures to do the tricks they do.”
She hits him with a sarcastic smile. “Hence. The joke.”
“Oh you knew that,” he meekly replies.
“I know a lot about marine animals.”
His eyes widen in excitement. “Yeah? Me too. Why don’t we go chat about it at the bar?”
“Do waitresses not come to the table at this place?”
Lani’s sarcasm receives a snicker from me, but an elbow from Kadence.
Her resistance remains until Calen smoothly says, “Drinks and food are on Levi all night. Wanna help me take advantage of his stupidity?”
“Absolutely.” She devilishly smirks and turns her sneer to me. “It’s his fault I’m fucking starving in the first place. Skipping dinner to meet the two of you wasn’t how I wanted my Friday night to go.”
“Then how about we run up his tab to see if we can make it a bit better?”
Rather than defend myself or object to the ideas I bet are floating around their minds, I simply wait for them to stroll away before I wave a hand towards the booth to usher Kadence in.
She slides towards the middle, and I have to restrain myself from getting too close.
What is wrong with me? I’ve been on first dates before. Hell, I go on ‘em all the time! Okay, not usually with the intention to have a second date or a third or even really more than a good glass of something strong and a night of something easy, but that’s neither here nor there. I shouldn’t be this nervous. This…fucking unsure of myself. Seriously, am I too close? Not close enough? Why are my palms sweating?
My mouth moves to speak but my mind instantly goes blank when she pulls her thick, wavy brown hair to the side of her face.
God, I just wanna lean over, wrap my hand around her neck, and kiss her. Is it too soon for that? Yeah. Yeah. Stupid fucking question. She’s not that kinda woman. It’s probably another reason why I like her.
I adjust my posture. “So, I gotta know right away.”
Her brown eyes widen in question.
“NYPD Blue?”
Kadence immediately snickers and nods. “Oh yeah. And let’s not forget the original Law and Order.”
“There was no one else in the world like Jack McCoy.”
“Absolutely agree.”
“What about Miami Vice?”
“Like an addict,” she answers on another giggle. “Pretty much any cop show my dad could get his hands on, he was obsessed with. I think he desperately wanted to be a detective when he was a kid, but couldn’t ever get past the possibility of getting shot.”
We exchange a light laugh. Immediately after, I ask, “What’s he do for a living?”
“He teaches Criminology at Clover Rose University.”
“Guess he basically took the old phrase ‘those who can’t do teach’ to heart, huh?”
She nods at the same time the waitress returns to our table.
“Hello, my name is Spring. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Yep. Forgot that was her name. Well, not her real name. It’s the name she took on to try to make it in the world of acting. The one she ‘reinvented’ herself with. Apparently, Sarah wasn’t good enough.
Kadence presses her lips momentarily together to hold back a smirk.
If only she knew the whole story….
Once it’s clear she’s gained her composure, she orders, “Whiskey and Coke with a splash of cherry.”
“Whiskey preference?”
“Wilcox.”
Popular choice.
“And for you sir?”
“Make it two.” I hold up a hand to stop her from exiting and toss a concerned look at Kadence. “Lani mentioned you two didn’t get a chance to grab dinner. Do you wanna order an appetizer or something? They’ve got great fried clam strips here and this really spicy, but really good, hot crab dip.”
“Let’s do both.”
I smile wildly over the fact she didn’t ask for a salad option. My face returns to the waitress. “And we’ll take one of each of those as well.”
Spring gives us a curt nod, turns on her heels, and saunters off towards the bar.
As soon as Kadence’s attention arrives back to me, my heart thumps harshly. “Your turn, pretty boy. What does your dad do for a living?”
“Hold on. You think I’m pretty?”
Promptly, she retorts, “You are with makeup.”
Her well executed punch back receives a laugh as well as a nod of commendation. “My dad works for Spike’s Shack.”
“The seafood market?”
“Yeah. He’s a customer service manager. He hangs in the main part of the market, makes sure customers are having a good time and those that aren’t get directed to somewhere down the road where they might feel more comfortable.”
Her smile illuminates our dim back booth. “Does he sing the song?”
“At the top of his lungs like any true South Haven native.” Another giggle leaves her, which is when I add, “Working at Spike’s was actually my first job.”
“Shut up….”
“I’m serious. I was one of the guys who had to stand out in the courtyard dressed as the lobster in a leather jacket with an inflatable guitar.”
“Rock Lobster!”
My face becomes slightly red. “That was me.”
“I love Rock Lobster! Oh my gosh! And the dance he does when the song comes on….Hilarious!”
Spring places our drinks down in front of us. “Also, humiliating.”
Kadence snickers and gives my arm a comforting squeeze. The air in my lungs dissipates without a second thought. “We all had shit first jobs. I swept up hair, food crumbs, and condom wrappers from the floor of the backroom at a theater every night one summer. Believe me when I say it was more like a Midsummer’s Nightmare than a dream.”
On another laugh, I lift my glass up for a toast. “To shit first jobs.”
“To shit first jobs.”
We clink, take a drink, and present each other with a small smile.
Kadence places her beverage to the side and flops her face into the palm of her hand. “I’ll be honest.…I think you’re way too attractive to be Rock Lobster.”
“I wasn’t always.”
“Puberty was good to you then.”
“Scientific marvel,” I joke between sips. “You should see my baby pictures.”
Her eyes brighten along with her smile.
Can’t believe how easily I am just selling myself out like this. It’s been years since I’ve been this comfortable talking to someone outside of my two best friends. Even then, I don’t recall things with her feeling this easy. This…natural.
Reining in my runaway tongue, I slyly state, “Your smile is gorgeous.”
All of a sudden she rolls her eyes, drops her hand, and shakes head. “And there’s your answer.”
“My answer to what?”
“Why I don’t date actors.”
“Because you hate compliments?”
“Because you’re all full of shit.”
Sensing I may have created an unwanted wave in our smooth sailing….
Kadence reaches for her glass. “You’re trained liars. Trained con artist. You spend years perfecting the art of deception, which makes it so easy for you to spout lines like the one you just did.”
Defensively, I snap, “But it wasn’t a line!�
�
Our eyes lock and her actions freeze. The intensity of her stare sends my heart racing again. In a soft tone, she sighs, “And you’re so good at what you do that I almost believe you.”
