Chapter Twenty-Five
Savannah
After a brief text conversation on Tuesday, I agree to go to lunch with EJ on Wednesday. She’s beside herself about my situation with Fritz, especially since I haven’t told her anything beyond what I did Monday night. I also know if I didn’t agree with her, she would start bugging Fritz at work. Since her bookstore is across the hall from Camos and Cupcakes, I knew she wouldn’t hesitate accosting Fritz.
I agree to meet her at one of my favorite sushi places close to her shop. I get there earlier than she does and smile when I see her rush in. I told her if she were more than fifteen minutes late, I would abandon her. I would have hung out for another fifteen minutes, but I like to live up to the temperamental chef label. Also, I like to fuck with people.
She slips into the booth with me, sitting on the opposite side.
“Hey, Savannah,” she says. Her face is flushed, and there is excitement in her eyes.
“Hey, EJ.”
I don’t say much else because I know EJ. She really loves gossip, and this has been killing her.
“Do you have anything to say?” she asks.
I shrug, picking out a few rolls to eat.
“I swear to God, Savannah.”
I peek over my menu at her. “What?”
She opens her mouth, but our waitress comes to the table. I take extra time with my order, knowing it is going to drive EJ crazy. By the time our waitress leaves, EJ’s practically fuming.
“Spill.”
I take a sip of my water.
“Savannah Jessica Martinez.”
“That is not my middle name.”
Her eyes narrow and I realize that she is ready to skin me alive.
“Sorry, it was too much fun. What do you want to know?”
“First, what are you doing off in the middle of the day?”
“I usually work nights. I only handle lunch rushes on the weekend for the most part.”
She cocks her head and studies me for a long moment. “Yes, but you rarely do lunch because you always have to work. Explain.”
I sigh. “I quit.”
She blinks. “What?”
“I quit. Well, I quit in a way, but my mother actually fired me.”
“Wait, when did that happen?”
“Last Tuesday.”
“And I’m hearing about this over a week later because?”
I sigh. “If I would have told you, you would have told Allison, and I just could not let it get in the way of the wedding.”
I still stand by that decision. Even knowing I’m going to get my ass kicked when Allison and Ed return from France.
“No one else knew? Wait, did it have something to do with the wedding?”
I hated to tell the story. Not because I regret what I did. I hate the way people will view me. Having a family who sees you as a commodity is embarrassing and fucking sad.
“Yeah. I made an agreement and I had a backup plan. I agreed to work the fifteen days leading up to the wedding week. I wanted Wednesday off to sleep, then I didn’t want to return to work until Monday. When my mother came in on Tuesday night telling me I had to work, I didn’t have a chance to tell her that I would work the two weeks straight after that.”
Truth was, I probably would have agreed to a month of work without a day off.
“But that bitch didn’t allow for that? Even though you were in the wedding?”
I nod. I now know why she always seemed to make me want to suffer, to prove that I was worthy.
“We had a blow up, and she said I had to work, or I was fired. I walked out.”
She studies me for a long moment. The waitress comes back with our appetizers and EJ’s drink.
“Fritz knows.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You told him.”
I shrug as I dip my gyoza in the sauce. “It’s kind of hard to hide it from him since we live together.”
She nods. “I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I thought it was Fritz.”
“Nope. I was upset when I came home on Tuesday night, and he wouldn’t leave me alone until I told him.” And he held me while I cried. I keep that part to myself, not because I’m embarrassed about it. Instead, it is one of those moments—the ones I say I never really had with a man—that I want to keep to myself.
“So, what’s up with you two? I take it you’re still a virgin?”
“I told you, he wants to date.”
“Date? Like actually dating?”
“Yeah, I don’t get it either. It’s weird, right? I mean, we live together. I just want to have sex, but he refuses. He’s all, this is important, and we need to make sure we do it right.”
Her eyes widen. “He said that?”
I nod. “Why?”
“Oh, sweetie, you might be in trouble.”
“What?”
“Fritz has never been serious with a woman before. I mean, he’s had a few steady women here and there from what Harry says, but…this sounds like a lot more than just sex.”
I roll my eyes. “Why are men so difficult? I just want a chance to ride his massive joystick.”
Some old woman next to us gives me the evil eye, and I send it right back to her. She shouldn’t listen to my conversation.
EJ giggles. “You are the most unconventional virgin I have ever known, and that’s saying a lot considering who I am.”
I smile. “Yeah, well, I don’t know why it’s a big deal. It is time to grab those scissors and snip this flower.”
“Stop. The imagery is insane. And it has nothing to do with your virginity. It has to do with you.”
“Now what are you jabbering on about?”
“Fritz would be careful with you whether this was your first or your fiftieth time. You’re important to him.”
I frown. “I don’t see how I’m different.”
“I’m sure he sees you differently than you see yourself.”
They don’t see you for the wonderful, caring person you are.
“Ah, he does. So, you’re going out on a date.”
I sigh. “Yeah. He wants to go out Friday night.”
“I could force Harry into a double date kind of situation.”
“Absolutely not. I want to get Fritz home and naked as fast as possible. No need to slow my roll.”
EJ chuckles. “Okay, but where is this going?”
“Our lunch?”
I know that isn’t what she means, but I like to fuck with EJ. She rolls right over people with her Georgia accent and her insane beauty. People think she is so sweet.
“You know, I’ll keep asking questions and if you don’t talk to me, I’ll go tell Fritz you want to wait for as long as possible before having sex.”
“You are evil.”
“Spill it, sister.”
“I don’t really know. For the first time in a really long time, I have free time in my life. I can now date someone, like as in romance and all that.”
She studies me as I eat my last gyoza. “You want that with Fritz?”
I shrug. “I try not to expect anything from men.”
Her eyes soften and I regret showing my soft underbelly. I haven’t trusted a lot of men, well, really people, but men especially.
“Yeah, they can be dicks, but…”
“What? Fritz who can’t stay faithful to save his life just wants to do the virgin and his penis will magically be mine for life?”
Of course, our waitress shows up with our rolls right at that moment. She hesitates, apparently not sure what to do. EJ takes pity and just motions for her to put the dishes down. She takes our appetizer plates away, and EJ and I stare at each other before we both start laughing.
“God, I wish Allison was here for that. She loves a good dick joke.”
The old woman next to us harrumphs and I toss her a sneer. Listen, I know, you should show deference or whatever, but we weren’t shouting our conversation. She’s eavesdro
pping. In that case, she gets stuck hearing whatever we say.
“And, let me tell you what I know about Fritz, and what Harry has said in the past.”
I nod as I shove a piece of my roll into my mouth. It has been forever since I’ve had sushi. It isn’t my top pick, but I do love a well-crafted sushi roll.
“Fritz never goes long without a date. Barring their deployments, Fritz always has a date.”
I swallow my sushi. “That can’t be true.”
“I have to say since they all moved to San Antonio, Fritz has had at least three or four dates a month, sometimes in a week. Now, he didn’t sleep with all of them, but he always has a date. Sometimes it has to do with work. He is their pretty boy—as you call him—but since he moved in with you, has he gone on a date?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She seems so damned irritated with me, I laugh.
“It means that I worked the first fifteen days he lived with me. Then the wedding stuff was happening.”
“Oh. Well, and case and point, the wedding stuff and those Army buddies. I know Blue bitched that Fritz had turned into an old man because he wouldn’t go out clubbing with them.”
“They asked him out to go clubbing?”
“I guess that’s what it’s called. They said something about a club. Now that I think about it, there is a good chance they said something about just going out drinking, but you know…” She shrugs like it explains it all. FYI, it does not.
“And in the great scheme of things, what does that mean?”
“Oh, well, it means that he decided to stay home Tuesday and Wednesday night instead of going out looking for a woman. That is very un-Fritz like. There is a good chance he hasn’t gotten off with a woman since he moved in with you.”
My face flushes and, of course, EJ doesn’t miss it. You think her Gran is a busybody? Well, that apple didn’t fall far from the perverted tree.
“What?”
I shrug.
“You better tell me what is going on or I will text Allison that you were fired and you’re in a heavy petting relationship with a manwhore.”
I frown. “I’ll tell her that I told you about this before the wedding and you thought I shouldn’t tell her.”
She frowns back at me. “You are not going to sidetrack me. You and Fritz have done more than just kiss?”
“Okay, just oral.”
“Oh. Hmm, but...”
“Both of us, oral. Jesus, woman. We kissed last night, but he refused to take me to bed. Bastard.”
“And this is where you thank your Aunty EJ for taking you to that toy shop.”
“You only took me once. I now have a collection of them.”
She laughs. “Good for you. And well, more than likely, he had a very long, cold shower last night.”
“You think?”
She nods. “So, are you going to go along with his idea of just dating?”
“Do I have a choice? I mean, I was on his lap, and he definitely had a hard-on, and he walked out of my room.”
EJ pressed her lips together. “Uh, yeah, you’re in trouble.”
I roll my eyes. “I just want sex. What happened to the guys who would jump into bed with you? You know, the ones they warn you about? Where are those guys? I just need someone with low morals.”
“Listen, he’s gonna get to it. It’s just that…”
“Ugh, you’re as annoying as he is.”
“Sorry, I might mean to tell you that he has a plan. All three of those idiot men were in the military. They plan. And plan some more. Fritz might seem like the one who just floats along, but don’t let his reputation fool you. You mean more.”
“Why? Don’t get me wrong. I am fanfuckingtastic. Just, why for Fritz, who seems to have not cared about other women?”
“I’m assuming that those women did mean something to him, but he never found one that he cared about enough.”
I cross my arms. “That sounds like he’s a horrible person.”
She shakes her head. “No. I’m pretty sure most of those women knew what they were getting into. Maybe a few of them wanted more, but he never led them on. Not that I know.”
My phone buzzes and I look down at it. It’s a picture of a red velvet cupcake. My favorite.
Fritz: I saved one for you.
I smile.
“Oh, that’s a nice look on you.”
I glance up. “What?”
“Happiness. Listen, you know what a nut job I was about Harry and not getting involved. Just believe me, they all have plans—although, Ed’s plan was to avoid Allison as much as he could—but Fritz wants to romance you. If there is one thing Fritz is good at, it is romancing a woman. I say enjoy it.”
I start in on my sushi roll again, thinking that EJ might be onto something. Only time would tell, and there was one thing Fritz had promised me, and that was that he was serious about me.
I just have to figure out how serious I am about him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Fritz
“You and Savannah have a date tonight?” Harry asks me. I’m facing away from him, so I feel comfortable enough to roll my eyes. Seriously. If Ed were here, he would be just as bad.
“Yep,” I say.
“You’re dating now?”
Really, Harry? Listen, I don’t mind having to be held accountable for how I treat Savannah. But the way he keeps asking me questions about it makes me think I can’t be trusted with her.
“That’s what I would call it, although, we have yet to go out on a date.”
He doesn’t say anything else, and I know that he’s staring at the back of my head. I can feel his gaze boring into it.
I turn to face him. “Say your piece.”
“Dude, just be careful. EJ told me what happened with her parents.”
Thankfully, Savannah had given me the heads up about that one. Knowing that she didn’t tell them the whole story kept me from making a mistake. I could have easily blurted out that her mother wasn’t actually her mother.
“And?”
“She’s fragile right now.”
I frown. “We’re talking about Savannah Martinez, right?”
“She is. EJ is worried about her.”
“And she’s worried I’m taking advantage of Savannah?”
“No, just…man, be careful.”
I want to roll my eyes again, but I resist the urge. Lord knows Harry would probably smack me upside the head. “I know that.”
“I don’t think you understand how much her family means to her.”
“I do. What does this have to do with her being fragile?”
“Without them, she might be a little lost.”
I snort and his eyes narrow.
“I understand you think you know Savannah, Harry.”
“I’ve known her longer than you have.”
“I’ll give you that. But do any of you know exactly what her days are like?”
“She works a lot. Or rather worked a lot.”
“Seventy hours a week, at least. She works on her days off, and the day before I moved in, she was called into work. You know, that Sunday she was supposed to have off. So, there is a good chance that happened a lot more often before I moved in, and we just didn’t know about it.”
“Yeah, we know she works those kinds of hours.”
“Did you know the last time she had more than three days off in a row was when she had pneumonia? She never gets time off. Not working for her family? She’s fucking better off. And she’s not fragile. Wait, I take that back. She’s been fragile for years. No one has ever had her back before. None of us. She has stood on her own. She might be a little unsteady, but she’s fucking stronger than any of us.”
Harry studies me for a long moment, and I realize that my voice had risen to the point that I attracted the attention of a few of our customers. I roll my shoulders, irritated when he continues to stare at me.
“What?”<
br />
He holds his hands up and a smile spreads over his mouth.
“I just…damn. I can’t wait until Ed gets back. He’s going to love this.”
“What?”
“You. Falling in love.”
Panic sets my heart racing. Jesus, I know I was thinking it the other day, and I actually might be, but hearing someone say it out loud kind of freaks me out. I want to spend time with her. And I told her that I wanted to wait, so that we are at the same place at the same time. I also told her how sweet she is.
Oh, fuck. I am definitely in love with her. Before, I was just thinking it, but now I know for sure. I…fuck.
“Are you okay?”
I look at Harry. I shake my head.
“What’s wrong?”
I open my mouth to say something, but no sounds come out. Before I can figure out what’s going on with my voice, my phone rings. Odd to get a phone call. When I see Grannie Pam’s rest home’s number, I click on it right away.
“Hello.”
“Mr. O’Bryan, this is Dr. Wise. I was wondering if you could come over to the home.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask, my heart in my throat.
“Your grandmother is having an episode. She has been agitated this week, but nothing like this. She’s convinced you’re deployed again, and she’s worried. She will not accept that you are safe.”
“Of course. I’m on my way right now. It should take me about ten minutes.”
“Thank you.”
I hang up.
“Grannie Pam?” Harry asks.
I nod. I look around the shop, but Harry shakes his head. “Ted is here, and EJ can come over and help if we get a rush. Just go.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
I hurry out of the shop and race over to the home, knowing that the few red lights I ran might get me stopped and slow me down. Still, I can’t get myself to stop. She hasn’t had a bad spell in months and never one that worried Dr. Wise that much. I could tell by the tone in his voice, they were worried about Grannie Pam.
I make it to the home in record time. I rush in, opting to take the stairs so I can get up there as fast as possible. I make it to the third floor, a little winded, but happy that I didn’t wait for the elevator. It is slow as fuck.
Scrumptious: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Camos and Cupcakes Book 3) Page 22
