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“I’ll have a water and the macaroni and cheese, please.”
“Macaroni is what we say when ordering that shit in a salad. It’s just mac-n-cheese,” Breakneck corrected. “She’ll also have the fried okra, corn fritters, and we’ll split a large order of chili cheese fries. Get me a beer and the Jolly fuckin’ burger. You know which sides for mine.”
The woman nodded while staring at us curiously. “What’s goin’ on here, Break?” She asked, somewhat hesitantly.
“I’m on a fuckin’ date, Meg. What’s it look like?”
“A-A-A what, now?”
“Ha!” Breakneck chirped at her sarcastically. “I know you ain’t ever seen the likes of it before but wipe that grin off your face and go get our drinks. I’m thirsty.”
“I just bet you are,” she commented back as her eyes flitted to me. I might have been inexperienced and naïve, but I knew what she meant. Meg thought I was only there to be like those women at the club. For all I knew, this was how they tricked those women into working for them. Meg walked away to put in our order and get our drinks, leaving Breakneck and me to sit there and wait quietly.
“Aren’t you going to ask who she is?”
“No.”
“Why not?” He asked and that time turned his entire body to face mine, as if the answer demanded his full attention.
“You said one of the club’s old ladies owned the place. I assumed that was Meg from the way she spoke to you.”
“You don’t think any of the other women who work here would speak to me like they know me?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “They might, but Meg refused to give them a chance to do it, since I watched her push two other women away before she came to handle our table herself.”
“Very observant.”
“I’ve learned that I need to be far more observant than I have in the past.”
“I think you were plenty observant before, you were just in a shit situation that didn’t give you many options to act on it.”
“I never saw it coming that Jeremy wasn’t my father.”
“That’s different.”
He didn’t elaborate on why it was different, and I didn’t ask for clarification. If we got into talking about my family, the date would probably go to hell. Instead, we sat there and politely accepted the drinks Meg sat before us. I waited while she stood there, obviously wanting to ask questions, and instead shook off her curiosity and headed back toward the kitchen.
“Is she like that with everyone you bring in here? I have the feeling she wanted to grill me and find out what my intentions are for her big brother.”
Breakneck’s booming laughter in response to what I’d said sent chills down my spine – the good kind. It was a sound that I immediately fell in love with. It probably helped that the heat from his body sitting so close to mine was seeping in and warming my insides in a way they hadn’t been in ages. The other customers turned to look, many seeming startled by his response.
“Jesus, Nova.” My name was literally forced out through a chuckle. “You are somethin’ else.”
“I don’t understand why.”
“That’s part of your charm.”
Meg showed up with our chili cheese fries then. “The rest of your order will be up in a minute, figured you’d want these to start.”
“Thanks,” Breakneck huffed before taking a sip of his beer.
“What in the world had you laughing like that? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do more than chuckle.”
Breakneck eyed the woman and then turned to me with a grin on his face. “Maybe you were right about things. Seems your observations skills are on point.”
Meg’s eyes narrowed on me as she correctly surmised she’d been the butt of a joke, even if it wasn’t meant to be one.
“She asked me if you were like this with everyone I brought in here.”
