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Dinner with me
Hunter
With my heart slamming against my ribs, I walk in front of Zach, leading us out of the bar. As soon as the door closes behind us, the deafening noise of the inside gets blocked, and I can finally hear the thoughts in my own head again.
“Wow, that was…”
“Fucking loud and nasty,” Zach chuckles next to me. “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when I asked Amanda out. I should’ve known what was in store for me as soon as she told me where she was taking me.”
“But then you wouldn’t have met me,” I elbow him, grinning up at him.
I get mesmerized by the way his incredible eyes roam over my face, slowly, like he is caressing every inch of it.
“I am fucking stoked to have met you,” he finally says, bringing one finger up to touch my hair that I’m sure is all over the place by now.
I push my hands in the back pockets of my jeans and rock back and forth on the heels of my boots. I suddenly feel shy, maybe even intimidated. Zach Cavanaugh is young, but he seems to be more mature than the guys I normally hang out with, which are all around my age.
“Where would you like to go hang out?” He sort of imitates what I’m doing by shoving his hands in his jean pockets and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. He is so very tall too, I notice in dismay. Maybe that’s what’s throwing me off my game.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions before we go anywhere.” I am so proud of how strong and confident my voice comes out. That is definitely not how I feel about any of this.
Zach gives me a grin of approval and lifts his chin at me. “Shoot.”
“Hey, don’t tease. I actually do know how to shoot,” I warn him.
“Do you now?” His wavy hair falls into his eyes, looking like he is way overdue for a haircut, and my fingers itch to push it back.
“Sure do,” I confirm. “My dad taught me, and he is the best.” In more ways than one, actually.
My dad is an incredible outdoorsman. He instilled in both me and my brother his love and respect for the outdoors and anything related to basic survival skills. Ridge took to it like a duck to water. Me, on the other hand, not so much. But I did try, and I can protect myself if needed.
“So what are your questions?” Zach prompts me when he sees I am lost in thought, staring at him.
“Uh, well, for one, are you from around here?” I didn’t lie when I told him I watched Dateline. And I’ve seen way too many cases of mysterious disappearances of young girls who just walked out of bars with random guys they’d just met.
“I live in Schaumburg mainly, but I drive into the city for work.”
Okay, Schaumburg is good, only twenty minutes away from where we are right now on the outskirts of said city.
“Okay, cool. How old are you?” Because even though I do feel attracted to him, I am not looking to date a much older man. My mom would kill me on the spot if I went home with someone much older.
“Twenty-six,” comes his immediate response. That’s not bad at all. He is only four years older than I am.
My hands are still in my back pockets, and I am chewing on my bottom lip as I wonder what else I could ask him. Maybe to see his driver’s license. That would be good. I could take a picture and send it to my mom, just in case I do vanish into thin air. They can put his face on posters and milk cartons and wherever else they put stuff like that on.
“Can I ask you any questions?” he interrupts my inner freak-out mode about milk cartons.
“I am not done,” I snap at him, my tone a little harsher than I intended for it to be.
“My apologies,” he grins at me, his amusement very obvious, and that makes up my mind.
“I need to see your driver’s license,” I say it fast enough so I wouldn’t have time to change my mind.
“My driver’s…” He sounds completely taken aback by my request, but then chuckles and complies. He takes his hands out of his front pockets, then reaches in one of the back ones from where he retrieves his wallet. “How’s this?” He takes his driver’s license out and lifts it for me to read.
“Zachary Adam Cavanaugh,” I mouth his full name. My eyes lift to his when he chuckles.
“My initials are ZAC. So, I’m Zach no matter how you look at it,” he shrugs and laughs.
