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“Not feeling very well. Perhaps I got what you had. You made me sick.” She gave a couple of fake coughs, and Nolan arched an eyebrow.
“If that wasn’t fake, I don’t know what is.” He grabbed her hand and swung her around so they were headed back into the bar. Ali stared at Jo, and her gut clenched.
“Looks like Johanna has made a little friend,” Nolan whispered into her ear. Ali elbowed him in the stomach, and he grimaced. On cue, Jo turned and spotted them. Her face fell, just slightly. Ali dropped her gaze and then forced through a smile.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hi, Ali…Nolan.” Jo gave a small nod as she glanced from Ali to Nolan. “Was starting to think that you two weren’t coming.”
“It didn’t even seem like you missed us. You were flirting and all.” The snide comeback caught Ali by surprise. She clamped her teeth down on her lower lip. Not that she noticed, she wanted to blurt out, but she had spoken the truth and couldn’t take it back. She looked over to Nolan, and his eyes were wide. Ali sighed and turned to May. “How are you, May?”
“Doing well, thank you.”
They all awkwardly stood there, with Ali considering how much worse it would be if she ran off. “Anyone else coming?” Jo asked, breaking into the tension.
“This was all that could make it,” Ali mumbled. “I need a drink.” She went up to the bar, and the bartender, who Jo had been engrossed with moments earlier, stood at attention. “A beer, anything cold.” Make it a triple. She looked over, and no one was talking, which made things even harder to get past. “Thank you.” She took a sip of her beer and turned to the others. “Who’s hungry? I’m famished.” She led the way to a table that had just recently emptied and plopped down first, with Nolan grabbing the seat next to her, followed by May and Jo sitting across from them. “The nachos here are to die for,” she said. She figured if she talked like nothing awkward had happened, then maybe she would be able to move past it. So far, so good. At least, she hoped.
“I always love a good nacho,” Jo remarked. Ali met her gaze, but Jo quickly looked down at the menu. “Pork nachos sound delicious.”
“They are my favorite,” Ali mumbled.
Nolan and May hadn’t gotten a word in edgewise as Ali and Jo nonchalantly discussed the nachos they were going to order. It didn’t take long for the tension to ease, and Ali could slowly relax. The waitress took their orders, with everyone ordering the nachos in some fashion. Once she was gone, Ali glanced over to Jo. Jo had her gaze set on a couple who were manning the billiard’s table.
“Do you play?” Ali asked.
Jo shifted her gaze, then shrugged. “A long time ago. My dad and I.” She shook her head and sat back in her seat, taking a sip from her water. “A long, long time ago.”
Ali drank her beer, glancing over her bottle for a moment longer than intended. Nolan nudged her side after she had been staring for too long, and Ali dropped her gaze. “So, as I mentioned earlier in the week, we like to do these nights out together so we can all just relax and ease some of the stress away. I wish more people would have been able to come.” She shrugged. “Perhaps next time.”
The truth was that Ali wasn’t too upset that the foursome was the only one who was able to join that Friday night. She thought it’d be nice to have some quality time with Jo, so you could say that she was indulging for selfish reasons. But she could hardly confess that to any of them. Although from beside her, she saw Nolan staring at her. He knew her well enough to just know.
The waitress brought them their drinks and nachos, and they further relaxed to just talk, leading the conversation in music, food, the good and the bad. When a song came on, and Jo started humming to it, Ali caught herself staring once more. It was an Adele ballad, not quite what she pegged Jo for being interested in. Jo’s cheeks turned a dark red as she met Ali’s stare.
“I’m off-key, right?”
Ali snickered. “No, but I wouldn’t judge because I’m no Adele, but this is one of my favorite songs.”
Jo smiled. “Mine too. When I was in college, I found that listening to her would soothe away some tension and allow me to focus on studying.” She smirked. “I know, people would call that nerdy.”
Ali shook her head. “I wasn’t going to say that.” Again, Jo’s cheeks turned red. Jo dropped her gaze and went back in for another handful of nachos. She bit into them, and Ali forced herself to turn away. Nolan arched an eyebrow, so Ali quickly diverted his gaze.
“Do you have to go to the restroom, Jo?” May asked, breaking into Ali’s thoughts.
“Huh? Not particularly,” Jo replied.
“Too bad,” May murmured. “Come with me anyway.” She stood up and reached for Jo’s hand, pulling her away from the table. Ali shrugged and kept eating on her nachos. It wasn’t too long, though, when Nolan chuckled.
“What?” Ali asked.
“Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you got romantically involved with an employee at CAPMed?” His tone was stern, and Ali groaned.
“That’s not what this is,” Ali argued. “She’s not interested, for one.” Ali shrugged. “Hell, I’m not interested. She’s merely a nurse that I’m helping to mold. That’s all. And Max wasn’t just another employee. She was a supervisor.”
He rolled his eyes. “You must think I’m stupid. So, basically, you are Max, and Jo is you.” Ali dropped her jaw. “You have been mentally undressing her since you arrived.”
“What? I have not.” She looked away from him when he started to laugh. “Did you see how she was flirting with the bartender? Right under my nose. Pitiful.”
He quirked up his lips. “Well, does she know she’s not supposed to be flirting under your nose?”
