Page 9 of Lucky Mother Pucker

Nick: I’m starving. Headed to the diner. You guys wanna come?

Travis: I’ll head down in a few

Blake: On my way

My stomach growls. I was so busy this morning with my dad and my sister, then going to class, that I didn’t have time to eat breakfast.

Me: Count me in

* * *

“We’ve got a tall stack of pancakes, two orders of French toast, corned beef hash, grilled chicken breast, a side order of bacon, six fried eggs, six scrambled eggs, two breakfast sandwiches, and cheese grits,” the server says.

She sets down a mountain of plates on our usual table at the Mile High Diner.

“You boys need anything else?” she asks.

We shake our heads.

“We’re good, Janice. Thanks,” Nick says.

“I’m guessing you boys want pie for dessert, like usual?” Janice asks when she comes back to refill our drinks.

We nod, our mouths full. She just chuckles. “Four slices of pie for these bottomless pits, coming right up.”

Nick blows her a kiss. “Love you, Janice.”

“Don’t let Poppy catch you flirting with our server. She’ll have your balls,” Blake teases.

Nick rolls his eyes, smiling. “Poppy loves Janice. She says she reminds her of her aunt.” He wipes his mouth with a napkin before shoveling more corned beef hash into his mouth.

We finish our meals, then dig into our pie.

“Hey, are we still having a Halloween party at our place?” Blake asks.

“Hell, yeah,” Nick says. “It’s our last year at Hollis. Our senior year. We gotta go out with a bang.”

“Good because Briar and I already have our costumes picked out.” Blake smiles. “We’re going as Jake and Amy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

“Of course you are,” Travis mutters.

Blake elbows him. “You don’t get to give me shit. I know you and Anna are going as characters from Grey’s Anatomy.”

Travis frowns at him, but a second later, he cracks a smile. “Yeah. We are.”

Nick laughs. “Damn, dude. Really? You hardly ever dress up for Halloween. You’re such a grump.”

Travis shrugs. “Your sister convinced me.”

“Aww, our boy’s whipped,” Blake teases. Travis rolls his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile.

He’s dating Nick’s twin sister, Anna, who’s a super fan of the show Grey’s Anatomy. He started watching it with her, and now he loves it too.

“You and Poppy doing a couple’s costume too?” Blake asks Nick.

“Yeah, maybe.” He grins. “I kind of want to go as something romantic. Like Romeo and Juliet.”

I look at him. “Romeo and Juliet kill themselves.”