Page 50 of Of Pranks and Passion

“He’s coming, right?”

He nodded, his smile soft and understanding. “He’ll be here. Come on. She won’t do anything to you while I’m around.”

He linked arms with me and practically had to drag me inside, but I appreciated the support and clung to him aswe stepped inside the restaurant. It was… not a nice place. The decor was tacky, the tables covered in those checkered tablecloths, with fake ivy draping from the ceilings. The dimmer lighting didn’t really help any. The walls were covered in decorative plates, paintings of grassy hillsides, and a few odds and ends that didn’t really match the theme.

“Why is there a tricycle on the wall?” I asked.

Angel snorted. “I was thinking the same thing. And look over there. Is that statue for real?”

He pointed to a statue near the doorway to the kitchen that looked like it had once been a fat chef holding a pizza, but after so many years the paint had mostly faded and the belly was all scuffed like it was knocked over a lot. It was a little creepy, to be honest. It had no eyes anymore.

“Gary!” My mother’s familiar hiss was loud in the mostly empty restaurant, and I sucked in a breath as she stormed over to me. She was red faced and fuming, probably because I was late. That had been intentional. Angel wouldn’t let me get here any earlier. He didn’t want my mom using me as free labor.

“Mom,” I answered politely as she stopped in front of me. I gestured over my shoulder. “These are my friends. I–”

“I don’t care about that! You have been ignoring my calls for weeks! You left us floundering to find a place for your sister’s party because you were too busy for your own family! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

I frowned. “I didn’t get any calls from you…”

She shot me a scathing look. “Don’t lie, Gary. It was your responsibility to chip in for this party. You’re lucky your father is friends with the owner of this place. You better have brought something nice for your sister to make up for it.”

“Uh…” Okay, so maybe I forgot about buying Brienna a present. In my defense, I was attacked a week ago, and I’dbeen busy worrying about the confrontation after Brienna sent someone to attack me.

“His boyfriend is bringing the gift, ma’am,” Coach answered smoothly.

Mom’s gaze jerked to Coach, like she was just now realizing that I’d brought guests. One reason I thought I could get away with this was that my parents didn't like to make scenes in public. They had an image to maintain. They weren’t well off or anything, they were middle class all the way, but they saw themselves as high class and you wouldn’t catch either of them making a scene in public.

Mom looked torn between continuing to berate me for ignoring her calls, which I definitely didn’t do, and keeping up her public facade. In the end, she jabbed her finger towards the large table in the corner, her teeth clenched as she feigned politeness.

“We’re over there. I told the owner you would help so–”

“With what? Like bringing out meals? Is this place so shabby that it doesn’t have its own waiters?” Chuckles asked. He sounded like he was asking a legitimate question, but there was definitely a jab in there. And Mom really didn't like it.

“Of course they have waiters. But–”

“Great. Man, I’m starving. Is the food going to be served soon?” Smiley interrupted.

I’d never had backup in my life, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from grinning like an idiot. Mom couldn’t say anything without someone stepping in to defend me. She ended up storming away when my dad called her back to the table.

Letting out a relieved sigh, I shot my friends a grateful look. “Thank you. I thought now that I moved out, I wouldn’t be relegated to server, but I should’ve known better.”

“Have you really been ignoring her calls?” Angel asked, a mischievous grin on his face. I shook my head quickly.

“No. I’ve never ignored her calls. I haven’t heard from her in weeks. Or Brienna, for that matter. Which is weird. Usually she would’ve asked me for money by now.”

It was a mystery I’d need to solve later. When Mom went back to the table where my sister was holding court over her friends, she drew my sister’s attention my way and I saw her eyes narrow. It was only a matter of time before she came for me herself.

“Come on. Let’s not hang around the doorway,” Angel said as he nudged me towards the party. “Just act like you were invited. Technically, you were.”

Eh. Semantics. I was supposed to be here to work. I got the feeling my friends wouldn’t allow me to pick up even a bottle of wine.

Since the table with my sister’s friends was full, we sat ourselves at a table across the aisle. There were servers scurrying around, looking harried as they tried to handle the large and demanding party. Considering the shabbiness of the restaurant, they probably didn’t see this large of a group very often.

A server came to our table and took our drink orders before hurrying off again. I was going to toast my friends for supporting me, but I’d barely lifted my glass before a hand grabbed my elbow and hauled me out of my seat.

“You’ve got some nerve,” Brienna hissed.

She looked flawless, because of course she did. Her tight sequined cocktail dress looked out of place in this crappy restaurant, her sky high heels sharp enough to hurt someone. Those made me nervous, and I wanted to take a step back to keep more space between us. But I couldn’t go anywhere with her manicured nails digging into my arm.

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