Page 17 of Here's to Tomorrow

“With who?” I ask, wondering if it’s Rae. I look around the bar, not seeing her.

“No idea. He just looked at me and said I’m going. She skipped away, saying she’ll find someone ‘real sweet’ just for me.” Tucker shudders.

“You scared?”

“Maybe a little.”

Gaige chuckles while I try to be a good friend and hold in my own laughter.

“What’s the other waitress’ name?”

“Maura, and she’s fucking edible, man!” Tanner practically yells. I cringe, hating when he gets crude like this. It’s one thing to talk to a woman like that on an intimate level, but another to bellow it out to your buddies.

“Anyway,” I press on. “I was thinking Saturday, or is that ‘date night’ for you dorks?”

“Saturday is good. We’re going out Friday night,” Tucker says.

I can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to find a way out of it. Tucker isn’t one for blind dates, or dates at all. He enjoys the single life, not in a slutty guy way, and not in the Tanner way; he just prefers to be alone. I mean, dude has itches, and he gets them scratched, but he doesn’t talk about it or advertise any of it. I respect him for it.

“I see you, man,” I say to him.

“I see you, too,” he bounces back.

We narrow our eyes at each other and then break out into grins. It’s something we’ve been saying and doing for years. No idea when or how it started, but it’s our way of saying we know what each other is thinking.

“Aw! Did you girls just have a moment?”

“Don’t be dick because you’re jealous of our bromance, Tanner,” Tucker tells his brother.

“Whatever,” Tanner mumbles. I think deep down heisjealous. He and Tucker have a decent relationship, but Tucker and I just seem to click in a way they don’t.

They continue to bicker but I tune them out as I catch sight of Rae again.

Right now, I want to kiss whoever came up with the uniforms for this place. They’re simple but sexy—or at least Rae’s is. It’s nothing but a pair of black shorts that somehow make her short legs look a mile long and a tight burnt-orange V-neck that is clinging to her curves in just the right way. Most places make you wear those ugly-ass no-slip shoes, but that doesn’t seem to be required here because Rae is rocking a pair of blue Chucks. Her entire look is so simple and understated that she stands out in the best way possible. She looks nothing like the other girls running around who are caked in makeup and have freakishly long bright fingernails. Rae’s plain, but it’s a good kind of plain.

She stops at the table full of guys again and I watch as she laughs with them. I hate that I am, but I admit I’m a little jealous I’m not sitting over there just so I can hear her more clearly.

I’ve thought about her laugh a lot over the last two weeks. In some weird sort of way, I’ve missed it. It felt so good to be able to laugh and have fun with her during our little ride. I’m usually surrounded by people who have been in my life since Joey was born, and it’s become a little…bland. It’s not that I don’t have fun with Tucker and Gaige, or that Joey doesn’t make me happy all the time, but it was nice to have had that small connection with someone new—no matter how short-lived it was.

I can’t even count the number of times I had to talk myself out of looking at her file to get her number. Tucker caught me with it on my desk once and proceeded to make fun of me for two days straight. I eventually had to lock him out of my office because he kept walking in at random times just to see if he could catch me again.

Rae glances up and catches me watching her again. She gives me a small smile that causes my heart rate to increase.Damn.Just her smile does stupid things to me. She spends another thirty seconds (yes, I count) at the table before she makes her way to ours.

“How you boys doing?” she asks in that sultry voice of hers. She peels her gaze from mine and looks around the table. “You want another Sam Adams?” she directs to Tanner.

“Bring it on, baby,” her tells her before returning his attention to Tucker and Gaige.

My body tenses for all of two seconds over the “baby” part before the look on Rae’s face registers with me. She’ssonot impressed with Tanner.Good job, Rae. The guy is a total douchebag.

She nods politely and then turns to me. “How about you, Hudson? Need a refill? I hear you have an excellent waitress that can get one for you.”

My body tenses again, but this time it’s from her saying my name. I didn’t realize before how much I love it.

“I’m good.” The grin she gives me is adorable and I can’t help but wonder what just went through her head. “What?”

She brings her hand up and pretends to zip her lips. I raise an eyebrow at her. She huffs.

“Geeze, Hudson. You can’t expect a girl to just give up all her secrets.”

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