Page 75 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
“You know Tina.” She was next to an attractive guy with a shaved head and the biggest arms I’d ever seen. “That’s Vinnie.”
“Adam…” Jake pointed at the scrawny guy with the goatee, then the athletic-looking guy with the dirty-blond hair. “And that’s Pete.”
“Nice to meet you all.” I scooted in next to Tina and Jake sat on the other side of me.
“I’m almost done with your friend’s vases,” Tina said. “They’re turning out really well, if I do say so myself.”
“You totally saved the day.”
“I owe you, too. I’ve had several people come in and tell me you referred them.”
Jake put his arm around me. “So which wings do you want? They have just about every kind you can think of. We usually get a big thing and mix and match.”
My phone rang and I groaned. “Sorry. It’s my boss again. Just get whatever; I’m not picky.”
With the music and the talking, I couldn’t hear myself think, much less what Patricia was saying. I nudged Jake. He moved, and I tried to get away from the noise.
I stepped into the quietest corner I could find, pressed my phone to my ear, and used my free hand to plug the other ear. “What was that?”
“Where’s Nadine?” Patricia asked, annoyance filling her voice.
“I have no idea. Did you call her cell?”
“Of course I did. I need a number from her, but she’s not picking up. I was hoping you had it.”
“Didn’t Nadine give you the entire vendor list?”
Patricia exhaled loudly enough I could hear it through the phone. “I’m out to dinner. I don’t have itwithme.”
Sure,shegets to go out to dinner.
As luck would have it, I had the number she was looking for stored in my phone. I rattled it off, hung up, and headed back to the table.
“So she’s just going to come in and out whenever she feels like it?” Tina asked.
Jake shrugged. “It’s not like—”
“Hey, Darby,” Adam said, nice and loud, leading me to believe that Jake and Tina were talking about me.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I’ve got this big project at work that my boss won’t leave me alone about.”
Jake stepped aside so I could get to my seat, then sat back down beside me. The guys were all focused on the Rockies game going on the wall opposite us. A guy from the Yankees caught the ball that the batter popped into the air.
Everyone groaned except Jake. His lips curved into a megawatt grin. “You guys are so going down tonight.”
Adam reached for a fried mozzarella stick. “No way. We can still win.”
Glancing at the score, I saw the Rockies were down by seven. “So you’re a Yankees fan,” I said to Jake, though it was pretty obvious, what with the cheering and the Yankees cap he was sporting.
“Born and raised. Every year these guys claim the Rockies are going to win one, but they always lose.” He put his hand on my thigh. “You care about baseball?”
“Uh, no. The only more boring sport on TV is golf. Or bowling. I can handle a football game now and then, but I don’t care enough to go out of my way to watch one.”
Adam’s mouth dropped. “I don’t know if we can let you hang out with us if you don’t care about sports. It’s what we’re all about.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret. Most girls don’t care about sports. They just say they do to impress you. Once you’re hooked, they’ll start complaining about how much you watch. Only a select few actually like to sit around yelling at the TV, acting like they can influence the outcome of the game.”
“She’s right,” Pete said. “I’ve had girlfriends who say they’re huge sports fans, then a few months in, they want to go out when the game’s on. And if you come to a place like this, they accuse you of ignoring them.”
