Page 12 of We're Just Friends
“All these years and you still have the same number?”
I immediately recognized the voice.
“Jake?”
4
Jake
Isat at the bar, waiting for Richard to come in. I had thrown on a pair of dark denim jeans and a white t-shirt, trying my best to keep it casual. River Valley was a laid back place, the kind where wealthy people really stood out. Although Richard was pretty rich himself, but I didn't want to draw attention to either of us. But all eyes were on Richard as soon as he walked through the door. That’s what I loved about River Valley. Everybody was friendly, and they remembered you, no matter how long you stayed away. I even waved to a few people I hadn’t seen in years when I first got there.
“There he is,” Richard said, walking toward me. “I hope you didn’t start drinking. I know how you like to party.”
He gave me a long, warm hug, and it immediately lifted my spirits. It was exactly what I needed. I longed to be back in my hometown with my family.
“It’s way too early for that,” I said, walking with him to a table. “And I’m honestly kind of tired of the party scene. It gets old after a while.”
A waitress brought over two menus and glasses of water. She was cute, and definitely my type, but I ignored her flirtatious smile. I wanted to focus all of my attention on Richard. He was my brother, and it had been far too long since I had seen him.
“Yeah, right,” Richard laughed, looking over the menu. “I wish my body could handle it, but I'm officially old.”
I sipped my water. "No argument there."
His eyes shifted up over the menu. "Watch it, I know where you're going to be sleeping while you're here."
I smiled as I scanned the menu, finding the humor and lack of overbearing machismo to be invigorating. I loved Hillard, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I felt like I was stuck in a high school locker room. He wasn't really the quiet and chill kind of guy.
After looking at the menu for a few minutes, we both settled on cheeseburgers, fries, and colas.
Richard handed his menu over to the waitress with a friendly smile. When she walked away, he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest, just like our father did. “So, how’s work going?”
I hesitated when it came to telling him the raw truth. Work was wearing me down, and I desperately needed a break. I knew my brother would try to convince me to stay a few days longer than I had planned, and maybe that would be a good idea. But I was also aware from past experience I shouldn’t make that promise as soon as I got into town. At first it always felt good to be back home, but usually after a few days I went stir crazy.
“It’s good. Stressful at times, but good.”
Richard shrugged. “If you want to be successful in life, you have to break your back a little bit.”
I smiled and took a long sip of my soda, remembering all the times our father had said that to us. It started young. He gave us chores, and mine was to mow the lawn. I complained the whole time and swore I was too young to have to work. And the day I showed Dad where I had looked up the child labor laws, explaining how he was breaking the law—well let’s just say for a month Dad’s car was spotless and there was nary a single stick on the lawn.
“Remember how Dad used to tell us how easy we had it?" I rolled my eyes.
Richard scoffed. “Remember? How could I forget! He acted as though he grew up without any shoes, having to walk uphill through the snow just to get to school.”
“I guess he taught us well. Although, I have no intention of ever mowing a lawn again. I still shudder when I think about how I sweated my ass off while pushing that mower in the middle of July. I’m surprised I didn’t get a heatstroke.”
Richard flicked his straw wrapper across the table at me. "Yeah, well, you've done pretty good for yourself. I'm sure you would be okay just hiring someone to do your lawn. Or, you could settle down and have kids of your own so they can mow it for you.”
I lifted a brow at him. "I know you still live here in the same town as our father, and you probably spend a lot of time together, but don't go full relationship with me. I've been here like thirty seconds."
Richard put up his hands, chuckling. "Alright, I'm sorry. I'll wait until tomorrow."
"It's not like you have room to talk," I replied, pointing at him. "You’re single too."
He grimaced at me. "Don't remind me, Dad does it enough."
We laughed like old times, something that fed me more than the burger and fries did. Nothing had changed between the two of us. We still picked on each other, we always joked about the old days, and we were both still as stubborn as hell.
"Alright guys," the waitress said, holding the tray in front of her. "Two burgers with fries."
