Page 47 of Crash
I chuckle at that.
“No, I had an email about my insurance, and I wanted to read it in case I needed to take action. So, who are these lovelies?” I reclaim my seat and take a drink from my mug.
“This is Shelly, and her friend, Tori. Ladies, this is my friend Austin.”
They offer the basic hi, nice to meet you spiel and I nod in agreement and say the same.
“So, how do you ladies know Caleb?”
“Oh, we don’t. We saw he was sitting here by himself and thought he was too cute to be sitting there alone. We didn’t know you were with him.”
“Yeah, they had pity for ya friend, unlike you.”
Shelly laughs again and rubs her hand over his biceps. Her friend and I both roll our eyes and take drinks. We look at each other and laugh seeing how we are the only ones sharing an inside joke.
Tori leans into my ear. “I mean, could she be any more obvious?” she comments.
“He’s certainly sopping it up.” We laugh again, bringing attention to ourselves.
“What are you two giggling about?” Caleb asks
“Nothing. We were just talking about you. That’s all.”
Caleb smiles while Shelly looks bewildered.
“Well, hey, how about we move this over to the table that just cleared? I’ll get the next round,” Tori offers.
“Sure, I’m game. We hadn’t placed our food order anyway,” Caleb answers.
We follow the ladies to the dining area and sit. The server passes out menus and promises to return to take our order. We continue with conversation about our careers and other things, and the evening of a few beers and wings turns into a rather pleasant outing with two lonely women.
“Hey, bro. What are you doing here?” Courtney says, with clenched lips and a plastered smile.
I look around hoping to see Tessa, but when Court redirects my attention, I knowshe’shere.
“Having dinner. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, we just stopped by to do a little celebrating. Can I talk to you in private? Mom and dad told me something and I’m sure you don’t know seeing how you were at work earlier.”
“Oh-kay. Let’s step in the hallway.” I stand and escort my sister to a more discreet and quiet location. “What’s up?” I ask.
“What the hell, Austin? You’re on a date?”
“No. I’m not on a date. Caleb met those two while I was in the bathroom and they invited us to join them. He’s looking for action and I’m just along for the free meal and drinks. And if I was, what’s it to you?”
“Well, Tessa is here, and she’s in a pleasant mood. I don’t want to bring her down so I will try to talk her into going to another location. But if she disagrees, then we will have to find another option. She found out today the tour has been reset, and she’s really excited.”
“Oh, wow. I’m happy for her, well y’all. Is she still in her walking boot?”
“Not since last week. She’s a fast healer. We’ve been rehearsing every day, but she takes it easy. I’m gonna go back to her before she wanders around and sees you.”
“This is stupid, I’m gonna go over there and talk to her.”
“Austin, no. Let her have this moment and come to you. Trust me, she thinks about you often, but let her havethismoment. It will help her close this chapter and heal.”
“I can’t make any promises. Besides, we’re going hiking tomorrow so I can get some clarity myself.”
“Oh, you thinking about getting back into the dating pool?”
