Page 8 of The Road Ahead
We talked of inconsequential things over our meal, just shooting the shit. Our knees were pressed together almost the entire time, and after a while, I relaxed into it and just enjoyed the sensation. We ate, we drank, and we laughed. It was relaxing and fun, and I’m sure it was exactly what Rio needed after having their life upended so massively.
Then it really hit me that they were here, and they werestaying. I’d get many more opportunities like this to simply hang with them, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself.
Chapter 5
Rio
We vacated the table after we’d eaten, knowing it would be needed for other customers, and headed through to the lounge area where the band would be playing. It had glass doors leading to the outside that were thrown open to the night to allow for more people in the space, and a bar on the opposite wall. We got drinks and then found space to sit down on some ottomans.
“I have to pee,” Teresa announced as soon as we were seated. “Rio, come with me, babe.”
“Sure.” I turned to Cooper. “Make sure no one spikes my drink?”
“Of course,” he said, flashing me that stupidly sweet smile of his. Urgh, I was so gone over him it wasn’t funny.
Teresa grabbed my hand as we made our way through the gathering crowd so we wouldn’t get separated. We both groaned as we saw the long queue for the restrooms, but dutifully joined the end of it.
“You doing okay?” Teresa asked me, still holding my hand.
“Yeah,” I assured her. “It’s fun.”
“It is, but you’ve had a rough go of it lately. I wouldn’t want you getting overwhelmed because we’ve hit the ground running as soon as you got here.”
I smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “I’m all good. I swear.”
The line moved relatively quickly. and it wasn’t long before we were waiting by the sinks for some stalls to become free. A door opened as someone exited, and I pushed Teresa gently forward. “You go first. I know you’re about to burst.”
She flashed me a grateful look. “Thanks.”
When the next stall was free, I stepped inside and quickly peed. I didn’t really need to go, but if the line for the toilets was this long already, it was best to empty my bladder now. I zipped up my pants, adjusted my blouse, and then flushed. Stepping out, I looked around, but Teresa apparently had much more to empty than me.
I went to the sink to wash my hands and was just rinsing off the soap when my shoulder was roughly grabbed from behind.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing in here?” a voice snarled in my ear. I turned to see a much older woman with a glare on her face standing there. Her lips were pursed, and she shook her blonde hair back from her face in a regal gesture.
“I’m . . . using the bathroom?” I replied, turning it into a question. I knew where this was going—it had happened to me more times than I could count. The last thing I was going to do was make it easy for this bitch.
“You can’t be in here!” the woman insisted, crossing her arms.
“Why not?” I pressed.
“Because it isn’tright. We don’t need perverts like you using thewomen’srestroom.”
Before I could even reply, Teresa came up behind the woman and loudly demanded, “Why the fuck are you harassing my cousin?”
The woman turned to Teresa and gestured at me. “There’s amanusing the bathroom.”
Teresa raised a brow. “Really? Where?”
“What do you mean, where?” the woman spluttered. “He’s right there!”
Teresa made a show of looking around at all the people who were lined up and still waiting to use the facilities. “Nope, I don’t see any men here,” she said.
“You’re being ridiculous,” the woman snapped. “That man has a penis and I will not tolerate him using the women’s restrooms. Who even knows what he’s been doing in here?”
“I may be mistaken, but I’m pretty suretheypeed, and now they’re washing their hands,” Teresa said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.
I tried to keep the grin off my face. I hated that usinganypublic restroom might lead to confrontations like this, but I’d gotten pretty good at sticking up for myself over the years. It was really nice to have someone else doing it for me while I got to just stand back and watch the show.
