Page 7 of Mayhem
“His memory is terrible. I knew we’d have some issues with him keeping up with certain things because he’d never worked in a kitchen before, but this…”Paetyn trailed off, and Cruz remained quiet as he went to grab a pair of track shoes from his closet, knowing the other man would continue eventually. “I can’t put him in a kitchen if he’s going to have to look up the recipe every time an order comes in.”
When Cruz came out of his closet, he found Paetyn sitting on his bed rubbing his temples. Paetyn had gone to many expos to find a new chef, and he’d specifically wanted one that hadn’t been in anyone else’s kitchen. One that did not have old habits to break because none were formed. He’d found one a couple of weeks ago; every day, aside from Sunday, Paetyn had been training him on the menu he planned for the bistro he had put off opening last year.
“You have time to train him or find another chef,”Cruz told him. “You haven’t even decided on a location after the other one fell through or an opening date yet.”Cruz stretched. “Besides, everyone isn’t a culinary genius who can look at a recipe once, memorize it, and make it outstandingly.”He gave Paetyn a pointed look.
With a scoff, Paetyn stood. “Yeah, you’re right.”He went towards the door. “Don’t forget we need to leave by at least six forty-five.”
Cruz didn’t respond following Paetyn out, and the two went their separate ways. Him down the stairs, and Paetyn, he was sure to his room.
Cruz walked into their home gym and turned on the sound system. Using the remote, he set an alarm for six o’clock if he was still working out. He often lost track of time and could end up staying in the gym for hours until his muscles began to scream at him.
As he went through his workout, his mind shifted to Erin. He’d thought about texting her earlier that morning and doing so the night after the wedding. However, he wanted her to contact him first, to reach out to him first. She had his number. He’d given it to her at some point with some excuse. He didn’t peg her to be the type to run away from something, so he knew that she’d eventually question him on his actions.
He’d gone to bed that night with the sound of her moans playing on repeat in his ear, with the feel of her warm wetness around his fingers, and to say he’d woken up hard as steel would have been an understatement. He thought about those sweet sounds throughout the day if he let his mind sit too long.
Shaking his head, Cruz decided to focus back on his workout. He’d give her a couple more days, and then, if she hadn’t reached out, he’d call her.
Paetyn and Cruz had beat Nik to the restaurant, but Paetyn wasn’t surprised, knowing how fast Cruz liked to drive before they got into the city. They’d shown up ten minutes early. They were eating at a new Greek restaurant that had opened a few months ago. They hadn’t been yet, and Paetyn wanted to see how it would stack up. He always enjoyed other restaurants when they had good food. However, when they fell into the same category as one of his own, he liked to see how they compared. Though admittedly, he was a bit biased.
They’d given Nik’s name to the host and were seated at their friend’s reserved table. A couple of minutes before seven-thirty, Paetyn saw Nik approaching the table, but it was the woman with Nik who had his attention.
She was dressed in a beige two-piece outfit. The pants she wore were high-waisted, and the matching top stopped under her breast, leaving part of her midsection exposed. She wore a white jacket over her shoulders, and the outfit contrasted against her umber skin. She shouldn’t have looked as alluring as she did but damn it if Paetyn didn’t have to shift in his seat.
“Fuck me.”He heard Cruz mumble under his breath, and Paetyn couldn’t help but agree.
“Indeed.”
They stood as the three made it to their table, and greetings went around. They were sitting at a round table, and Paetyn pulled out the chair between him and Cruz for Erin. She smiled at him, shrugging her jacket off and placing it over the back before sitting, placing her clutch on the table.
Their server, whom Paetyn had told they would wait until the rest of their party showed up, came over and asked if they would like to try any of their wines.
“Birthday boy?” Cruz questioned.
“Choose a wine, Love,”Nik told Chayse, deferring the choice to her.
“Do you have a semi-sweet or a sweet red?”Chayse questioned.
“Yes, ma’am. We have both,”the server responded.
“We’ll take a bottle of sweet red, and white. Whatever is most popular,”Chayse requested with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am and I’ll also bring water for the table.”With that, the young woman walked off.
The table broke out into conversation, and a part of Paetyn had wondered if Erin would ignore Cruz after their meeting on the balcony at the wedding. However, she did not. Instead, she turned to him and asked if he’d be willing to give her a rematch at the shooting range the next time she came down.
“I’ll take you tomorrow if you want,”Cruz responded.
“Tempting. But my flight leaves in the morning.”
“Leaving so soon?”Paetyn listened to Cruz’s question.
“She is, but she’s coming back!”Chayse excitedly spoke, and Paetyn looked over to find her smiling at Erin, who laughed.
“She comes back pretty often,”Paetyn replied because, in the time that Kieran had started dating Alijah, he’d seen Erin several times over the last two years. She was in Denver at least three to four times a year.
“I do,”Erin responded. “That’s why I’ve decided to move here.”
Paetyn glanced at Cruz as the other man did the same. They had not been expecting that. Being closer to them would make courting her much easier, but they had been prepared to do it while she was in Florida. It wasn’t a long flight, and having a private plane at their disposal made it far less complicated. Her being in town would be much easier.
