Page 38 of Book Boyfriend
“Is it what I said?”
I sigh. “It’s nothing. Can we drop it?”
He leans his back on the counter as I place the flowers in a vase and add water.
“You don’t take compliments well, do you?”
“I don’t believe compliments. Isn’t that the same thing?”
He crosses his arms. “No. That’s entirely different. Not taking them well means it’s hard for you to hear. Not believing them means you don’t see what others see.”
“Where are we going tonight?” I ask as I put the vase on my table.
His lip curls up on the side as he regards me. He shakes his head lightly then straightens his posture. “It’s a surprise. Shall we go?”
“What’s with all the surprises?” I ask as he opens his car door for me. “Why not just tell me?”
He closes my door and jogs around to his side, sliding in the seat and pressing a button to start the car. “A friend of mine owns a bar downtown. I heard they have amazing food and great entertainment. I thought we’d pop in. Is that okay?”
I can’t help but smile. “Sounds great.” I’m so glad he’s finally being himself. Maybe I can relax after all.
It’s a forty-minute drive to the bar. I find out Fisher has very diverse taste in music. He introduces me to a country band named Old Dominion and a song called “Snapback,” which I surprisingly like immediately. In the next song we listen to “Walk on Water” by Thirty Seconds to Mars. It’s constant variety. He keeps me on my toes. He’s hard to pin down.
After we get on the highway, Fisher opens his hand to me across the seat and continues to hold mine and drive one-handed. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like holding his hand. Ollie never did it. To me, it’s like claiming someone, especially in public. It lets everyone know you’re not just a random person, but rather someone important. I wonder if he’ll still hold my hand when we get to the bar.
We drive around for a good ten minutes before we’re able to find a spot to park. He offers to drop me off at the door, but there’s no way I’m going in without him. He has no idea how socially awkward I can be. Whenever I go anywhere public by myself, I feel like I have a neon sign flashing above my head that says “No one wanted to come with me.”
He places his hand on the small of my back and leads me through the door. It’s rather dark, with a reddish glow all around. There’s a stage up front with a microphone, but I don’t see a band. Maybe they haven’t set up yet.
As soon as we’re inside, he takes my hand in his and leads me around tables to the bar. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was walking on clouds. A girl in a short skirt and heels perks up when she sees Fisher. Her eyes move over to me and I feel as if my head was chopped off in her brain. I squeeze his hand a little tighter. That’s right, bitches. This hottie is with me.
He releases my hand to shake the hand of a guy behind the bar. “Macy, this is Jeremy. He owns the place. He’s a friend of my best friend growing up. We ran into each other a few weeks ago.”
I hold out my hand to him and he shakes it. I’m really impressed that Fisher knows to introduce me as Macy. I only told him once that I never use my real name and he has honored my wishes ever since.
“Can I get you a drink?” Jeremy asks as he stacks glasses behind the bar.
“Captain Morgan and Coke in a tall glass with lime, please.”
“I’ll take what’s on tap and start a tab for me.”
“You got it, bro.”
“Want to get a table?” Fisher asks as Jeremy delivers our drinks.
“Saved that one up front just like we discussed,” Jeremy says with a wink.
My Spidey senses start to tingle.
We walk over to a table but as I sit down, Fisher steps onto the stage. “Oh, fuck no.”
He takes a swig of his beer and steps in front of the microphone, flipping it on with his finger. He taps it and the bar quiets down. I think I let out a small whimper, but I can’t be sure.
“Hey there, everyone! Welcome to karaoke night at Jackson’s! My good friend Jeremy Jackson over there was kind enough to let me kick things off tonight. I hope you’re all half wasted already. I’ll sound way better when you’re drunk.”
There’s a few laughs and I awkwardly gaze around the room. There are at least fifty people that I can see. I’m going to vomit. What is he doing?
“I’m here on a date tonight with this beautiful woman in the front row. Everyone say hi to Macy.”
