Page 6 of Fight

“Got it, boys. Coming right up.” She smoothly poured them two fresh IPAs and picked up Ian’s empty glass, sauntering to the other side of the bar.

Jake admired her walking away and took an initial sip of his beer, letting the crisp, hoppy flavor explode in his mouth. Nothing better than a cold beer to follow a day on the road. He leaned back and sighed heartily.

“Don’t forget dinner tonight,” Ian said, interrupting his reverie.

Shit. He’d forgotten he had promised Ian earlier in the week that he'd have dinner with Ian and their neighbors Annie and Morgan to welcomeherinto town.

“Oh yeah.” Jake leaned forward on the bar and sighed. “I forgot about that. What time again?’

“Seven. At Crunchie's. And no backing out. We need to even out the numbers.”

“Even out the numbers? This isn’t some country dance. Surely, you can handle dinner alone with three women.”

“It’s for Annie. She’s so excited Lena is moving here. She wants to show her how many people she already knows. And no, I don’t think I could handle that dinner alone after the day I’ve had.”

Jake rolled his eyes. Ian had been hopelessly pining for their neighbor, Annie, for the past year since she’d moved to Conrad. Ian would deny it in a second—Annie was hardly the type of girl that he'd gone for in college or one his family would approve of—but it was obvious he had a thing for her by the way he mooned over her and followed her around like a lost puppy.

Jake was waiting for the right time to bring it up with Ian, and he didn’t feel like that time was now as Ian was in a mopey mood, staring morosely into his beer.

“Why would Annie want me there so badly? That woman and I were like oil and water last summer. I don’t know how someone who dresses so wacky can have absolutely no sense of humor. Remember that backpack trip to Fallen Leaf?” Jake scoffed at the memory. Just the thought of her caused discomfort to trickle up his spine.

Things had continued along the same vein on that trip as their terrible first meeting of Lena’s visit. All of Jake's attempts to talk and joke with her placed him more and more in the asshole category. Nothing he said to her came out the way he intended it to. She took herself and her wardrobe way too seriously for this liking.

Annie and Morgan continuously invited him along on their excursions and Ian would never turn down an invitation from Annie. Things between him and Lena had climaxed with an overnight camping and hiking trip that had ended with Lena declaring her undying hatred for him.Had he heard her call him Satan? It was true that he hadn’t handled himself very well, but how was he supposed to react to cluelessness like hers?

It really just cemented in him that his kind of girl was of the Sadie variety. Sure, Lena was beautiful, but what did that matter when a simple walk in the woods was such a challenge for her?

Jake sighed and looked over at Ian. He looked so tired; so stressed. Not like the carefree guy he’d connected with a few years ago, who let out a howl when he pushed his ski poles off the top of the hill.

“You alright, man?” Jake asked in a quiet, serious tone.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’ve just had a rough time with Cynthia lately—and my dad. I’d rather not keep that going by letting down Annie, too,” he admitted. “And Morgan,” he quickly added as he looked down at his glass again.

“I’ll be there tonight. For you, buddy,” Jake added, holding his glass up. Ian clinked his glass to Jake's with a weary, but grateful smile in his blue eyes.

Chapter 3

Alocalfavorite,Crunchie'swas a beach-themed restaurant located in a building off of the town’s main drag, Lake Conrad Boulevard. Despite the fact that Conrad was a west coast lake and there wasn’t a crab, lobster, or shark for miles, the restaurant's decor and menu embraced the ocean aesthetic.

Remembering the decor, Lena had dug through her suitcase until she had found the perfect dress. She wore a turquoise and white floral printed maxi dress that criss-crossed in the front to create a halter. Since her long hair hadn’t been in the best shape from flying all day, she’d parted it down the middle and smoothed it back into a low bun, which showed off her large, thin, metallic purple hoop earrings. She was happy to give her feet a break and slip into some flat soft brown leather sandals.

Annie was still wearing the same wrinkled sundress and utilitarian sandals that she had worn to pick up Lena from the airport. The outfit was similar to the ones that she had worn all over on their trip around Europe. Annie was a fan of sundresses, cutoffs, and simple tank tops and t-shirts. Depending on the heat, she either wore her curls loose down her back or tied in a messy bun on top of her head.

Although Annie liked to tease Lena about her “fancy” clothes, Lena knew it was always good-natured. She never uttered a word of complaint about the amount of time it took Lena to put herself together versus the fifteen minutes Annie averaged.

Unlikesomepeople, Annie can tolerate differences. Lena warmly watched her friend settle down in a chair at the large circular table that the hostess had directed them to.

Lena sat down next to Annie and began looking at the menu. “When’s everyone else supposed to be here?” she asked with feigned casualness.

Annie didn’t take her eyes off the menu as she answered. “Morgan texted me she would be a little after seven—she got off of work late—and Jake and Ian should be here any minute. Ian just texted me they had some drinks and were going to stop by home so Jake could change out of his cycling clothes.”

Lena sighed and stared resolutely at the menu. As much as she would like to deny it, she was nervous about seeing Jake. She did have some mild regrets about the way she had acted and the things she had said to him on ‘Hell Hike.’ He was such a jerk and she always got a little rise out of calling him out on it. But maybeSatanwas a step too far. She was going to have to be on her toes though, just in case he walked in here, guns blazing.

She just knew he was going to strut in here all smiley with his handsome face and freakishly beautiful eyes and say something about her outfit. Something like, “Gee, Helena, you headed to a pig roast after this?” or “Gosh, Helena, why are you wearing a mumu to dinner?”

She tried to think of an articulate response to either of those potential insults, but even in her imagination, she was only able to sputter and insult him with a mean name like she was in grade school.

Annie interrupted her from scowling at her menu. “Oh! There’s Ian!” She waved her hand in the air and called out “Ian!” over the hubbub and murmur of voices in the restaurant.

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