by L. E. Martin
“We brought the beer since I heard Mitch was taking the girly route and bringing flowers.” Sawyer’s taunt traveled down the hallway.
I chuckled. “I don’t have to bring beer to prove my manliness. I feel bad yours comes into question often enough that you feel the need to prove otherwise.”
“Since everyone is here and Amber is content with Callie, I’ll go get dinner onto the table. Be ready to eat in like five minutes.” Apryl rushed out of the room.
“There’s my sexy girl and my girlfriend.” Sawyer sat down beside Callie and kissed Amber’s forehead. “Callie, here can verify the fact that I am ALL man.” Then he slung his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to Callie’s temple.
“Yeah he is; I mean I had my doubts before we started dating.” She trailed off and tossed him a teasing grin.
“You’re lucky you’re holding a baby. But you won’t be so lucky when we get home tonight or you will be, depends what you’re in the mood for.” Sawyer shot her a devious smirk.
“Come find a seat in the dining room guys. We’re bringing the food in.” Apryl thankfully interrupted their suggestive banter.
In the small dining room, the six of us sat around the rectangular table and Amber sat in her high chair between Apryl and Flynn, playing with a few toys.
While the lasagna and bread were passed around, everyone dug into their salads.
“I know you guys love my cooking but I’m still glad you were fine with coming here for dinner instead of going to the bar. We couldn’t get a sitter for a night this week that worked with everyone. But we’re still good for Saturday at the bar.” Apryl handed the basket of rolls to Callie.
“I actually welcomed a night in. The last two weeks have been insane at work. I know I can’t tell you much about my cases but between completing the research for this one client for his drug charges and the fact that he is not cooperating and his court date is coming up in two weeks and then we’re running into some legalities with a contract we’re putting together for one of the new local businesses, for me at least, I’m enjoying not having to deal with other people’s shit for a night.” I scooped a slice of lasagna onto my plate before passing the dish to Jace.
“That explains your sour mood last Saturday. Hopefully you’ll be in a better one this weekend so that you can be a bit more social and amiable with our new friends.” Sawyer took a bite of his lasagna and moaned. “Apryl you can make us dinner any night you want to. I can skip the bar for good eats like this every time.”
“Thank you. You all know I love to cook. And thankfully, Amber is such a good baby that I can set her in her bouncer in the doorway while I’m cooking and she’s fine. And while we’re on the subject about this weekend; I’m excited to get to hang out a bit more with Charity and Trinity. It’s a shame Trinity got sick. I know her from the pediatrician’s office. She’s one of the receptionists there. I don’t know much about her other than she has always been super sweet to me when I’ve taken Amber in for her checkups.”
Apryl was a sweetheart herself, as was Callie, and she never saw the bad in a person unless that person revealed his or her own hidden ugly truths. But I was becoming less and less convinced Trinity’s drunken episode last weekend made her a bad person. My mood from my work week had shadowed how I perceived things so I was determined to erase that event and start out new this next time. She deserved a chance, if she wanted one with me, and I shouldn’t deny myself the possibility of finding someone.
“And you were so sweet to help Charity get her home.” Apryl gushed. “And since Charity and Jace are seeing each other, so . . . ?” She drew out the last word.
I raised my eyebrow at her. “I don’t have an answer for your ‘so’ considering I didn’t get a chance to even talk to her. But if she comes on Saturday, we’ll find out then, I guess. She was cute and her friend seemed very nice so I’m sure it won’t be a hardship to talk to her.”
“Unless you come to the bar all grumpy again.” Sawyer smirked around his mouthful of food. “Maybe we’ll send your ass home if you do.”
“I took a personal day tomorrow to start my weekend early so I’ll probably be in a better mood than most of you. I actually plan to work out at the gym, swim a few laps in their pool, and then play a couple rounds of golf with a coworker at the course he just joined. Then I’ll probably spend the rest of the day out on my deck relaxing.” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest and grinned.
Jace glanced over at me and gave me a quick nod. I didn’t need to give this group any more fodder to feed their incessant need to torment one another. And I really couldn’t get mad since I handed out my own doses of teasing. But he was well aware I was looking forward to meeting her again and wasn’t going to let the opportunity to get to know her slip by. I would be making the first move if she didn’t initiate anything. I’d give her a few minutes to get reintroduced to the crew but then she was mine. I couldn’t risk someone else swooping in and laying claim. Not that I was looking to make an official claim and I doubted she was looking for that at the moment either. But if she was, that was too fast and I didn’t want a girl who was needy like that. But I really didn’t think that was the case. However, the more I thought about it, I hadn’t observed her engaging with any guys. On the other hand, her friend had turned a bunch away. Well, hopefully it was because she was shy and not that she was into girls. I could work with the shy. If it were the other, I was shit out of luck. But it had sounded like her friend was trying to set us up, so it didn’t make sense for that to be the case.
“Well then you will have no excuse to be antisocial. If I can figure out the glitch to the program I was working on today, I’m taking an early day tomorrow.” Sawyer was a software developer for Mask Media Group. “And if that transpires, I’ll be texting Callie to take a half day and meet me at home for an afternoon sex fest. Clothing removal upon entry and then naked activities for the remainder of the day. There will be a lot of eating going on. And I’m not talking about food.” He turned his head to wink at Callie before pressing a kiss to her cheek.
Callie’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink – it was always so damn easy to get her and Apryl’s cheeks to pinken – and I couldn’t help wondering if it would be just as simple to get Trinity to blush. And if her blush traveled down her neck and to her chest. Whoa, put on the brakes there, one step at a time. We had to move past our awkward first meeting and then see if we even clicked. Those were two huge hurdles that needed jumped first.
“When Amber starts understanding what we’re saying, we’re going to have to start filtering what comes out of our mouths.” Apryl raised her eyebrow at Sawyer and giggled. “Oh my gosh that is going to be a lost cause.”
The rest of us laughed at her predicament. But really, any of our children were in deep trouble with this group. And then God help their teachers.
After everyone was finished with their dinner, we helped with the clean up before Apryl brought out the chocolate cake she had baked. Then once we were all stuffed to capacity, we retreated to their living room to talk. Around eight thirty, Amber started to get a little fussy. She held her arms out to Apryl, so Callie handed her over.
“I’m going to get her bathed, fed, and rock her to sleep. Thank you guys so much for coming over tonight. I love having you over for anything.” She cuddled her daughter to her chest and murmured to her in a soothing tone as she walked out of the living room.
“I think the rest of us are going to take off. That way you can help get your daughter to bed.” Jace stood and clapped Flynn on his shoulder on his way out the door.
The rest of us followed suit. That was another great thing about this group. Apryl never needed to ask or push us to leave in the evenings. We all cared about one another – even though we loved to torment the hell out of each other – and respected each other’s need for space. And the three of them were a little family now. So we never complained when they had to cut an activity short to take care of their
daughter.
When I arrived back at my place, I grabbed a beer on my way out to my deck. After I plopped down into one of the chairs, I kicked my feet up onto the table, and popped the cap off of the bottle to take a long swig. Then I stared out into the Georgian night. It was still fairly warm and humid outside but I didn’t mind it. The scenery in Georgia was beautiful and I had a great view from my backyard. My neighbors had gardens planted with various vivid colored flowers and I had healthy foliage growing along the back perimeter of my property. And often I’d sit out here until well into the night and gaze at the wildlife who ventured in from the wooded area behind my back boundary.
As I sat soaking in the moist warmth that the southern states were well known for, my thoughts drifted to Trinity again. I had never given this much thought to any of the girls I had gone home with over the years. I didn’t treat them like shit – Apryl would have kicked my ass – but they were only friendly one or two night stands. Right from the start, I was up front with the girl and if she wasn’t fine with that arrangement, I didn’t go home with her.
Huh. Any time I thought about Trinity it was never to consider her for only a friendly one or two night stand. No, I wanted to attempt an actual relationship with her. And I was really jumping the gun because I didn’t even know if she was interested. Well, I’d be finding out soon. Bringing the beer to my lips, I tipped the bottle back and took another long swallow, my eyes staring out into the yard but my concentration elsewhere.
Early the next day, I drove to the gym the other guys and I belonged to and put myself through a grueling workout before swimming some laps in the pool. About two hours later, I headed home to shower and change into a pair of khaki shorts and a polo shirt and then met Jeff at the golf course.
Out on the green, the sun was gearing up to be sweltering but anything was better than being stuck in at work. We engaged in small talk while playing a few rounds. After Jeff and I had finished putting at our last hole, we climbed into the cart to head back to the club.
“How’s the Harding case going? Did it go any better this week than last?” He pulled into one of the empty spots along the side of the building.
“The dude is really pissing me off. We got a few more things squared away yesterday but if he wants to beat this rap, he needs to get his head out of his ass. I’m starting to think he’s an imbecile and if he gets the book thrown at him, so be it. I can only do so much. I mean I know I’m phenomenal but even I have my limits.”
Jeff chuckled. “You’re not as good as me. He should’ve come to me for representation and counsel. I’d get him cleared of most if not all of his charges.” With an amused gleam in his blue eyes, he shot me a cocky grin.
“Fuck you. You can’t even find a misspelled word in a contract. And then you spend most of your time on google trying to determine the meanings of the legal terms.”
“Fuck you too, Mitch.” He hopped out of the cart. “Let’s go grab some lunch. I’m starving and I don’t even know why I invited you today.”
“Because we can’t stand the other two who work in our office.” And the boss man was too busy and way too important to go golfing with us.
He shook his head, his shaggy red hair messier than usual today. “No wonder we’re so busy; no one wants to request them. But that’s okay because it just means we’ll continue to work our way up and they’ll stay at the bottom.”
Jeff was four years older than me. But since I had completed most of my college course work my last three years of high school, I was able to go to law school a year after graduating from high school because I only needed to attend college for one year to finish up my degree.
After lunch, I hopped into my truck and headed home. And then I proceeded to do exactly what I had told everyone last night I would do: I sat on my back deck relaxing for the remainder of the day.
Saturday when I walked into Shooters, I was equal parts excited and wary. I was hoping the evening turned out amazing and Trinity and I could plan a date. But a small part of me worried it would end up a repeat of last weekend. But I needed to shake my negative thoughts completely away and give her a chance. It had been a really rough day for her Charity had said.
I dropped down in an empty chair at the table beside Jace. “We’re not the only ones coming tonight, are we?”
“Flynn and Apryl will be here in like five minutes. Amber must have pooped everywhere right before the sitter got there and they didn’t want to leave her to clean up the mess.” He chuckled. “Glad we didn’t order food yet before I got that text. Eww.”
“Yeah, and you really didn’t need to give me the details. You could’ve just said they were running late.”
He grinned at me. “I wanted to share the experience. And Sawyer and Callie are on the other side of the bar talking to one of Sawyer’s friends from work. They’ll be over shortly. And I’m waiting for my date. What about you?” He smirked at me.
“I’m hoping she shows up and things go much better than last time. But that’s all I have at the moment. Do we know what kind of beer they drink?”
“Charity likes just about anything and I don’t think Trinity plans to drink. Don’t tell her I said anything to you but Charity made it sound like she wasn’t planning to drink at all but would still come out with us.”
I flagged down the waitress and ordered our usual two pitchers, a Coors Light and a Miller Light, and a Sprite for Apryl. “I’ll order Trinity whatever she wants when she gets here.”
Sawyer and Callie plopped down at the table right before Flynn and Apryl.
“Hey guys, I guess we’re not too late but we had like a five alarm.” Apryl chuckled.
I threw up my hand. “No more details. I love your little girl but this is a kids free zone.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Fine, you big baby. Wait til you have your own. But I’m still going to talk about her when we’re out. I just won’t give you guys the gross details.”
“I can agree to that. What do we want to order for food?” I addressed the table.
“Wait a minute. Charity and Trinity just walked in the door.” Apryl’s eyes lit up as she waved our new friends over.
Glancing over my shoulder, I caught sight of the two of them making their way over to us. Charity’s smile was huge and confident whereas Trinity’s small smile held hesitance.
When they stopped at our table, Charity plopped down right beside Jace and gave him a quick kiss. “Hey guys, thanks for asking us to join ya.”
Trinity sat down beside me, looking shy and unsure, and folded her hands into her lap.
“You look really pretty tonight. I’m glad you came.”
Trinity was dressed in a simple peach sundress and a pair of cute sandals with a tiny heel. “Thank you. You look nice too. You usually wear a t-shirt when you’re out.”
Huh, so she had noticed me on a few occasions too. Tonight I had on a gray button down shirt but my usual jeans. “I figured I’d dress up for the occasion.” I shot her a teasing grin. Then I leaned toward her. “What do you want me to order you to drink?”
Her cheeks pinkend slightly and she looked down at her lap.
A blusher, I was going to like that. But I didn’t like that she felt bad. I gently touched my finger to her chin to tilt her head up to meet my eyes. “We’ve just met and I don’t know what you like to drink.” I gave her an impish smile. “And I know your last name but you don’t know mine. So we’re getting to know each other. My last name’s Gannon, by the way.”
Her lips curled into a delicate smile. “Thank you, Mitch Gannon. I’ll have whatever cola they serve.”
When the waitress brought our pitchers and took our orders for food, I ordered Trinity a Coke. I caught a glimpse of her best friend studying me but she merely nodded and smiled. She was probably ready to kick my ass if I did anything to upset Trinity. Well, she didn’t have to worry. I was all about starting over fresh. And so far so good. I could work with the shy.
Once Trinity had a drink in
front of her, I took a swallow of my beer.
“I see Mitch had a great day off yesterday since he’s not over there growling like last week. I had a great day too but I’ll leave out the details since we have guests. But Callie did take a half day too.” Sawyer waggled his eyebrows at his girlfriend.
She knocked her shoulder into his. “They probably won’t ever want to hear your details. I don’t even think the rest of the group does.”
“Oh yes we do.” The remaining guys at the table – myself included – answered in stereo.
Apryl rolled her eyes. “Why do you continue to fight it, Callie? It’s one battle we won’t ever win.”
“I haven’t known them as long as you so I guess it’s just taking me longer to figure that one out.” Callie let out an exaggerated sigh.
“I think it’s nice you guys are so close. But maybe that’s because I haven’t been privy to all of the details. Which I don’t want, by the way.” Trinity put up her hand. “But you guys are like an extended family. That’s really cool.”
The waitress set our nachos, mozzarella sticks, and pretzel sticks on the table. “Do you guys need anything else?”
“I think we’re good for right now, thanks.” Flynn answered after glancing around the table.
“We’ve been hanging out since high school. They are my besties and Flynn is my husband now.” Apryl grabbed a cheese stick and pulled it apart to blow on it.
“Whatever you’re hungry for just grab. We don’t hold back here.” I informed Trinity.
After a short pause, she reached over and grabbed a pretzel stick off of my plate and giggled. “Is your food fair game too?”
I winked at her. “Only because you’re new. Don’t expect that to be permissible in the future.” I was really going to like this girl.
Even though she was starting to get comfortable and was talking with the rest of the group about growing up together, I decided to wait and ask her about a date closer to the end of the night so as to not overwhelm her. Maybe once our group started dwindling down, I’d find a small table for just the two of us where we could talk.