“The sampler seems to be the most popular item on the weekends. It has a little bit of everything sweet and savory we have to offer.”
“Perfect. We’ll take two then. And two coffees with cream too, please,” I declare.
Jared clicks the buttons on his iPad as he enters our order in his palm and then nods. “Sounds good. Be right back.”
As I watch him saunter off, Ally shakes her head in amusement. “Small world, huh?”
“You can say that again.”
“So, don’t think you’re off the hook since Jared came along and interrupted us. I know something’s going on with you. You’d better spill.”
Another waitress comes by to deliver our coffees, but I avoid Ally’s eyes while I stir some cream and sugar into mine.
“Well, I do need to tell you something, but you have to promise not to make a scene in this restaurant.” I glance around the room, assessing the increase in customers since I arrived. The last thing I want is for the wrong person to overhear my confession.
Ally nods, bringing her coffee to her lips. “I can do that,” she states, feigning confidence because I know once I tell her about my Friday night, she’s going to want to scream.
The hot coffee hits my tongue as I delay speaking a few seconds longer. “So, Friday night was the Chamber of Commerce mixer.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“And I had a hell of a day leading up to it. By the time I arrived, I was irritated beyond belief and then my mother started chastising my outfit.”
Ally snickers and then motions for me to continue.
“So, I escape her only to be cornered by Andrew.”
Ally’s face scrunches up in disgust. “Ew.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “It’s not like he’s not a decent looking guy. But the way he told me to basically get over myself because we are destined to be together brought on severe nausea.”
“I’m getting it right now just listening to you.”
I nod in agreement and then keep talking. “So, we sit down to dinner where my dad plays the doting father, bragging about his kids and chatting with a few of the other judges and business owners, you know, the usual…”
“Uh huh …”
“And then Andrew asks me to have a drink with him in front of everyone so I can’t say no.”
“I wanna punch this guy in the junk so hard right now.”
I chuckle and take another drink of my coffee. Jared comes by at that moment and delivers our meals, two giant platters that cover the entire table, causing us to shift things around.
“Jesus, Jared. You could have told us to just order one,” Ally reprimands. “This is a ton of food.”
Jared just shrugs. “You can always take home what you don’t eat. And this way you don’t have to share.” He winks in her direction and then places a condiment basket on the table. “Enjoy and let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do.” I smile up at him and then stare back down at the meal that could feed a small army.
Chicken fried steak, cornbread, scrambled eggs, avocado toast, bacon, sausage, French toast, and pastries of every kind cover the wooden plates the food was served on.
“I will bringing home food to Collin and the kids for sure,” Ally mumbles around a bite of a cinnamon roll. “Okay, so get back to the story. Andrew laid on the charm and took you from the table …”
I finish chewing a bite of chicken fried steak and then answer. “Yes. He took me outside where I reprimanded him for doing that, but then he pleaded for me to just give him a chance.”
“And so you did?”
I look down at the ground beside me, avoiding her eyes until I can prepare to tell her what happened next.
“Sydney … You didn’t!”
My head flies up almost immediately. “What? No!” I shake my head. “Nothing happened with Andrew. He offered to get me a drink from the bar, but I ended up faking having to go to the bathroom and ran out a side door to my car.”
Ally smiles proudly across the table at me. “Nice. So that’s your story?” She shoves another bite of food in her mouth and then studies me while she chews.
I bite my bottom lip, nervous for her reaction to my secret. “No, but remember what I said. Please don’t freak out.”
Ally rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Now get on with it, woman.”
I take in a deep breath and then continue. “When I left, I drove past Gibson Brewery. Apparently they opened up a tasting room in Newberry and the place was packed. I decided to stop in and check it out, not having anything else to do and needing another drink to calm down after my frustrating day and night. But I ran into someone …”
Ally perches up on the edge of her seat. “Who?” Her eyes widen and I swear she looks like she’s drooling.
“Javier.”
Her smile stretches as her mouth falls open slightly, clearly intrigued by the turn in my story.
“And …” She reaches over and takes another bite of food.
I inhale and then get it out as quickly as I can, not able to contain my secret any longer. “He came over to give me shit, as usual. I told him to knock it off and stop being an ass, and then asked him to teach me how to lay tile. So he took me back to his place where we did not lay tile. Nope. We had life-altering, dirty, sweaty, panty-melting sex in which he made me come twice, and now I want to do it again.”
Ally’s jaw falls open and her food comes tumbling out.
“Ew, Ally! Get a hold of yourself.”
She scrambles to clean off her lap and the table beneath her and then settles her sight back on me—eyes wide, smile huge, hands resting firmly on the table. “You had sex with
