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Annie arrived to the booth just as Kyla did.
“Did you see them?” Kyla’s ski-slope nose was crinkled with eagerness.
“Um. Not sure.”
That much was true, at least. Annie wasn’t sure if the blond smiley guy who looked like Kyle, and his dark-haired asshole friend, really were Kyle and his asshole friend. At least, she hoped not.
“Eee, I’m so excited.” Kyla was practically bouncing on her heels. “I hear his friend is quite the character; they’ve been friends since they were super little, like us.”
Yeah, a character alright.
Sure enough, as she and Kyla sat down, they walked up - blond guy and asshole.
“Baby!” Kyla launched herself into Kyle’s arms. As their lips connected, Annie snuck a glare at the asshole. He looked like he recognized her too, and fit the type to the T. Arrogant jaw, narrow high-set eyes, good-looking in the I’m-a-Sociopath-Lawyer way; basically the kind of guy to remain an ass-hat until the day he was buried.
“Annie, this is Kyle.” Already having separated, Kyla pressed Kyle’s chest as she made the introductions, looking like a giddy schoolgirl. “I’ve told you tons about him already.”
“All good, I hope,” Kyle said, smiling shyly as Annie locked hands with him.
“So far,” Annie said, with a genuine smile.
He, at least, seemed to be as infatuated with Kyla as she was with him, unable to take his eyes off her.
“And this is Grayson,” Kyle said, gesturing to the tight-shirted, toned man.
“Nice to meet you,” Kyla said, grinning as she shook his hand.
“You might not say that after I’m done with you,” Grayson said, with a wolfish grin.
While Kyla, Kyle, and Annie laughed good-humoredly, Grayson’s smile disappeared. “I’m not joking, though.”
This time, Annie was the only one forcing a smile. “Should we sit down?”
No way was she letting him ruin this dinner. As they got into their seats, Kyle turned to Kyla with an apologetic look in his eyes. “So, honey, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but...”
“Hooters doesn’t have owls,” Kyla finished for him, grinning.
“You knew?”
She laughed. “I couldn’t believe you didn’t!”
Kyle’s cheeks reddened as he threw out a dismissive arm at Grayson, whose expression was unrepentant. “Sue me for wanting to go somewhere not filled with rich, old people.”
“Shakespeare’s is not filled with rich, old...” Annie trailed off, catching Kyla’s nervous thumbnail biting. “You’ve been there before?”
“You kidding me?” he slapped Kyle on the shoulder. “We went to McMaster together, though this guy was in psychology and I was in engineering. Not to mention, I grew up here too.”
There was silence while Annie and the asshole glared daggers at each other. He was, basically, the textbook definition of a prick.
The quiet lasted for all of three minutes while they scanned the menus. Then, Grayson broke it.
“So, Kyla.” His eyes rested on her like a knife to the neck. “Why are you good for Kyle?”
“Dude,” Kyle closed the menu to glare at him. “Not cool.”
Grayson took a sip of water. “What? Just trying to make pleasant conversation.”
“Well, Judge Gray,” Kyla said, smiling as if this was all some big joke. “I could tell you how we have the same sense of humor, we’re great in bed, and fight like once a month. But, I think I’ll be straight with you – I make a mean peach pie.”
Kyle and Annie laughed while Grayson’s lips moved in a way that indicated he was thinking about it. “And what about him? What do you like about him?”
Geez, what’s this guy’s problem?
“Dude, seriously,” Kyle looked almost as pissed as Annie felt. “Can we just order wings in peace?”
“It’s fine, babe,” Kyla said. She and Kyle held hands on the table. Although Kyle kissed her cheek, her eyes were locked on Grayson.
“What I like about Kyle is that he is a good man. He never does anything to hurt me, at least purposely. I like his sense of humor. I like his back rubs. I like the way he grins more with the left than the right side of his mouth. I like his too-blond hair and albino eyelashes. I like him.”
Grayson nodded, probably realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere with this. He cocked his head at her. “How many times did you practice saying that?”
Kyla giggled. “Oh, me? Well, Annie and I practiced at least four hundred and fifty-seven times before coming here, didn’t we? Tell him, Anns.”
Despite Kyla’s use of Annie’s kid nickname, Annie wasn’t having it.
“You’re being rude,” she said straight up to Grayson.
His shrug was as good as a middle finger. “Just looking out for my friend.”
At Kyla’s kick under the table, Annie kept silent.
“Hi, y’all. Welcome to Hooters,” their waitress sing-songed. She had waist-length glossy blonde hair, a 100-watt smile and generous hooters that had probably gotten her the job.
Kyle smiled. “Just in time.”
As the others ordered, Annie reflected that he wasn’t right. Not really. ‘Just in time’ would’ve been the waitress arriving the moment they’d sat down.
