“Sounds good. Any certain color you want me to get?”
“Nope. Surprise me.” As soon as the words leave my lips, I realize it might be a mistake. What if he comes back with something horrible? Though, the bedding he has isn’t horrible.
He leans over the stand and kisses me on my cheek. I’m not a huge fan of PDA, but this is okay. It’s not like we’re making out at my job. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
He really is the best guy. How many boyfriends would offer to buy bedding for you?
Not long after he leaves Eric and Delilah come in for their shift. “Hey, did you get the bed set up?”
“I sent you a picture. It’s ready to go.”
“Thanks, you’re the best.” I give him a quick hug. To Delilah, I whisper, “good luck tonight. It’s been hectic.”
“Looks like it.” She takes a peek around the corner to the dining area. “Get out of here. I’ve got the rest of this.”
I clean up the area underneath and wave. I’m about to walk out the front, but remember the paper Carlos told me about, and the wings.
I walk to the back asking Patrick to make a couple of orders for me and get the paper. Nerves wrack through me because despite my comfort level with Devin, tonight is the first time he’ll be visiting a space that is my own.
14
Devin
I’m standingin the bedding aisle, and I have no idea which sheets to get Lisa. She’s not a fan of pastels, but she doesn’t like dark colors either. Why did I offer to do this? And why didn’t she call me to help her find a bed. Even though I know Eric is only her friend, it’s still a hard pill to swallow that he helped her pick one out. That feels like a couple thing to do.
I’m completely out of my element. I thought we’d be able to pick back up where we left off. We have in a way, but she has her own space, and I’m not sure how that will work. Before we always went to my house, or drove the backroads. Now…I don’t know where I fit in.
Someone walks up behind me and taps my shoulder. “You look like you’re in deep thought.”
Angie is standing behind me, waiting for me to say something. “I offered to pick up some sheets for Lisa, but I have no idea which ones she’ll like.”
“Go with the purple.”
“Are you sure?” I’ve never seen her wear purple so I’m not even sure if she likes the color.
Nodding she grabs the package of sheets off the shelf. “Definitely. She’ll love them.”
“Thanks. I just don’t want to screw things up again.” Shit. I clamp my mouth shut. “Sorry, I don’t think us dating before was common knowledge.”
“To most people probably not, but I always know what my employees are going through.” She puts the sheets in my hand. “And from what Carlos told me, it was a busy day at the bar, she’s going to be exhausted. If you want my advice, get her some flowers, chocolate, and maybe even some alcohol.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” It’s kind of weird to be getting advice from her, but I’ll take it.
“Good luck.” She turns to leave, but stops. “Oh, I almost forgot what I was coming to tell you. Stella got a couple of gigs added to the calendar. I’ll send you an email with the information. I think some of the members from Crooked Halo will be stopping by too.”
“Seriously? When? Is it a night we’re playing?” Please say yes. It was so cool coming on stage before them, but I didn’t get a chance to meet them afterward. I had to be the responsible one and get my friends home.
“I’ll send you the details, but you’ll definitely get to play in front of them.”
“Awesome.” And it will be as long as I can keep my shit together. I wonder if there’s any way Lisa can be off the clock that night. I have a feeling I’m going to need her support more than ever. “I’ll, uh, see you later then.”
She waves and walks away. She may be one of the coolest people I know. I rush around the store to gather the rest of the stuff she suggested. I could be cliche and get a bouquet of roses, but I don’t want to do that. I pick through all the flowers and grab a colorful bunch of daisies. She’ll love these.
I weave through people to get to the self-checkout. There’s only one place I’m excited to be now. I need to stop letting Eric get under my skin and focus on Lisa.
I pull up to the curb in front of Lisa’s house at the same time a car pulls into the driveway. I’m not sure how we managed that, but at least neither of us is waiting on the other. Turning off my truck, I reach over to the passenger seat and grab the bags. Fear that she may not actually like the sheets hits me. I don’t know why it feels like a big decision because in the grand scheme of things it’s not. They are sheets for crying out loud. I even went above and beyond. There’s a comforter a few shades darker than the sheets I bought.
Opening the door, I get out and come close to dropping the bags. Shifting my grip, I hold tight to them as I bump the door shut. Lisa is getting out of her car as well, and smiles when she turns around and sees me. “Hey, I figured you would have beat me home. I almost forgot to have Patrick make the wings so had to wait a tiny bit longer.”
