Wanda laughed. “Linc says you grew up here?”
“Yeah.” Avery cleared his throat. “Should we get some drinks?”
Wanda slid out of her seat. “We have to order at the bar. I’ll go with you.”
Avery cast a nervous glance at Linc, but what did he want him to do? The bar, called Fitz’s, was one Linc had previously dismissed as being too fussy to bother. Truly, they had way too many different kinds of beer on tap, but it also didn’t contain the kind of lowlife his dad or Derek might call a friend. And no one had given Vasquez and Wanda a second look when they’d walked in hand in hand, so Linc figured it must be okay.
“He’s cute,” Vasquez said when Avery and Wanda were out of earshot.
Linc sighed. “We’re not together.”
“I wasn’t implying you were. But first off—” Vasquez ticked points on her fingers, “—he’s cute. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. They put faces like his in Apple ads. Second, I don’t know for sure how you swing, but if you were even the littlest bit not straight, he’d be a good choice. And lastly, as Seacroft’s resident bisexual, I assume everyone is queer by default until they tell me otherwise. So far, you have neither confirmed nor denied.”
Linc scanned the room. The place wasn’t busy, in part because they’d decided to come on a Wednesday when he and Vasquez were between shifts. Also, Wednesday was a very un-date night, which seemed important.
“So you’re telling me most of the people here are bi?” he said.
Vasquez’s glass was mostly empty, but she snorted into her ice. “Oh, hell no. A town like this, people practically wear their heterosexuality on their sleeve.”
Avery returned. He and Wanda both had two sets of drinks. Wanda set the fresh rum and coke in front of Vasquez and kissed her cheek. Avery set a beer in front of Linc. No kiss, which bugged Linc more than it should.
“Wanda works for a tech start-up in Atlanta!” Avery said enthusiastically. “They’ve done two funding rounds this year!”
Linc sipped on his beer, forcing himself not to wrinkle his nose. The beer Avery brought was darker than Linc usually liked and tasted like grapefruit. He had no idea what it was, just like he had no idea if funding rounds were a good thing.
“They make an app that converts recipes into grocery lists. Isn’t that cool?”
Linc sipped another mouthful of the bitter beer. That would sound cool if he cooked. Or shopped.
“We’re working on expanding into nutrition tracking.”
“Should we let the two of you chat?” Vasquez scowled. “Scott and I can go play some pool.”
Wanda shoved at her playfully. “Ronnie, don’t be jealous. You’ll get wrinkles.”
Vasquez gasped. “You bitch.”
Avery’s glass clanked down on the table, splashing liquid over the sides. “Your name is Ronnie?”
Vasquez saluted him. “Veronica Maria Vasquez. But my friends call me Ronnie.”
“I call you Vasquez,” Linc said.
She winked at him. “You sure do, Scott.”
“Avery’s an accountant,” Wanda said.
“Is that right?” Vasquez leaned in. “You enjoy that? Got any good stories? Someone cooking the books? Carrying off Grandma’s life savings?”
“Oh, um...” Avery glanced down at his shoes.
“Back off, baby,” Wanda said. Linc flinched. If he ever thought about calling Vasquez “baby,” he’d have twenty seconds to live.
From Wanda, Vasquez was totally unfazed. “Back off? Why?”
“Because you’re intimidating when you meet new people.”
“What? I’m not intimidating.” Vasquez pouted. “You want intimidating, you should meet Wanda’s mom. The first time I went over to her house for a family dinner was like supper at the CIA.”
