"Why are you stalking his page?" I asked, looking in the direction of the door that led to the bathrooms, to make sure Tristan wasn't walking back.
"A person's profile says a lot about them," I swear to God he rolled his eyes at me. My forty-five year old father rolled his eyes at me. "I just needed to make sure you weren't dating some eyeliner-wearing drill bit, Kitty."
My brain only locked onto one thing he said. "What the heck is a drill bit?"
His hairy upper lip twitched in confusion at the same time one of his thick, dark eyebrows arched. "Isn't that the saying nowadays?"
I frowned, trying to figure out what in the world he was talking about before I realized it and laughed out loud. "You mean a tool?"
Frank slapped the countertop, making his silverware shake. "That's it! A tool! I just wanted to make sure my baby wasn't dating a tool. You see, my friend's daughter was dating a guy who wears eyeliner and thinks that tank tops are appropriate everyday clothing, and there is no way in hell my girl is going to get knocked up by that kind oftool." He had the nerve to wink at the correct use of his last word.
"Oh my god, dad." I wanted to die of shame. Die. Dissolve. Explode. Whatever.
He snickered with wide, dark eyes. "What? It's true!" The deja vu when he happened to repeat things that I was prone to saying was almost too much. Jesus, I really was my father's daughter. I might as well accept the fact that I'd grow up to be a male version of Frank Berger with boobs, embarrassing my kids every chance I got. "His friend asked him a few months ago when he was filming, okay? I saw it on his wall so I Googled his name but nothing came up. I was just curious."
My stomach dropped at how close he came to figuring out that something was going on. I'd call him nosey, but I was pretty positive I'd done the same thing when Nikki had dated her last boyfriend. "I'm pretty sure stalking is against the law." I could see the mess of reddish-brown hair appear by the restroom doors, getting closer and closer by the second. "He's a law student,One Hour Photo. He isn't in any movies."
My dad winced at the mention. He'd made me sit through the movie with him years back and had been terrified to take his pictures to get developed since then. The chances of some employee becoming obsessed with him through his fishing pictures seemed pretty slim, but whatever. "He's a good looking guy, don't blame me for assuming he was an actor."
"Who's a good looking guy?" Tristan's deep voice asked as he pulled his chair out to sit down.
"You are," I laughed when my dad made a face at my answer.
Tristan's cheekbones went pink and he smiled, looking at the man sitting across from me. "Thank you," he hesitated for a split second. "Your beard is... nice."
Then it was Frank's turn to get a little red in the face. "Thank you?" he said, making it sound more like a question than a comment. "Your hair is nice?"
A hand went up to tug at auburn colored hair instinctively. "Thanks, uh, I like your jacket," Tristan responded.
"Thank you?"
Silence.
My dad was looking up at the ceiling while Tristan inspected the clean, white tablecloth.Well this is awkward. "Should I get you two a room together or something?"
Brown and green eyes snapped up to meet mine, both in what I would like to consider a mix of amusement and annoyance. "No," they barked out simultaneously.
"I mean, I can leave if you two want some alone time—," I snorted out before the feel of a warm palm cupping the inside of my leg stopped me cold.
My dad smirked, not noticing the movement of Tristan's hand and shook his head. "I swear I think your mom dropped you as a child. Repeatedly, more than likely. It would make a lot of sense."
"I'm going with repeatedly," Tristan, the traitor, chipped in. "Your skull took most of the impact, I'd say."
Frank nodded in agreement, "Definitely."
I had a feeling I wasn't exactly going to like where this bromance was going.
Chapter 58
"Your ass is getting old, Booger," Josh cackled from his spot next to me while we waited for Zoey to bowl her frame. We had finished our game and were now patiently waiting for everyone else.
Nikki popped her big sandy-colored head between the two of us, using her Goliath-like stature to throw an arm over Josh's shoulder and smirk in my direction. "Yeah bitch, I'm going to start buying you stock in Depends."
"You two—," I said with a mouthful of popcorn Tristan bought while we waited for our lane to open up. "Are like a year older than I am, so shut the hell up."
Nicole, being the absolute lady that she is, shot me the finger without any pretense of trying to be discreet despite the families in lanes close by. "Call me old, and I'm going to start giving you birthday licks again," she threatened me with a wink.
My ass immediately clenched in fear, remembering the horror that was birthday licks courtesy of Nicole Jonasson. I think I would rather let Tristan meet my back entrance sans lube before I'd willingly let Nikki slap my ass. Okay, maybe not. "Please don't," I begged her shamelessly. I'd rather taint my honor than have my ass marred by her brutal, manly hands. Those hands had taken several Krav Maga classes and could beat my ass. They could probably actually beat just about anyone's ass, really.
