Her eyebrows lifted. “Fresh meat, huh? Eugene could definitely use more of that.”
“You don’t look familiar. Are you from here?” I was interested in learning her last name. For all I knew, she could have been the little sister of an old high-school friend of mine. Coming back to your hometown after eleven years away was strange. Everything felt familiar but different.
“Just moved here from Salmon.” Not a pureblood. Perfect.
I was about to ask her out when her attention became diverted by new customers. When I caught her eye again, I motioned with my hands where I’d be when my food came. She nodded the affirmative, and I made my way over to my crew’s table.
Most of the guys had finished eating, their plates pushed aside, and were lounging around the table, brimming with mischief. Some greeted me with nods and waves, but their attention was focused somewhere across the room. I pulled out a chair between Jake and Javier.
“What’s going on?”
Briggs pointed at Ronnie, a tall, hefty guy with a beer gut, walking toward our table. He was grinning all the while shaking his head.
“We dared Ronnie to go ask out that blonde over there, and it looks like he got shut down.” Briggs grinned. “Before that, she turned down Carl.”
My eyes narrowed, scanning the men in my crew. I turned to Javier and asked quietly, “They’re not harassing her, are they?”
Javier leaned in on my right side. “No. I’ve been keeping an eye out. She’s been laughing with them all as much as they have. You should hear the zingers she has for the guys when they come back. They’re loving it. They’re not being gross, just funny.”
I looked again toward the blonde with her back to me. Across from her sat a pretty brunette who kept glancing our way. Along with everybody else in this diner, the brunette looked familiar, though I couldn’t place the name. Clearly, they were talking about our group behind their hands and darted glances. I relaxed. Chase kept a tight crew. They didn’t get too many chances to prove themselves. He expected decent men and honesty, and he usually got it. I trusted these guys, and I even liked them all, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t get out of hand with a few drinks in a new town.
Ronnie plopped back down in the chair and whistled. “She let me go on and on, and right when I thought she was eating out of my hand…”—Ronnie slammed his hand on the table for effect—“shot down.”
“I told you, man,” Carl said, bits of crumbs stuck in his Viking beard.
The table laughed.
“Who’s next?” Trevor asked.
“How about we leave her alone and talk business?” I said, leaning forward in my seat. I was fine with some harmless flirting, but this felt like some sort of wolfish group hunt. The crew was set to start work on Monday morning, and I had a list of things to go over tonight.
“Aww, it’s a game now, boss. She just told me to send the next guy,” Ronnie said.
I looked at Briggs. “Did you try your luck?”
He grinned. “I’m taking out her friend. That’s what started the whole business.”
Just then, the blonde in question turned her head enough for me to get a view of her side profile. My body stilled while I took in the high cheekbones, tan skin, and—though I couldn’t see them—fiery green eyes. I bit my lip, holding back a smile that suddenly threatened to tiptoe across my face. As my little sister’s best friend, she had practically grown up in my house. Suddenly, Chad’s derision made sense. Though it had been almost a year since I’d seen her last, I could well imagine Tessa’s take on her cousin’s “food.” But Jake’s silence on the matter of Tessa seemed odd. I turned to look at him, only to find an annoying grin on his face as he sat back in his chair, arms folded and legs crossed, patiently waiting for me to connect a few dots.
“Alright. I’m going in. Gonna get me a hot date for next weekend.” Lanky, red-headed Trevor stood up from the table. He looked at Carl. “Seventy-five bucks.”
Carl leaned forward and stuck out his hand. “Deal.”
I watched as Trevor pretended to mop up beads of sweat off of his forehead before making his way to Tessa’s table.
He stood, somewhat awkwardly, next to the pretty pair of friends, but he tried to disguise his nerves with animated gestures, no doubt telling some wild story. Tessa was grinning up at him, laughing at something he said. For a moment, it seemed like she might take Trevor up on whatever he was offering, but then she leaned closer and said something to him before waving him away. Trevor looked stunned. Apparently, he had thought it was going well also, but then he high-tailed it back to the table, slinking down in his seat.
“Shut up,” he said to his crowd of onlookers.
“What’d she say?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Suddenly, he grinned. “She said I was hot. Like a tall Prince Harry.”
The rest of the guys snorted while he continued, meeting everybody’s gaze theatrically. “But then she said that the thought of one day having a red-headed child was a risk she wasn’t willing to take.”
Trevor sat back in his chair with a smile on his face. He seemed proud of his rejection and probably grateful it hadn’t been worse. The guys laughed and clapped him on the back, each one offering their own sympathies and rejection stories.
“Javier, you up?” Carl asked.
