“I’ll email her in the morning. Mom and Dad invited us over for dinner tomorrow, if you feel like it. They want to try some recipes that they’ve been working on.”
“Sounds fun. Does that mean they’re committing to opening up some kind of food establishment?”
“Nope. They’re still just in a testing phase.”
“That’s cool, no reason to hurry. Your mom mentioned teeth at the party, maybe she’ll go back to being a dentist.”
“I actually told her she should consider it, when I realized the closest dentist is twenty minutes outside of town. She could work one day a week, if she wanted to. Even less. One or two days a month. She did always enjoy being a dentist, but in her head, it’s a full-time gig.”
They bantered with the waitress when she brought water, letting her know they needed some time to look at the menu. When the young woman had left, Cindy leaned towards him. “I think we should send Joe here for dinner sometime when she’s working.”
“Think so, huh? Still feeling the romance in the air?”
“With you around, I feel it every day.” She batted her eyelashes at him.
He managed not to snort. She was damn cute. “Have you ever guessed someone’s mate, when meeting a stranger? What are the chances of that?”
“I’m not saying she’s his mate, but he could certainly enjoy himself for a while.”
He raised his glass to her in acknowledgment. He’d certainly enjoyed himself with a few women over the years, knowing full well they weren’t his mate, but he had no intentions of having that conversation with her.
“Have you talked to Jen to see how her first few days went?” he asked, changing the subject.
“No, I tried earlier today, but I missed her. I did talk to Adam, who talked to her briefly, and he said so far, so good.”
When the food arrived, it proved to be delicious. He tried her salmon and she tried his shrimp scampi, but they each preferred their own dish. They’d opted for a bottle of wine, so when they left, Jonas suggested they walk around for a bit before getting in the car.
She held on to his arm as they walked, something he loved. They explored one side of the block, then crossed the street to come back up the other side.
“Mm, I love this song,” she said as they passed a bar.
They heard cheering and looked at each other. “Shall we see what’s up?” he asked.
“Sure.”
They went inside, and he spotted a table and headed for it, while Cindy pointed at a banner declaring Turtle Racing. He had to read it twice to make sure he understood what it said, then he busted out laughing.
“Wow, we have to see this.” He swerved around the table he’d been aiming for and moved toward the small crowd ringed around a large raised table.
A woman in a shirt with the bar logo on it was setting two turtles into a ring in the center of the table. She turned and received two more turtles from someone else and added them to the ring. Most of the table was painted with a light blue circle that was about sixty inches in diameter. Beyond the circle, the table was painted red. The turtles had stickers on top of their shells. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man. At the edge of the table were two men and two women, each holding one superhero emblem.
The woman who’d handled the turtles put her hand on the barrier ring while someone behind her counted down.
“Three…two…one…go!”
She lifted the ring, and the turtles—did nothing. For a second. Or three. Then Batman made a break, but turned into his fellow turtles, so didn’t make much progress. However, that prompted the others to start moving. Superman had some speed, but didn’t seem to have the hang of a straight line. Spider-Man was slow, but was making steady progress towards the red. Iron Man started chasing after Superman. Batman had turned around again and was basically still in the center.
Spiderman was close, one of the guys yelling his encouragement, but then he veered off three inches from the red. Superman was closing in, earning a clapping cheer from one of the ladies. The other spectators started chanting, “Go, go, go!”
Spider-Man’s trajectory was heading him back to the line at an angle, but then he turned again, and was there. He hit the red, and the whole group exploded into cheers.
Cindy was laughing, so beautiful he had to interrupt her for a kiss. She didn’t seem to mind and smiled at him when he pulled back.
“Do you want a drink? And do you want to sponsor a turtle?”
“Yes and yes. Let’s go to the bar.”
They made their way over. The place had plenty of people inside, but it wasn’t crowded. She ordered a hard cider and he got a soda. They paid the fee and received their sign, which had Black Panther on it. They made their way back to the racing table. Thor, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Deadpool were about to race. They cheered the turtles on and congratulated the guy next to them when his Deadpool was first to cross the line.
