‘Is everything OK over here?’ he demanded. His voice was deeper than usual, and he was holding himself up to his full height.
‘Yeah. Of course. Why?’ Lorelai shot a glance at Joanie who was also looking confused.
‘I can easily ask these two to leave if they’re bothering you.’ Riggs was staring at Lorelai so intently she had to look away. His jaw was clenched, and his whole body was tightly coiled, just waiting to spring into action.
‘Riggs, they’re not bothering us.’ Joanie’s voice was firm but not firm enough to dissuade Riggs. He leaned a little closer to Lorelai.
‘It’s just that I heard him ask you out.’
‘Yeah… So?’ Lorelai almost laughed in Riggs’s face. Is that what constituted being asked out these days?
‘Not exactly professional, is it?’ Riggs said, raising his voice, his eyes darting to Grayson.
‘He doesn’t have to be professional,’ Joanie shot back. ‘He doesn’t work here.’
‘Mate—’ Grayson stepped towards them both and Riggs straightened up again ‘—yeah, I asked her out, well, sort of, but Lorelai was nothing but professional.’
‘So youwerebothering one of our staff at work, then?’
‘Riggs, stop it,’ Lorelai said. A thought struck her. ‘Is this about earlier?’
‘Earlier? What happened earlier?’ Joanie looked between Lorelai and Riggs.
‘Because if it is, I apologised. There’s no need to embarrass me like this. I said I was sorry.’
But Riggs was on a mission. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and turned to Grayson and Aden. ‘Right, I think it’s best you both leave.’
‘We haven’t done anything,’ Aden said indignantly.
‘I’ll happily apologise to Lorelai and Joanie…’ Grayson offered.
‘Really, there’s no need,’ Lorelai said quickly. ‘Riggs, come on, everything is fine. They’re our friends.’ Lorelai needed to shut this down before it got out of hand, but Riggs wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. He didn’t appear to have heard a word she’d said. He was too busy glaring at Grayson.
‘Just take your free popcorn and your free drink and go!’ Riggs picked up Grayson’s bucket and cup from the counter and shovedthem at him. Grayson instinctively held up his hands and caught Riggs’s wrists, who then tried to yank himself out of Grayson’s grip. Grayson let go of Riggs’s wrists but Riggs was already pulling away hard, expecting resistance. The popcorn bucket and the contents of the cup flew over his shoulder, showering Lorelai in a cloud of kernels and a tsunami wave of Diet Coke.
‘What thefuck, Riggs?!’ Lorelai shrieked.Men.
Riggs stepped back and surveyed the result of his toxic masculinity masquerading as a defence of Lorelai’s honour. His mouth flapped open and closed in an attempt to catch an explanation, an excuse, anything to make sense of what he’d just done, but he clearly came up short.
Lorelai glanced over at Grayson, hoping by some miracle he’d somehow been distracted and missed this highly embarrassing moment, but no. Eyes wide, the corners of his lips twitching, not knowing whether to be shocked or to laugh, Grayson had seen it all.
‘Have you lost your mind?’ Joanie clipped Riggs around the head.
Riggs clutched his head, looking down at the floor contritely, before mumbling, ‘I just… I thought…’
‘What did you think, Riggs? I’m desperate to hear this,’ Joanie said, her hands on her hips.
‘I thought you… needed a hand!’
‘But Lorelai told you they were our friends,’ Joanie said sternly. ‘We were just having a laugh! Look at her!’
‘I’m sorry!God,’ he huffed, ‘I was only trying to help!’
‘Umm… want to help me now?’ Lorelai wrung out the ends of her sopping sleeves. Riggs picked a single piece of popcorn outof her hair. Lorelai shooed him away and grabbed a handful of napkins. ‘What’s got into you? This sort of testosterone display is so unlike you. You completely ignored what I said.’ Lorelai shook her head at Riggs who was staring at the wet patch on the carpet.
‘Lorelai! What on earth…?’ Wesley appeared, eyes wide as he took in Lorelai’s appearance. ‘What happened?’
‘It was an accident,’ Riggs began.
