“Tacos.”As late as they practiced, he always picked easy and fast foods to make.June brought over casserole dishes so it could heat up in the oven while they sparred.Rob stuck with simpler foods.
“Sounds good to me.”They fell silent a moment before June cleared her throat.“Speaking of cooking, do you have any plans Saturday night?”
“I was going to ask you if you had plans Saturday.”It was funny they were thinking the same thing.
“Oh,” her pitch rose, “No, I mean no, I don’t have plans.Saturday.”
“Good, how would you like to come over to my house for a cookout?My friends will be there, and they want to meet you.”
June blinked a few times.“Meet your friends,” she echoed as if she wasn’t sure if she’d heard him correctly.
“Yeah, it’s nothing formal.Just hang out, have a few beers and laughs.I’ll man the grill.”
A small smile crept up her face.“Sounds great.Should I bring anything?”
“A side dish would be great.The guys tend to eat a lot.”
“How many will be there, so I can bring enough.”
“There are seven of us.Oh, wait, nine.Luke and Greg will have their girlfriends with them.Is that too many?”He noted she had gone a little pale.
“No, not at all.I can’t wait for Saturday.”
“Great, I know everyone is looking forward to meeting you.”
“I can’t wait to meet them.”
Chapter 17
“He invited you to his house for a cookout!”Casey squealed, causing several people to turn and look at them at the bar.Not that Casey noticed or cared.
They were out for their normal Friday night drinks.June had tried putting off the conversation, but the girls had hounded her as soon as she’d sat down.She hadn’t even ordered her drink yet before they were demanding how asking him out had gone.
“All of his friends and their girlfriends will be there.”It wasn’t exactly the date she had been planning on, but what could she have said?No, I don’t want to meet your friends; I’d rather we have dinner alone together.
“That’s so exciting.I mean, meeting his friends is a big deal,” Karla pointed out.
It was, but she wanted something different.Something more.Maybe it was selfish of her, but perhaps this was an opening.Hey, a girl could hope.
“You wanted to hang out with him outside of a working environment.This is your chance,” Sue tried reasoning.
“It is, and I know it’s a big deal.We haven’t even talked about hanging out outside of working together.”They had texted in between sessions about how the other was doing, but she wouldn’t say it was headed into the romance department.
“Sometimes it takes friends to point out what’s right in front of them.”
“You know what this means: Shopping,” Casey squealed again.
“No, no shopping.I have plenty of clothes to wear to this thing.”Rob hadn’t noticed any of her other wardrobe choices.Why spend the money to impress someone who wasn’t looking?
“Fine,” Casey pouted, then her eyes lit up as a thought must have struck.That was terrifying sometimes.“I know the perfect outfit.What time is the cookout?”Casey was practically bouncing in her seat.She loved dressing up and doing makeup.June was much more of a homebody, but she allowed herself to play guinea pig to Casey from time to time.
“Four.”
“Plenty of time to get this Cinderella ready for her debut.”
Okay, not how the reference went, but she’d let it go.“I wish you guys could go to this thing.I’d feel better knowing more than one person there.”June didn’t mind crowds, but it would ease her nerves if she knew someone other than Rob there.
“You’ll be fine,” Sue assured her, placing a comforting hand over hers on the bar top.“Though if it gets too awkward, you can call one of us, and we’ll crash the party.”June knew they would too.
