Together, they broke into a run, her limping slightly. Those hiking boots she’d borrowed from Sabrina West, US Forest Service officer and her cousin Noah’s girlfriend, had rubbed a blister on her heel.
Sassy all but ran into the door in her desperation. She knocked furiously. “Tony!” she called, peering into the seating area. The peanut shells had been swept off the floor. The Ms. Pac Man machine in the far corner had been unplugged. The dining room lights had been dimmed.Not a good sign.“Tony Lorenzo Vasquez, open this door before I break in and raid your fridge!”
She kept knocking and calling as Nick stepped around the building to see if he could spy Tony’s vehicle or catch someone coming out the side door. Her hopes were slipping away like smoke. Then she saw the metal door to the kitchen swing open and Tony emerge. He approached the door with a measured tread. Sassy bounced on her toes in anticipation. She could already taste the Sauce Spot’s signature barbecue blend. “Nick. Nick! Get back here! He’s coming!”
Through the glass, Tony’s narrowed eyes passed over her face. He didn’t look happy. Nonetheless, when he unlocked the door and opened it, she nearly threw her arms around him.
He stopped that notion by opening the door a few bare inches, enough to peer at the two of them. “Colton,” he drawled.
“Hi,” she greeted quickly. “Feed us.”
Tony gave her a slow blink. “It’s after ten.”
“So?” she challenged.
“On a Tuesday,” he added. “During the slow season.”
She shook her head. “I’m missing the point.”
“And we’re super hungry,” Nick chimed in.
“I’mhungry,” Sassy amended. “Nick here is about to start gnawing on his own arm.”
Tony’s brow arched. “You two don’t have food at home? There’s a grocery store up the road—”
“We need wings,” she told him. “Yourwings. Feed us.” She clasped her hands together. “Please.”
He flicked a glance from her to Nick and back again, shaking his head. “You two are worse than a pair of raccoons.”
“I resent that,” she said.
“Don’t knock raccoons,” Nick commented. “They aid in pest control, seed distribution, composting…”
“Nick, focus,” she advised. “Tony, wings. Don’t make me say please again. It pains me.”
“Read the sign,” Tony said, pointing to the placard in front of her nose. “We’re closed.”
“We had a reservation.”
“Twohoursago.”
“It’s Nick’s birthday.”
“Happy tidings, Malone.”
“Appreciated,” Nick said with a nod. Then he offered him the most boyish smile he could muster. “Wings?”
Tony scowled, but Sassy saw him soften.
How could he not? She’d felt the impact of that smile, too. It was so sweet, it wormed its way into her joints, where it did a tingly tap dance.
What the hell, Haseya?she asked herself when a shiver went up her spine. That was the happy little shiver of anticipation of a first date coming to an end and the kiss that came after…
…the kind of kiss that left her knees quaking, her back pressed against the beveled glass of her front door and her mind empty of everything butoh, yes, more, please…
Tony heaved a resigned sigh. He parted the door wider. “Come on in.”
“Yes,” Nick said, the boyish smile morphing into something triumphant, almost wicked, something she recognized from their shenanigans through the years. This was the Nick she knew best.
