“What? What did I say?”
Chapter 20
Alex - Bitches and Beer
“Well, I guess that’s it for packing then.” I look around the room I’ve been living in for the last week. “I didn’t realize that I hadn’t unpacked anything other than clothes and toiletries. I probably could have moved into the other place right away and gotten out of your hair sooner.”
I don’t think Becca could roll her eyes any harder if she tried. “Oh yeah, it’s been totally rough having a professional chef cooking for me. I can’t wait for you to leave me to my disgusting frozen pizzas and old Chinese takeout. Now that’s food.”
“You know sarcasm is the lowest form of humour, right? So not only are you being kind of a bitch right now, you are also not funny.” I deadpan.
“Ha! I know me being a bitch is one of the main reasons you love me so much. And it doesn’t matter if you think I’m funny.Ithink I’m funny and I laugh at my own jokes so…” she sticks her tongue out at me.
I have to laugh at that. She does laugh at her own jokes, a lot. Sometimes I laugh more at her laughing than I do at the joke itself. “You’re right, you’re not a bitch, Becca. You are selectively bitchy, and you’ve only used it for my benefit when I’m around. It’s kind of like a superpower that you use for the good of the people you care about.”
“I knew you loved me.” She throws her arms around me in a hug. “Now bring on the pizza and beer. You promised to feed me for my help with packing. Not my fault you packed already.”
“Nuh uh, I said pizza and beer to help me move. That has yet to happen. But…” I add slowly, “Since I have zero interest in cooking tonight, I will grab pizza for us. You go grab the beer since it’s in the other direction and then we’ll meet back here to feast. Deal?”
She sighs while pulling on her sneakers. “You drive a hard bargain, girl. But since I don’t trust your taste in beer, I will agree to your terms. See you shortly.”
“Bye.” I say to the door as it closes behind her. I call down to PIZZA and tell them my order. Of course I get the all vegetable Lexi Girl (I still can’t believe that Pops had them name it after me) and Becca’s usual chicken with hot peppers, since she refuses to eat any of my pizza. She says that most of the vegetables I get just don’t belong on a pizza. She just doesn’t know what she’s talking about, though. After all, who’s the chef around here?
* * *
“Devon? Is that you?” I look over to the door from where I’m sitting on a stool in the window of the pizza place. Shit, maybe I can ask if Connor wants to see me without being too obvious. Of course, I put little stock in how smooth I can be.
“Alex.” He comes over and stands next to me. “What’s up? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, you know,” I lean back on my stool a bit, “Chillin’ like a villain.” Fuck, that sounded dumber than I intended. Stupid Alex. Get it together.
“Ha! Yeah, I guess that was a dumb question, hey?” Lucky for me he thinks I was just calling him out on asking why I’m at a pizza place instead of just being a dumbass in general. “I guess you’re here for pizza, considering this is a pizza place. At least that’s what I assume from the sign out front that says ‘PIZZA’ in three foot tall letters.”
“Yes, I’m here picking up an order for me and Becca. I’m moving this weekend and she was helping me pack. I promised pizza and beer in exchange for her help.” I explain. “She’s off down the street grabbing the beer, because apparently I have terrible taste.” I make a face and roll my eyes a little, letting him know that she’s wrong about that.
“Well, from what I recall,” he elbows me in the side gently, “You’re a little more partial to whiskey.” He laughs a little when I groan.
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I have never been more hungover.” Maybe now’s my chance to sneakily work Connor into the conversation without sounding like a stalker. “I hung out with the guys at the after party for a bit and had another drink. Then I went home and drank all the whiskey in my apartment.” I leave out all the embarrassing bits, like the stories Becca was telling about everyone cheating on me.
He lets out a loud laugh, “Yeah, that’ll do it.”
“It gets worse,” I add. “I was so sick when I woke up that I had to call in sick to work for the first time ever. And I got fired.” I laugh loudly. I didn’t know how ridiculous it sounded until I said it out loud. “Luckily, I hated that job. I needed to find something different, anyway. Getting fired just gave me the push I needed to do it sooner.”
“Oh shit,” he laughs. “So I guess you could say that this was one of those rare times that getting a hangover did you a favour?”
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it did me a favour for sure. I already have a new job lined up. That’s why I’m moving this weekend. Who’d have thought a hangover could be a blessing?” He looks toward the counter where the owner, Tino, has just put a stack of pizza boxes all marked ‘Devon’. He must be picking up for all the guys. I count ten pizzas, and with the way Tino loads them, each pizza feeds at least three people. I wonder if they know what they’re getting themselves into.
“Looks like those are mine,” he says, looking back at me. “It was nice to see you again.”
“Yeah, you too.” I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get any hints that Connor wants to see me, but I have a great idea for Devon, anyway. “Hey, want to try the best pizza this place has? It’s named after me.”
“Oh, yeah?” He raises an eyebrow in interest. “I don’t have much time though, I really ought to get back.”
I look over at the counter where Tino has just put my pizzas. Both say ‘Lexi Girl.’ “You’re in luck,” I say. “Mine is ready now, too. Take it, I’ll get Tino to make me a new one. I practically live next door so I can just run back and grab it after I bring Becca her pie.”
“I couldn’t take your pizza. Are you sure?”
“Positive,” I say, while grabbing one of my pizza boxes and checking to see it’s the right one. “Tino, can you make another Lexi Girl please? I’m giving mine to my friend here.” I place the box on top of Devon’s stack and grab half. “Let me help you bring these out so you don’t lose any.”
