I watch as she walks to the counter to enter our order into the computer system.
“She’s cute, isn’t she?” I ask Johnny, torturing myself. Why would I want to know if Johnny thinks our waitress is cute? I don’t do more than one night, but this man across from me has more of my attention than any man I’ve met in a long time. Maybe that’s why I’m trying to turn his attention to someone else?
If I were someone that a man could actually love, I might be tempted to give it a shot with him. But as my mother says, no one wants to wake up to me every day for the rest of their life. Better I cut it off after one night than risk getting too attached.
“Who?” Johnny asks, his head swiveling to see who I’m talking about. “Oh, the server? Yeah, she’s cute, I guess.”
“You know she gave you her number? On your napkin there.”
He looks down at the napkin under his cup. “Yeah, I saw that. She does that every time I come in here. She does it to Travis, too. I don’t take it all that seriously. Why? Does it bother you?”
I grab a couple of sugar packets and rip them open, focusing on dumping them into my coffee, rather than looking at Johnny. I don’t why, but it does bother me. It bothers me a lot more than it should for someone who doesn’t do relationships, anyway.
“No, it’s totally fine,” I lie. “I was just making sure you saw it. Didn’t want you missing out, in case you’re interested.”
“Thanks,” he says through gritted teeth. “That was thoughtful of you.”
“Hey,” I say with a humourless laugh. “That’s what friends are for.”
We drink our coffees in silence for a few minutes. Johnny alternates looking at me, with looks at his phone, and typing messages. I chug back my first water, and slowly sip on the second. The extra hydration already has me feeling better. Maybe I have a few years of young lady hangovers left in me after all.
“So, listen,” Johnny starts, and I have a feeling I know where he’s going. “About last night. I—”
“Oh, don’t worry about,” I rush to say before he can any further. Embarrassment is already burning my cheeks and I’m wringing my hands like I can rub the shame away. I can’t stand to listen to another apology, or worse, the reason for why he rejected me. It’s best if we move on. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be sorry. Let’s just forget, okay? I was drunk, and you are ridiculously hot. It was a moment of weakness.”
Johnny looks stunned. His mouth is working, but nothing is coming out. Finally, he blinks several times and shakes his head, as if to clear it. He chuckles under his breath.
“Uh, that is not even close to what I was going to say, but I accept your apology. And I am sorry. I didn’t want to stay, even though I was more than tempted, because I know it’s not what you really want. I want more than one night, but since you don’t, we’re just friends. I was just trying to abide by the decision we made.” His eyelids lower, his pupils widen. “But trust me. Leaving you last night, after you invited me into your bed, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. My shower wouldn’t get cold enough for me to deal with that aftermath, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh,” I whisper, my breath quickening. I can feel the heat building in me, just the mention of Johnny needing a cold shower because of me igniting lust like I’ve never felt. “I… Hooo!” I finally say, fanning myself. “Is it hot in here?”
Johnny laughs, the tension broken. “No, that’s just you,” he says with a wink, pulling a laugh from me as well.
“But seriously,” he begins again. “About what happened last night with Connor.”
I wince, not prepared for how much it hurts me to hear his name. Is it possible to have sympathy betrayal pains for someone? Because I think that’s what this is. I’m feeling betrayed by proxy for Alex.
Johnny notices my reaction and reaches out to touch my hand. A tingle runs up my arm, making me raise my head and open my eyes. What the hell was that?
“It’s good news,” he says, when the shock falls from his face. I guess he felt that tingle, too. Must be some electrical current thing. Like when you rub your feet on the carpet to shock someone. Except, instead of a shock, I felt a pleasant tingle. Strange. “Well, not really ‘good’ news. But not the same kind of bad news that we originally thought.”
Just then Ivy shows up with our food, arranging our plates in front of us. She ensures that we have everything before leaving us to our breakfasts.
“So, what do you mean? How bad? And how good?” I ask, shoving a whole piece of bacon into my mouth.
Oh, yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. Greasy diner food is the best cure for a hangover.
Johnny explains that what Alex and I saw was only part of what happened. We were there for the end of a disturbing attack on Connor. When Alex pulled that bitch off of him and beat the shit out of her, she was saving Connor from a rapist.
The texts that Johnny has been getting the whole time we’ve been here have been updates on Connor’s status. Drug-testing confirmed that he’d been drugged, and the woman eventually confessed to stalking him, leading up to last night when she finally got her chance to execute her plan of drugging him in an attempt to sleep with him.
“Devon says she’s the one he escorted from the show last week. The one Connor found half-naked in the bathroom before he came back to the dressing room and discovered Alex. We actually saw her yesterday at a diner across town. We took a break from working in the studio and went for lunch and she was working there.”
I finished off my breakfast while Johnny explained the situation to me. Leaning back against the red vinyl of the booth, I grab my coffee in both hands and take a sip. Ivy must’ve come by and refilled it when I was listening to Johnny, so it’s full again.
“But how did she know where he lives? And how did she get him into the house?”
Johnny explained how Connor was apparently barely even conscious when we got there. Which would explain what appeared to be his extremely lackluster lovemaking. I didn’t think Alex would’ve put up with someone who just lay there doing nothing. I know her exes haven’t been great lovers, but come on. She has to draw the line somewhere and I’m sure participation is the bare minimum.
