“Soon? What do you think?”That’s it, Johnny. Stall.
“Ugh, not too soon. She takes a lot of getting used to, and I’ve seen her recently. I need to gather my wits before going back into the lair of the beast.” She laughs, but it sounds forced. I wonder what’s up with that?
“It’s up to you. I’m here to help. I like spending time with you, so it’s not like it’s a hardship to pretend to be your boyfriend.”
“Plus, the benefits aren’t too bad either, hey?” She shoots me an exaggerated wink.
I burst into laughter at the look on her face.
“I was talking about the cookies, perv. Get your mind out of the gutter.” She bursts into laughter, too, and we’re so loud together the other patrons of the restaurant start to turn and look.
“Haaa,” Becca wheezes out a final laugh, wiping under her eyes with her fingers. “Shit. I knew I should have taken off my makeup before we came here. I must look like a deranged raccoon.”
She looks great, as always, but there is a little makeup smudged under her eyes and I tell her as much.
“Ugh, I’ll be right back.” She gets up and heads to the back of the dining area to where the restrooms are located. “Make sure you don’t drink my chocolate milk,” she yells before going through the door.
Just then, a group of three guys enter the restaurant and heads toward one of the booths past ours. The last guy in the group does a double take and has the audacity to sit in Becca’s spot across from me.
“Umm, can I help you?” I ask, eyebrows drawn in confusion. What the fuck does this guy want?
“Hey, hi,” the guy says. “Sorry. Are you Johnny Donovan? From Sleeping Dogs?”
Shit, just a fan. I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course, that’s all it is. Being with Becca, everything just feels so normal that I forget sometimes people know who I am. I’m finding that I really enjoy feeling normal again.
“Hey, man. Nice to meet you.” I offer my hand for him to shake.
‘This is unbelievable. I can’t believe I’m meeting you at a diner in the middle of the night, of all places. What are you doing here? Wild parties not happening tonight? Run out of bitches to fuck?”
What an asshole.
“No. I’m here with my girl,” I say through gritted teeth. “We wanted pancakes before heading home after our friends’ wedding.”
“Ha. Girl of the week, am I right?” He holds a hand out for a high five, which I ignore completely.
“So you want an autograph or something, guy? My girl’s going to be back any second and…” I leave it hanging, hoping he’ll get the hint and fuck off and go sit with his buddies. He doesn’t, though. He just sits there looking at me. “Do you need something?”
“Oh, no. Sorry, man. It’s just so crazy that you’re here.”
“You know we’re all from here, right? You were bound to see one of us around somewhere, at some point.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know tha—”
“Milo?” Becca’s shaky voice sounds from behind me, and I turn to see who’s she’s talking to.
That’s not right. She’s looking at me.
Oh, fuck. She’s not looking at me.
I turn around, my rage a fire slowly burning in my stomach. “You’re Milo?”
His eyes are wide and he’s staring at Becca. Then he looks back at me. Then back at Becca.
“Freddy?”
“Alright, dumb fuck. You’re done.” I slide out of the booth and slam and hands down on the table in front of him. “You need to get out of here before I do something that gets me thrown in jail.”
His mouth is still open wide, and his head is swiveling between me and Becca.
