Ugh, what a fucking gentleman.Even when he was rearranging my guts, he was a gentleman.It was goddamn ridiculous.
“Where’s he going?”a familiar voice from over my shoulder asked.
I sighed.“Toni.”
She sidled up to the table beside me and leaned.She had a huge pickle lemonade in one hand and a basket of fried pickles in the other.“Hey.”
“Hey.”I leaned over and kissed her cheek as she settled her food and drink on the table.
Then she went up on her toes and kissed my cheek, too.“He looks good.”
“Told you.”I raised an eyebrow.“Play nice.I mean it.”
“Me?”She put a hand do her chest, making the most over-the-top innocent face in her arsenal.Her eyes were bright today, a clear gray that gave the impression of honesty somehow, no makeup, pale skin slightly pink from the sun.
“You look good too,” I commented after giving her a once-over.
“You always look good.”She rolled her eyes but smiled.“Oooh, are those good?”She stole a pierogi.
“Those are Taran’s,” I told her.
“He’ll get over it.”
I chuckled.As nervous as I was about the two of them meeting up after all this time, and with me involved, no less, it was really, really nice to see her.Cincy wasn’t even that far from Pittsburgh—hell, one of us coulda got on a boat and just followed the Ohio to the other—but between money and work and shit, we hardly ever had the chance.
Someday we’d have disposable income.Until then, the yearly visit and the odd vacation would have to do.
She leaned into me, bumping my arm with her shoulder.“Seriously, where’d he go?”
“To get me a cocktail.We didn’t have enough hands.”
She eyed the pickled bounty on the table.“Did you just buy one of everything between wherever you parked and here?”
“We Ubered.How’s your mom?”
She caught me up on her family business.Her folks were way less wild than mine, accepting, loving, but very… let’s say upfront.I’ll never forget the first time I heard Toni tell someone she didn’t want to go to their birthday party.It was fifth grade, and I hadn’t even known you could do that if you were invited.Not to someone’s face, anyhow.
Life goals, right there.Imagine my shock that someone so cool would bemyfriend.
When Taran returned, he had two cocktails instead of one, and a big smile on his face.He wore sunglasses, so the blue of his eyes was hidden, but the crinkles at the corners were just visible.And god, his arms and shoulders so looked amazing in that tight Steelers t-shirt that I couldn’t even make fun of him for being so… typical.
“Well, he may still be hot, but he also still looks like a fuckin’ meathead,” Toni said under her breath.
I shot her a dirty look but totally ruined it with my proud little smirk, probably.He did look like a meathead, like a young professional Pittsburgh gym bro meathead, specifically.Not because he was big and muscley—he wasn’t, really, though he was strong as fuck.It was just a vibe.
“I didn’t know if you wanted the cucumber lemonade one or the cucumber martini one.”He held up both, then set them on the table.“Hey, Toni.”
“Kovacs.”Her dark eyebrows went up like a challenge.
“I want both now,” I assured him, taking the martini one first so the sweet one didn’t blow out my tastebuds.“Thank you, daddy.”
Toni made a gagging sound.
Taran laughed out loud and reached for his pickle pilsner.“How was the trip?”
She shrugged.“Fine.Uneventful.Pretty in parts.How was your, uh, life?”
He was still smiling.“Getting better.”
