“It’s about time you got here,” Milo barked loudly.
Milo was a middle–aged guy who had been at Finn’s I think since it opened in the 90’s. He always gave us girls a hard time, but I knew deep down if anyone messed with his girls here, or if we needed him, he would be there. He was like our papa bear, and that’s what we called him. Milo was a tall man with a white beard and hair that reminded me of the bikers I ran into a few times working in Tennessee. He was tough and no nonsense and loyal to a fault. He was the complete opposite of Mr. Creepy.
I smiled at him, even though I was five minutes early and said, “I’m sorry, Papa Bear, I got here as fast as I could.”
“Yeah, yeah, I need you working tables sixteen to twenty, Sweetness.”
He’d been calling me Sweetness since the first day I interviewed with him. I’m not sweet when it comes to doing my job, and I don’t let people bully me. Shocking I know. I could be assertive if I needed to so I could get paid, but he said to me one day, when I asked why he calls me Sweetness, that it was the way I smiled that made me sweet. I was sweet to the core and the reason why I got the tips I did from the patrons was they knew how sweet I was.
I didn’t correct him and tell him that I actually sometimes get crap from patrons. I knew however, if I said that to him, he’d probably have Ivan, our head bouncer, bounce people around in here until I did get treated fairly. It’s just the way Papa Bear was.
I quickly made my way to the back lounge the workers call home, put my stuff in my locker and made my way to the floor to make some money.
Three hours later, I was summoned to a table by one of the other waiters in the place, Adrian. He told me that some asshole was demanding I come and serve their table. I figured I knew who the asshole was. He was a regular here, and for some reason he would always ask for me or Rose, another waitress with dark long hair, big boobs and a good size ass. Rose was busy working on the other side of the room, so she probably couldn’t accommodate, which was why Adrian was looking for me. My tables were close to Adrian’s, so I swapped him for one of my tables that had four hot girls sitting and waiting to flirt with a hot waiter like Adrian.
Our attire at Finn’s consisted of black bottoms and a form fitting t–shirt with Finn’s written across the top in white letters. Joy cut a deep V in my shirt so my perky perfect tits, her words not mine, were on display. I wore a pair of shorts and had my favorite pair of black combat boots on my feet.
I walked over and smiled as soon as I got close to the table. Aaron made eye contact with me and grinned.
“There’s my girl. Jay, please meet the future Mrs. Aaron Kaminski.”
I smiled and was about to say something when my eyes fell on the one person I didn’t think I would see until tomorrow. Seeing him rake his eyes over me and watching his blue eyes turn dark, made me feel self–conscious. That was until I saw those dimples grace his face. I smiled back, and he moved toward me and pulled me into his arms.
I tensed at first, but as he squeezed me, almost possessive like, I couldn’t help but relax in his arms. He then pulled back but not without kissing me on my cheek. Of course I blushed.
“Hey, hey! Take your hands off my future wife.”
I looked at Aaron and rolled my eyes. “You better not say that too loud before Rose hears you.”
Aaron had been trying to get Rose to go out with him for months now. Rose, who just graduated from law school and was currently studying for the bar exam, to me was a perfect package with beauty and brains. Most guys think just because she worked here and showed off her rack that she was a ditz. But the girl was a handful and had no problem putting any man that was disrespectful or unwanted in his place. She was not afraid to say what was on her mind, or who she said it to. She and Joy were my idols.
Aaron grinned at me and shrugged. “Maybe if I make her jealous, she would say yes.”
I laughed. “Um, then you don’t know Rose very well, do you?” I looked around the table, and my eyes fell back on Josh. I said, “I thought you would keep better company.”
He laughed and nodded. “You would think, right. This is what happens when I’m left to my own devices. Maybe you can save me from being with them tomorrow if you come early to tailgate.”
“You asked her out? How do you two know each other?” I heard Michael lean in and ask.
As I mentioned before, I knew Aaron very well, and he was almost never without his partners in crime, Michael Day and Derek Slater. I noticed Josh didn’t answer Michael. He kept his eyes glued solely on me.
I got myself together and smiled at everyone. “What can I get you guys tonight? Your usual?”
“Of course, Sweetness,” Aaron answered, using my nickname, which made Josh’s eyebrows raise in shock and questioningly. “We need shots all around, then two pitchers of brew to start,” Aaron called out. The guys nodded their approvals.
“Can you also bring two glasses of white wine? Your best brand, of course.”
I turned to find two gorgeous girls with the tightest dresses that seemed to be rolled on their bodies walk up to the table. One of them moved up close to Josh and smiled.
I stepped back, clearly out matched and took note of her order. What wasn’t lost on me were all the frowns that came from the guys.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Aaron barked.
The woman didn’t address him. She looked over at me with such disdain on her face.
She said to me, “That’s all,” and swooshed me away with her hands.
I sighed; yup, it was definitely going to be that kind of night. I looked at Josh, who was actually scowling at her. He leaned closer to her and said something that changed that pretty face from her frown to shock. He then turned to face me and gave me another sweet smile.
“Can you make my shot a double?”
I smiled back. “Of course.”
I went to place the orders with Joy, and she smiled at me.
“Aaron got you roped up over there serving him again?”
I shrugged. “Well, you know how he is. I’m sure he would rather have Rose. But he and his boys tip very well, so I’m cool with it.”
She poured the pitchers then looked over at the table and asked, “So um, what’s up with that guy that couldn’t take his eyes off you?” I stared at her as if she had a third eye. That made her laugh, and she shook her head. “Yeah, I saw the way he was looking at you from here and how he keeps stealing glances of you while you stand in front of me.”
I quickly looked over at the table and found Josh’s eyes planted right on me. I thought that since he got caught, he would turn away, but he didn’t, except when the black haired girl that spoke rude to me started talking to him.
I looked back at Joy, and she was watching me.
I sighed and leaned into her. “That’s the guy I told you about.”
It was her turn to look at me as if I had a third eye.
She asked, “What? Are you saying that’s your date on Sunday?” I nodded. She looked back at the table then back at me. “Girl, you’re crazy. If Mr. Can’t–Take–His–Eyes–Off–You over there asked me to meet him in a deserted building somewhere in someone’s cornfields in the middle of the night buck naked in fifty below zero, I would.”
I shook my head. “You’re crazy, do you know that?”
“Yes, and so are you. It’s a good thing I talked some sense into you.” She shook her head and continued filling my order.
I brought the two pitchers, with Adrian’s help, and the shots to Aaron’s table. I placed the two wine glasses in front of the girls and the shots around to the guys, ending with the double shot in front of Josh.
He leaned into me and said, “Thanks, baby.”
I couldn’t help the huge grin that rose on my face, as well as the huge blush.
“You’re welcome.”
I tried to concentrate on passing out the empty glasses for the beer and not to the intense stare I was getting from Josh.
“Sweetness, that rowdy ass table of yours in the corner is calling for you,” one of the other waitresses told me as she walked by.
I nodded and then turned to the guys. “Enjoy your drinks, and I’ll be back to check on you.” I smiled quickly and walked away from another one of Josh’s questioning looks.
The night was winding down, and I was wrapping up my tables. I was exhausted. I had been on my feet running for hours and I had to fight off a few wandering hands that kept finding themselves on my butt.
I tried not to pay attention to Josh and his friends, but it was so hard not to. They were loud and having a great time with each other. The drinks kept being ordered as well as food. I was actually getting a little envious of the women around the table, especially the black haired girl. As the night progressed, she made it obvious at the table that Josh was hers, and she flirted with him the whole night. I couldn’t tell Josh’s reaction to her. He seemed to treat all the women at the table the same. But I did notice one thing, he saved his genuine smiles for me.
It never went unnoticed by me how he looked at me or touched me as I got close to him. I wanted to stop what I was doing and talk to him. I wanted to feel him hug me again, and God, I wanted to know what was behind the look he gave me that managed to always make me weak in the knees.