“Long morning,” she said.
“I can’t believe it’s only our first break.”
“I know, seriously. And that table?” She nodded toward a group of young guys, business bros.
“They’re not that bad.”
“Didn’t one grab your ass?”
“No, but he tried.”
She made a face. “Disgusting pricks.”
“Don’t worry, I spit in his eggs.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious, Becca?”
I grinned at her for a second, letting it sink in. “Nah, I’m kidding. But I seriously should have.”
“Oh my god.” She burst out laughing. “You had me for a second.”
“Have you ever done that?”
“What, spit in food?”
“Yeah.”
“Once. I felt really shitty about it afterward, but the guy was such a fucking piece of shit.”
“What did he do?”
She finished off her coffee and leaned forward. “He offered to buy me.”
“Buy you what?”
She smirked. “Buy me. You know, for sex.”
“What! Are you joking?”
“Nope. He held up a stack of hundreds, looked me in the eye and said, ‘all of this is yours if you spend the night with me.’”
“What did you do?”
“I spit in his eggs, obviously! I mean, seriously, do I look like a hooker? And why would he ask me that at the beginning of his meal?”
“That’s so, so ballsy.”
“I know. And he was old, too. Like all decrepit and shit. That was the worst part.”
I laughed. “So if he were young and good looking, it’d be fine?”
“Not fine, but better.” She paused and grinned at me. “It was a lot of money, Becca.”
“Oh my god. You’re not seriously saying you’d bang a young guy for money?”
She shrugged. “Who knows. If I’d do it for free, anyway? I might as well take the money in that case.”
I almost snorted out my sip of coffee and we burst out laughing together. It felt good to finally laugh with her after all the weird stuff that had happened between us. Lindsey had really changed over the years, but I kept getting snatches of her old self underneath the hard outer layers.
“Anyway, how is it living with your parents?” she asked.
“Not bad. I’m barely home anyway.”
“How’s Reid doing?”
“Fine. Can’t complain. He’s barely home too.”
“Listen, I don’t think I ever said this, but I’m really happy your stepmom beat her cancer.”
“Thanks, Linds. I am too.”
“She’s a nice lady. Always was nice to me, at least.”
“Yeah. I’m pretty fond of her.”
She checked her phone and sighed. “Another one?” she muttered.
“What is it?”
“Just another party, like that last one.” She looked at me for a second. “You should come with me.”
I laughed and shook my head. “After last time? No way.”
“Look, I promise I won’t leave you hanging again.” She held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor. Besides, you already said you’d come to another one with me.”
“I don’t know, Linds. I’m not really sure I’m up for a party tonight.” I stifled a yawn, looking away.
“Come on. What else is there to do around here?”
“Nap?”
She nodded earnestly. “Solid point. But how about we both nap after this shift and then I’ll pick you up at eight?”
I sighed. I really wasn’t in the mood to go to a party, but I had been neglecting Lindsey lately. She had gone out of her way to apologize for the first time, and I hadn’t seen her outside of the Blue in a while.
“Okay, fine,” I said.
“Great!” she said, perking up.
“But seriously, if you leave me alone with another creep I will burn down your apartment.”
She laughed. “It’s a deal.”
The rest of the break flew by, and we were back on the floor. I glanced at Lindsey once or twice, and she seemed genuinely excited for me to come out with her. Maybe she really had figured it out from last time and was sorry.
In the end, I never did spit in that guy’s food.
But later on, after my shift was over and I was curling up in bed to take a much-needed nap, I felt a slight tinge of regret.
He was such a fucking asshole. I really should have.
“Hell yeah, party time!” Linds yelled out the window, her little red Miata taking the turns fast and easy.
I laughed. “Where’d you get all this energy?”
“I napped!”
I laughed. She seemed almost manic, bursting with joy. “Don’t these parties get old?” I asked.