Chapter Eleven
Reid
I wasn’t sure a day could drag any more than mine had. The morning had started off almost dreamlike, with Kayson in my bed—in my shower—in my mouth. Kicking him out was one of the hardest things I’d done in a long time, but if he didn’t get his work done on time, he would miss our date, something I was more than looking forward to.
After Kayson left, all I could do—aside from enjoying my coffee—was to overthink all things, which accomplished nothing. I thought about my job and how it was very much portable. Did I want to stay in the city? Sure, I had a few friends, but most of my life was pretty lonely. I’d allowed too much of my social life to be intertwined with Topher, and now that he was gone—good freaking riddance—I was left with not much more than my online coworkers and trivia night at the neighborhood bar.
No. Nothing was tying me to that city.
But that left what? Everywhere else. Not that I had a ton of money to start over, especially if they stole my security deposit, but maybe that was what I needed. To just pack what I could and travel somewhere until I felt like stopping and then see what happened.
The romantic part of me thought about finding a room to rent in Mapleville and seeing where things could go with Kaysen. He was sexy and funny and sweet—all of the things Topher was not. But starting over in a new place you picked because there was a guy you connected with was probably one of my more impoverished ideas.
When housekeeping knocked on the door at eleven wanting to clean the room, I took it as a sign I needed to get out of there. Grabbing my phone, which was blissfully turned off, I headed for the lobby to find someplace to eat on their board of Mapleville Attractions. I was on vacation, and keeping work shut off and in my pocket felt like the best way to make relaxation happen. I could face my housing crisis and any bologna my clients were flinging my way some other time.
The board was as pitiful as I’d gauged when I glanced at it the night before. They went so far as to advertise the local insurance agent. That was how exciting the town was.
Much to my surprise, the day had warmed up significantly, and my coat was sufficient for the weather, so instead of getting into my rental, I decided to take a meander down the street and see if anything caught my eye, or, more accurately, distracted me from thinking about the night before because every time I did, my cock decided it was time to play, and it so very much was not.
About halfway down the street, I began to smell greasy goodness and wondered if there was a steak-and-cheese place this far in the middle of nowhere. As I stopped at the next corner, my answer appeared before me in the form of an old-fashioned 1950s diner tucked off to the left. My feet instantly headed that way. Turned out the name of said diner was actually The Diner. It was both uncreative, yet at the same time brilliant, and a bazillion advertising ideas popped into my head, from logos to website designs. Because, yeah—that was how my head worked.
It was still a bit before I’d have expected a lunch crowd to have descended, but as I walked in, the only seats available were at the counter, which was not ideal for me. I liked to absorb a new place’s atmosphere, and when your back was to the majority of the people, it didn’t work as well.
I took the closest stool and grabbed the menu from the condiment station. It was pretty much what I’d expect from a small-town diner, menu-wise: burgers, all-day breakfast, and a bunch of sandwiches.
“What ya havin’ today?” Karyn, according to her name tag, stood in front of me coffeepot in hand. “Coffee?”
“I never say no to coffee.” It wasn’t a lie.
“I knew I liked you.” Karyn winked before filling my mug to the brim.
A familiar face stood beside me, and after a few seconds of fishing through my memory banks, I figured out from where. She was the nice woman who owned the gas station just outside town.
“Maria, right?” I figured it was best to say something after staring at her like a weirdo while I tried to place her face.
“Yeah. Mind if I sit here?” She pointed to the stool on the other side of me. “I’m waiting for my to-go order.”
“Have at it.”
“Hey, Karyn,” Maria greeted the waitress with a smile.
“Hey, Maria. The cookies are all boxed up. I’ll grab them for you.” She pushed a bowl of creamer packets my way, adding, “I’ll be back, mister,” before she made her way to what I assumed was the kitchen.
“Cookies?” It seemed an odd place to come for cookies, but I’d yet to see a bakery, so what did I know.
“Yeah, this place has the best cookies in town, so whenever it’s my turn to bring snacks to the center, I always order from here.”
“Center?”
I took a long sip of my surprisingly not-awful coffee. It wasn’t amazing, but for a diner, it was right on up there.
“Single parents.” She nodded as if that answered it all. “So, what are you having?”
“Not sure.” I was leaning toward a burger because of the amazing aroma, but they also had BLTs so I was fighting the inward battle of bacon vs. beef, not that I couldn’t throw bacon on a burger, but BLTs held their own magic. “I’m mostly killing time until I have a thing tonight.”
“A date.” She leaned in close, as if I were one of her high school girlfriends about to share all the dirt. “One night in town. Go you.”
“It’s the reason I am here.” Although bringing Kayson was going to make it far better than I ever could’ve imagined.
“And yet he blushes. Do tell.”
There was something about her that made me want to do just that. Maybe it was sitting in an old-school diner, or maybe because I was busting at the seams wanting to tell the world I met a guy, or maybe it was because her smile reached her eyes, but whatever it was, I found myself sharing far more than I normally would.
“I might have a date with the smexy florist.”
“And yet you are eating here alone.” She shook her head at me in disappointment.
“He’s working.” Although, I could bring him lunch.
“And that makes people eat less?”
She was right. He did need to eat, and it was early enough I might be able to make that happen, but there were so many what-ifs. What if I was too pushy, or he was too busy, or I got him the wrong thing?
“Here you go.” Karen interrupted us, standing there with a huge bakery box full of cookies. “On the house. You do good work.”
“You sure?” Maria held out her wallet.
“Get out.” Karyn shoved the box at her before pointing to the door, amusement bouncing off her face.
“Fine.” Maria faux pouted before smiling brightly. “Thanks, Karyn.”
“Anytime, love.” Karyn poured me some more coffee without asking. Good woman. “Decide what you’re having?”
“He’s having two number three specials, hold the onions, to go. And a root beer and…coffee?” She hesitated on the coffee as she glanced at my cup.
“Yeah, coffee.” It looked like I was bringing Kayson a number three special with root beer. Whatever that was.