When we walked into Stroubes, the hostess recognized me right away. Her name was Tracy or Tasha. Something like that. She was always syrupy sweet on me whenever I came to the restaurant. The typical kind of girl who was always on my jock. “Good evening, Mr. Romero. Good to see you.”

I leaned into the hostess stand. “Thank you. Good to be here.” Looking around, I asked, “Mark and Ross, here?”

The hostess picked up two menus, noticing begrudgingly I had brought a girl. “Chef Reilly and Chef Ford are here. Shall I let them know you have arrived?” Gesturing with her hand, she said, “Please follow me.”

I waved her off as I walked. “Nah. If they’re busy, don’t bother.”

Tracy or Tasha turned around and smiled. “They’re never too busy for you.” She winked.

Undoubtedly a mistake, I was still holding onto Kassie’s hand. Her grip tightened at the hostess’ wink. It was a bad move to hold her hand too early in my mission to conquer her, but I couldn’t help it. She looked so beautiful. It was a stupid reflex.

Don’t get me wrong. Tracy or Tasha or whatever her name was, was a looker. Mark and Ross only had beautiful beguiling women as hostesses, but my mind and cock were solely focused on Kassie. Tracy/Tasha could be had on any given day without me so much as much lifting a finger.

When the hostess seated us, she made sure to run a hand deliberately across my shoulders. “Enjoy your night.” That naughty vixen upped her flirting game, simply because I had brought Kassie in with me. Girls were so predictable sometimes.

Kassie sat across me with a mixed look of irritation and amusement. “I guess you come here often?”

I guffawed at her irritation but decided to not address it directly. “A bit. Alex, my cousin, his wife’s family restaurant sells this place her father’s oxen.” Kassie tilted her head in inquiry, making her ponytail swing to the side. I had piqued her interest. “Now, it’s not just any steak. Alex’s father-in-law preserves rare breads of oxen.”

Kassie’s eyes opened wide. I knew she would like the bit about preserving rare breads of oxen. “That’s amazing. Rare breeds?”

“Yeah. From all over the world. It’s delicious, too. You’ll see.”

Todd, the waiter, walked up to our table with methodical plodding steps. “Good to see you, Ryan. I caught your game on ESPN the other day. No hitter again!” Todd mimicked an exaggerated wind up pitch.

“Thanks, man.” I held out my fist to him.

Todd fist bumped me back. When our knuckles touched, he called out loudly and boldly, “Bam!”

Kassie and I laughed at his enthusiasm. Todd looked us over, rubbing his chin. “Now, I know what Ryan wants, but…” He paused, placing a hand on his chest and bowing deeply in Kassie’s direction. “Forgive me, I didn’t catch your name?”

Kassie laughed, enjoying Todd’s theatrics. “I’m Kassie.”

Todd was in his fifties and had grey hair and an intricate handlebar moustache. He had quite an eclectic personality, definitely my favorite server at the restaurant.

“Nice to meet you, madam. Now, have you had a chance to look at the menu?” Todd grinned with his hands clasped in front of him in a praying position.

Kassie looked over to me. “I’d like to just have what he’s having.”

Todd bowed again. “Excellent choice. Two Filet Mignons.” His eyebrows raised dramatically as he tapped his finger on his lips. “Crawfish Beignets and Pork Belly Du Jour for starters? And, it’s Thursday, so I assume no alcoholic beverages?”

Todd was the man. He always knew what I wanted. “Yeah. Sparkling water, for me please. It’s a school night. Starters sound great.” I looked at Kassie for confirmation.

She smiled eagerly. “That would be wonderful. And yes, no alcohol for me either. Sparking water please.”

“Brilliant.” Todd strode away in a dramatic gallop.

Todd’s energy lightened the mood. The scowl on her face from earlier that day had disappeared.

“So tell me: what is up with your sudden interest in urban farming?” Kassie asked. I bet Kassie had been dying to ask me this all day.

I had an answer for her already prepared, knowing she would ask me this sooner or later. “To be honest, I’d always wanted to get involved in community outreach, but baseball has a monopoly on my time. This year though, I told myself that I needed to make time. It’s my last year after all.” 

Although this was a prepared answered, I actually meant it. But Kassie eyed me skeptically. “Oh, yeah?”

I explained further. “My father’s a lawyer in Miami. He helps the large influx of Argentinian immigrants flocking to Miami. My dad does a bunch of pro bono work. I grew up around my large extended family who’re active in community outreach. It was always something I had interest in getting more involved in, in the future, but why not start now?”

Todd marched back to our table with the sparkling waters. He poured quickly in a flourish of affected movements and then disappeared in seconds. His measured movements made Kassie giggle.

Motioning with my head in Todd’s direction, I said, “Todd has Parkinson’s.”

Kassie’s face dropped in horror. “Omigod. I had no idea.”

I assuaged her uneasiness. “The reason he makes such big exaggerated movements is because he sees a physiotherapist for LSVT BIG.”

Her face clouded in confusion. “LSVT BIG? What’s that?”

“LSVT BIG is where you make big movements to help counteract the slowed movements of Parkinson’s.” I held my arms out wide to demonstrate.

Kassie’s eyes trailed to where Todd stood as he took orders from another table. “Wow. I thought he was just being funny. I feel terrible for laughing.”

“No, no. He doesn’t mind. He’s always had that theatrical flair. He loves to make people laugh. When I first met him, he was just as dramatic, but without such big movements. I referred him to a physiotherapist I knew after I noticed his tremors. He’s been in therapy with her for over a year now.” We both watched as Todd flung his arms up, describing something to the other table.

Kassie leaned in. “How do you know about physiotherapy?”

“I’m a kinesiology major studying biomechanics. I’d read about LSVT BIG in a research article. I found a physiotherapist in town who was certified.”

Todd walked back to our table with our appetizers and placed the plates on the table with panache. “Crawfish Beignets and Pork Belly Du Jour!”

“Thanks, Todd.” He bowed his head in a large swooping movement and dashed off.

Kassie looked at the food, but then her eyes slowly met mine. “That’s incredibly kind of you to help Todd.”

I was impressing her. She was definitely falling for me. “What? With the physiotherapist? It was nothing. Todd’s a great guy.”

Kassie’s interest had been piqued. I could feel her regard for me growing warmer. “What do you want to do with your kinesiology degree?”

I looked away at Todd as he poured waters for a table of five. “I’m not sure I’ll do anything with it. I have an interest in biomechanical and biomedical research. Take LSVT BIG, for instance. I saw with my own eyes how that helped someone. So, sometimes I think I could do research to discover more therapies like that.”

I looked back at Kassie, whose blue eyes were trained right at me. I continued, “But you know, my first love is baseball. So, I might not ever actually use my kinesiology degree. And maybe when baseball is over, I could be a coach or something.”

“It must be tough having two drastically different things that you’re passionate about.” Kassie bit into a beignet so delicately. It was endearing. Her two front teeth were slightly larger than the rest of her teeth, giving her a sexy overbite. I imagined those teeth gently sunk into my shoulder while I pounded into her. Damn. She was so hot.

Even though I knew her major, she didn’t know that so I asked, “What about you? What are you studying?”

Kassie wiped her mouth daintily with her napkin. “I’m studying to save the world.” She laughed into her napkin.

I chuckled, then gritted my teeth in desire. Even her laugh was sexy. Literally, anything this girl did was dripping with sex.

Kassie fingered the blue pompom necklace as she talked. I was duly impressed she made that. What couldn’t this girl do?

Her eyes scanned the ceiling before settling back down on me. “I went into environmental engineering to learn how we can use technology to save the planet, to stop hunger, and to provide clean water for all because I believe fresh air, healthy food, and clean water are not privileges. They are rights.”

As she spoke, her eyes watered just a bit. She blinked the tears away with a laugh. Fanning her face, she said. “Sorry. Sometimes when I talk about this stuff, I get a little emotional.”

Kassie Fairchild might have looked like a Barbie with her blonde hair and long legs, but inside, she was passionate about what she was doing. That touched me. I was just as passionate about kinesiology and baseball.

Todd strode to the table with our steaks. He set the plates out in front of us. “Compliments of the chefs,” he said thoughtfully. He then stood straight up and raised his fist in the air. “Enjoy!”

From across the table, Kassie gave me a knowing smile, understanding now Todd’s reason for his exaggeration and flair. She cut into her steak, still with that cute smile on her face. I couldn’t eat. I wanted to watch her.

Slowly, with anticipation, she took a bite of the steak into her mouth. She chewed slowly before closing her eyes and murmuring a delicious moan. Her delicate hands with long tapered and manicured fingers flew up to her mouth, “You weren’t kidding. This is the most delicious meat I’ve ever had in my life. Thanks for bringing me here.” She licked her lips and speared another piece of steak with her fork.

“My pleasure.” I patted my tie down and shifted in my chair. Watching her eat had made me half-hard. That steak wasn’t the only thing I wanted her to wrap her lips around.