Gwen and I worked lunch shift together again. And while she didn’t seem upset with me, the air was thick with something unsaid. I couldn’t put my finger on it and wondered if she was okay.

Katie had shown up in my back yard again the night before. It was the second night in a row. After holding her tight and running my hands over her hair while she bawled her eyes out the first time she showed up on my trampoline, I didn’t trust myself to go out there a second time to talk to her.

It had felt just a little too good holding her. She had been the one seeking comfort, and I found I was seeking that connection too. Probably more than she realized and definitely more than I wanted to admit.

When I saw her sitting on the trampoline last night, I was scared I might try to take things further than she would be open to. I wanted to kiss her. Lose myself in her. But this was Katie, not some random girl.

She had been broken when I held her tight. I didn’t want to take advantage of her. If I was being honest with myself, and I really didn’t think I was ready for that, I had felt a strange connection with Katie. I couldn’t explain it, and it probably had more to do with the fact that I had known Katie forever, than some love at first sight type of deal.

I wasn’t even going there right now.

“Well, Tabitha just clocked in and I’m just waiting on table eleven to get out of here. I’m going to cash out with Mike and then I’ll come back and give you your tip share.” Gwen interrupted my thoughts.

“Yeah.” I barely registered what she was saying because I had just spotted the object of my obsessing walking though the parking lot. I hadn’t seen her dad’s Bronco pull up. Did someone drop her off? “Sounds good.”

Gwen, not missing a thing, damn her, followed my stare to the parking lot and looked back at me with a sly smile on her face. “So, I actually invited Mitch and Katie to come have a late lunch with me today. You’re getting off soon, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You could come join us, if you wanted to.”

I heard the bell from the entrance door signaling someone had just come in the diner. I knew it was Katie and I forced myself to continue to look at Gwen instead. Every muscle in my body tensed against what it so badly wanted to do.

“I just need to do a little prep work for dinner shift. I’ll think about it.”

“Just come hang out with us, okay?”

“Let me get my stuff done, and I’ll head over if you’re still hanging out.”

She gave me another one of her knowing smiles and walked toward the office. With Gwen out of sight, and more importantly, me out of her sight, I allowed myself to scan the dining area for Katie. She sat at one of the booths by herself looking at one of the menus, as if she didn’t know it by heart now. Her body was stiff and her feet were tapping so hard and fast her entire body was vibrating. I watched her tuck an imaginary piece of hair behind her ear twice before rushing though my side work.

It took me all of ten minutes to get all the prep done for Frank. It wasn’t that I half-assed it or anything. Turns out, I could be pretty efficient if I wanted. I just hadn’t wanted to be lately. Frank and I exchanged a few words as he came in. It mostly consisted of him asking if we were 86 anything. I still didn’t know why we couldn’t simply say we were out of something. Why make it more confusing by adding secret codes?

I walked out to the dining area just a little self-conscious about the fact I had been working in the kitchen all afternoon. It hadn’t been too busy so I wasn’t as sweaty as some shifts, but I also wasn’t used to hanging out with anyone after work. I knew the smells of the kitchen had a tendency to cling to clothing. Thankfully, Gwen had been working all morning too and I wouldn’t be alone.

Gwen, Mitch and Katie were all sitting at the booth by the time I made it out, but hadn’t ordered. Gwen and Mitch sat on one side very obviously not touching each other. Interesting.

That left me to slide in next to Katie. She was beautiful sitting there. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she wore a plaid top and jeans. She wasn’t dressed extravagantly or anything. She just looked good.

I sat down just as everyone at the table burst out laughing.

“Hey, man.” Mitch stopped laughing, but still had a smile on his face. He lifted his chin up in greeting at me. “We were just telling Katie about the gun club. Turns out she had no idea what one was.”

“She thinks it’s a bunch of guys sitting around in velvet coats polishing their guns,” Gwen added. I choked on a laugh. I glanced over at Mitch who also caught the unintentional innuendo and was doing his best not to start laughing again. I quickly looked back toward Katie before I lost it.

When I had first walked over, she was laughing and looked comfortable. Much more comfortable when she had first come in. Now she was even stiffer than before and her cheeks were bright red.

“It’s not my fault I don’t know what a gun club is,” she mumbled under her breath, not looking over at me.

“Oh, don’t look like I just shot Bambi, Katie.” Mitch started up again. “I sit at a machine and release skeets for people to practice shooting. It's actually very boring and no one gets hurt or has duels.”

“And I can guarantee no one is polishing their gun with a bunch of other guys.” The words were out before I realized it and Mitch started a new fit of laughter.

“Who knew Julian had a sense of humor?” he asked before Gwen punched him the arm. Mitch and I hadn’t been close in high school. I stuck with my wrestling buddies, and Mitch was the popular loner type. Everyone loved him, and he loved everyone. He hadn’t been a part of any cliques or tight knit groups. I guess that’s why he could sit with me and not have a problem.

“Enough,” Gwen said as Mitch rubbed his arm. “Now that Julian is here,” she shot me a look that wasn’t quite disapproval. “let’s order.”

“You guys didn’t have to wait for me.”

“Of course we did,” Mitch jumped back in. “We’re going to have a good old fashioned eat off!” I looked back over at Katie and noticed the blush that had covered her cheeks was gone. She still sat with her body stiff, but she wore a smile on her face. “Katie started going on and on about what she was going to eat and it just seemed natural.”

“I didn’t even know an eat off was a thing,” she spoke from beside me. “I’m just really hungry.”

“You in, Julian?” Gwen asked from across the table.

“Always.” They didn’t know I was always ready to eat an obscene amount due to the very real lack of food at my own house.

Tabitha took that moment to walk up. “Hey, darlin’s. You ready to order?”

“Hey, Tabitha,” Gwen responded. The smile on her face said she was about to start laughing again. “We’re all getting the same thing. Cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake.” She looked over at me. “Julian, is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“Oh, and I’m buying.” Katie leaned over the table toward Tabitha to make sure she could hear her.

We all turned toward her. “What?” she asked innocently in answer to our accusing stares. “What good is a bank account full of money, if I can’t buy so much food we all end up puking?”

A bank account full of money? Was she bragging?

Tabitha shook her head at Katie before walking away. I was pretty sure I heard her mumble, “Teenagers these days,” as she left the table.

“Ok, speaking of outrageous amounts of money,” Gwen started and I was thankful someone was addressing it, because it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me. “Is that why you have the new ride out there?” She looked over at a fancy looking SUV out in the parking lot.

The blush was back. “Yeah. It’s just my mom left me a ton of money when she died and while I want to be responsible, I thought it might be nice to enjoy a little bit of it.”

“A little bit?” Mitch jumped in. “It’s a freaking BMW. I’d say you’re enjoying more than just a little bit. Not to mention, you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb in River Valley.”

“Fine, call it an impulsive buy while feeling sad,” Katie answered. And while her tone stayed friendly, it was obvious she was uncomfortable.

“Leave the girl alone,” Gwen said coming to the rescue, once again. “She bought a car. And, yeah, it’s nice. But I think we’re all missing what’s important here. Katie took away any incentive for winning, so we’ll have to figure something else out.”

“Bragging rights?” I asked.

“Oh, please.” Gwen rolled her eyes. “That’s hardly enough to motivate.”

“How about the loser has to kiss someone of the winner’s choosing?” Mitch waggled his eyebrows and looked around the table.

“Stop it! You’re such a guy.” Gwen punched Mitch in the arm.

“No, I’m serious. No one here is dating anyone.” I swore I saw a flash of hurt cross Gwen’s face so quickly, I couldn’t tell if I was imagining it. “And with the possibility for things to get really weird, no one is going to want to lose.”

“I’m in,” I said before I could over think it. I kept my eyes on Mitch and once again fought not to look at the one person I wanted to. Did I want to kiss Katie? Absolutely. Was it a bad idea? Probably. I could feel Gwen’s eyes on me but didn’t look her way either, afraid of what her all-knowing eyes would find.

“Okay,” Katie said from beside me so quietly, I would have missed it if I hadn’t been so intent on not paying attention to her.

“What was that?” Mitch turned toward her cupping his hand over his ear.

“I said okay,” she repeated with more force this time.