Twenty-five

TWENTY-FIVE

Josie

"Go home and put your feet up."

My coworker, Jessica, came to a stop at the door, where she lifted her hand, waved, and insisted, "Oh, you know I'm going to do exactly that."

"See you later!" I called out.

"Later, Josie. Tell Kerri I'll see her tomorrow."

"I will."

A moment later, Jessica walked out the door and left. It was minutes before I expected the lunch rush would hit, and Kerri and I were covering that today. Ever since I'd returned to work—something I was so grateful to be doing again—there had been plenty of shifts to go around. I'd been worried that after being gone for so long that they wouldn't want to give up the shifts so easily, but it seemed to be working out well for everyone.

Being just a few weeks away from the end of her pregnancy, Jessica found that sleeping at night had become more and more difficult. Since she was up early, she opted for the early morning shifts at the diner when Betty's opened at six. She and Kerri had taken that shift this morning. Since I'd arrived mid-morning, I'd be working through the lunch and dinner rushes today, and I was excited about it.

Coming back to this had turned out to be far more rewarding than I had originally anticipated. I knew I wanted to get back to working—I couldn't sit around waiting to do whatever Huck had planned for us every day, no matter how much fun I had with him—but being a waitress hadn't been my dream job.

So, I expected some excitement about returning to work; I just didn't expect the level of fulfillment I was currently feeling.

The way this felt now was different than it had been before Kurt had put me in the hospital. Maybe it was that I finally had the freedom to make my own choices about what to do with my money. I could now save up for my own place and finally start putting the money aside to get the education I needed to become an obstetric sonographer.

For now, at least I could do something enjoyable for a job around people who were pleasant while I worked toward getting the future I wanted.

"Hey, Josie, before it gets too busy in here and I forget, I wanted to talk to you about something," Kerri said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Sure. What's going on?" I asked.

"We have Jessica's baby shower planned in just over two weeks. I wanted to remind you, in case you forgot with everything you've been going through."

Until she'd said it, I'd somehow forgotten about the baby shower. Sure, I remembered Jessica was pregnant the moment I saw her, but the party they wanted to have for her had sort of slipped my mind.

"Oh, thanks for mentioning it to me. I would have totally missed it if you hadn't said anything. I can't believe I forgot about it."

"Don't worry about it. You still have time to prepare for it," she assured me. "And it's going to be so much fun, something I think we can all use a little bit of right now."

She wasn't wrong about that. Granted, ever since I'd left the hospital and went to Huck's place, things had been great. Even in the most trying times of my recovery at the very beginning, life was still infinitely better than it had been at any point before then. I guessed that was to be expected when I was no longer fearing for my safety and physical or emotional well-being.

Smiling at her, I said, "I could use a little extra fun."

The bell from the kitchen had sounded, indicating an order was up. Kerri and I looked in that direction, and she said, "That's me."

As she walked off, I stood there and felt a wave of warmth move through me. I was going to be able to make and keep real friendships. Sure, these were my coworkers, but they were nice and friendly, and I hadn't been able to lean into anything like that for years. I'd been closed off from everyone for so long, knowing I wanted those connections, but understanding Kurt would never allow me to have them. I did what I could to remain friendly enough on the surface, but I had to find a way to convince myself internally to be indifferent to the idea of actual friends.

Although I hadn't said anything to Huck yet about what the girls from work were planning, I didn't worry that he'd tell me not to go. If anything, I was sure he'd encourage it.

The moment my thoughts drifted to him, I was surprised to see him pull open the door and walk into Betty's. His eyes found mine almost immediately, a smile growing on his handsome face. I barely had a chance to take that in before I realized he wasn't alone. Four additional guys who were just as physically fit—though not nearly as handsome despite their good looks—had stepped in behind him. There was also a pregnant woman who seemed to be with them, considering one of the men had his arm wrapped around her, holding her close.

I quickly became unstuck and moved in their direction. Coming to a stop in front of Huck, I smiled. "Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you here this afternoon."

Huck glanced at the men and woman he'd entered with before returning his attention to me. "Yeah, we decided at the last minute to come in for lunch. I didn't think you'd mind."

Shaking my head as I pulled out six menus, I insisted, "Not at all. You can follow me."

After getting the group seated and the menus passed out, I focused my gaze on Huck. He didn't hesitate to make introductions, pointing to each person as he went around the table. "Josie, these are some of my friends from work. This is Greyson, Jake, Kane, Brixton, and Liv." Huck reached for my hand, giving my fingertips a gentle squeeze as he continued, "Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Josie."

My heart started racing, and my belly dipped at hearing Huck introduce me to his friends as his girlfriend. I wondered if he knew what he'd done to me by saying it, because he looked up at me with a glimmer in his eyes.

After sending him a look that I hoped indicated how much this meant to me, my eyes moved through the group. Huck had shared the stories about his coworkers with me, and I hadn't forgotten them. The only one of the bunch who hadn't had a story yet was Greyson, but I did learn about him being Huck's best friend.

And while I thought all the stories I'd been told—even the ones about the coworkers who weren't here—had been interesting and heartwarming, there were a couple that stuck with me.

Brixton and Liv were one of the couples I'd most loved hearing about. Because their story was one that hit so close to home for me. They'd met in high school and had become close then, but they never developed anything beyond that friendship. Then Brix graduated, enlisted, and left.

Liv was left behind.

Their story had been undeniably heartbreaking, but seeing them here now with Brixton's arm draped across the back of his wife's chair, while she sat there pregnant with his baby, I couldn't help but feel hopeful. Maybe I'd be just as lucky as her one day.

Smiling at everyone, I said, "It's so wonderful to meet all of you."

I received a round of similar sentiments from everyone before getting their drink orders. When I returned with the drinks and set them down on the table, the door opened and several more patrons had stepped inside. Since our hostess had called off at the last minute today, Kerri and I had to juggle seating everyone. Kerri walked up to them and got them situated as the door opened again and another two people stepped inside.

I offered an apologetic look to Huck and his friends. "You all arrived just in time. The rush is here. I'm going to give you guys a minute to look over the menus, get these folks seated at a table, and I'll be back to take your orders."

"Sounds good, honey. Take your time."

My eyes lingered on him a moment as I allowed the feeling to settle inside me. He'd just called me honey in front of his friends without thinking twice about it.

Kurt would never.

Then again, Kurt hadn't ever really brought any friends around, which should have been a warning sign right from the start.

I shook thoughts of Kurt from my head, smiled at Huck, and stepped away from the table toward the new patrons. After getting them seated and settled with drinks, I returned to Huck's table and took orders. I was slightly bummed I couldn't stand around for a few minutes to chat, but I needed to get their order in, move back to the table I'd seated after them, and be ready to get the next group that would walk in, since Kerri had another table enter a few minutes ago.

In any other scenario, I would have been grateful to be so busy. Now, I wished I could have spent a little bit of time lingering at Huck's table and getting to know his friends. Unfortunately, the wave of customers seemed to be never-ending today, and I only managed to stop back at Huck's table to deliver their meals and check in once afterward to make sure that they were doing okay.

From a waitressing standpoint, I wasn't providing any service less than was expected or reasonable of me. I gave each table the same treatment and attention I normally would. But I hated that was all I could manage in this instance. If we had been slightly less busy, I might have had a few extra minutes to spare with Huck and his friends.

Just moments ago, I'd been walking past to seat three people who'd walked in, and Huck had motioned for me to get him the bill as soon as I could. I shot him a rueful stare, and I could see the disappointment written all over his face.

Once I gave my newest table their menus and got drink orders for them, I took off to get Huck's bill taken care of. I dropped off the drinks, told them I'd be back to take their orders, and moved toward Huck's table.

Coming to a stop beside where he was seated, I spoke to the whole table. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to get back here to really talk much with all of you. We typically get busy at lunch, but this is even busier than usual. I hope everything was alright."

"Everything was great," Huck assured me.

"Yeah, and Huck told us you'll be coming to Jesse and Sawyer's wedding with him this weekend, so we can catch up with you then. I'll introduce you to the rest of the girls," Liv added.

I perked up, feeling better, and smiled at her. "That sounds wonderful. I'll look forward to it."

"Perfect."

My eyes scanned the rest of the table. "Thanks to all of you for stopping in today. I hope you'll come back again sometime soon."

I received a round of nods in return, along with a verbal response from Kane. "I get the feeling if I tell Ellery about this place, she'll want to stop in. And it's likely she'll wind up dragging Hanna into it, which means Leo will be here, too."

"Hey, the more the merrier, right?" The bell rang from the kitchen, and when I glanced in that direction, I realized it was one of my orders. "Oh, that's me. I'm so sorry. I've got to grab that."

Huck reached for my hip, gave me a squeeze, and said, "Don't worry about it, honey."

A shiver ran down my spine.

"It was nice meeting you, Josie," Jake added.

"Yeah, it was nice meeting all of you as well."

I reached down for Huck's hand, curled my fingers around his wrist, and squeezed him back.

"Go," he said, jerking his head to the side.

I released his hand, and it dropped from my waist. Then I walked past him and brushed my palm against his shoulder as I did.

After delivering the food to one table, I returned to another to take their order. As much as I would have liked to speak with Huck privately and apologize, I simply couldn't get away.

He and his friends waved at me as they left, and even if I was disappointed about how it had gone, I appreciated Huck bringing them in to begin with.

And for a while after they left, I was still in the thick of it with Kerri. We had such a busy afternoon with lunch before getting a small reprieve during the two hours before the dinner rush started. Lori had shown up then. It really didn't leave much time to get lost in my thoughts about anything, and I found myself excited about the money I'd managed to earn in tips throughout the day.

Fortunately, it all flew by, and the next thing I knew, Tommy had arrived. My shift was over, and sure enough, when I looked outside, Huck was waiting there for me.

I felt the excitement bubble up inside of me, got my things, and said goodbye. Minutes later, I was making my way toward Huck.

When I came to a stop in front of him, I apologized. "I'm so sorry about lunch today."

"For what?" he questioned me.

I shrugged. "I wasn't able to spend any time with you and your friends."

He shook his head and waved his hand in the air, as though dismissing the thought. "Don't worry about it. You couldn't control the amount of people that came in. Plus, even though I did miss talking to you, I was able to watch you work."

I rolled my eyes as I wrapped my arms around him. "Oh, I bet that was lots of fun."

He hugged me before allowing his hands to drift slowly down the sides of my body and around to my lower back. "Your back was to me most of the time."

"See? That's terrible."

Huck shook his head, his lips twitching.

I raised a curious brow. "No? Why not?"

Something darkened in his gaze, and suddenly, I felt his hands drift down over the curve of my ass. "I have a fondness for the way this looks."

My lips parted slightly, the breath sticking in my lungs. Huck and I had done a lot of kissing ever since our first. And we'd allowed our hands to roam over one another's body in that time, but Huck had always kept it to the safe zones. This was the first time he'd touched a slightly naughtier part of my body, and it caught me off guard.

That didn't mean I didn't like the way it felt.

And it certainly didn't hurt to hear him tell me he liked the way I looked from behind.

"Is that so?" I asked, leaning my weight into him.

He nodded, continuing to smile as his fingers pressed in deeper.

"So, if you like me so much, why haven't you kissed me since I walked out of work?"

Huck didn't make me wait. He lowered his head, touched his lips to mine, and kissed me.

Whether it was the long, busy day at work that had done it, I didn't know. But the second Huck's lips touched mine, my knees buckled. Fortunately, he had a hold on my ass, and he didn't hesitate to increase the strength of that hold to prevent me from falling.

Huck's kiss made me dizzy. My mind felt scrambled, especially when I felt his tongue dip inside my mouth while his hands pulled me in closer to him. I could feel him growing hard between us, an indication he was loving this just as much as I was.

Wanting nothing more than to be somewhere where I could really melt into what was happening and get lost in it, I tore my mouth from Huck's and begged, "Take me home."

He smiled against my lips. "Anything you want, Josie."

Huck gave my ass one last squeeze before releasing it and walking me around to get in the truck on the opposite side. And barely a minute later, we were on our way back to his place, where we continued to have bouts of kissing throughout the remainder of the evening.

If one thing became clear, it was getting harder and harder to resist Huck.