That was the thing about serial killers. People had no clue of their true natures.Chapter 3I see no reason to act my age.
-Coffee Cup
Hayes
Out of all the restaurants, and all the people that could’ve been there, why did she have to show up at the table across the aisle at the place that I was eating with my date?
Her date, a stocky man in his early thirties that was quite obviously out of her league, walked in at her side and sat down across the booth from her.
I watched them sit, my mouth tipping up at the corner when Ares saw me and did a double-take.
She frowned at me and took her seat, studiously avoiding eye contact with me as she did.
“You ever been here before?” the man asked Ares.
I barely refrained from snorting.
Everyone had been here before.
The Back Porch was one of the most popular restaurants in Kilgore.
For a date, it was either this place, or Mexican food down the road at El Sombrero. And seeing as tonight was Wednesday night, they gave out free margaritas, which made the place fuckin’ packed.
Hence the reason I’d chosen The Back Porch to take my date to.
Well, where to have the date at.
Since I was on call tonight with the SWAT team, it was inevitable that I’d have to leave mid-way through my meal. Which had become the norm ever since I’d joined.
I hadn’t been out to one meal yet that hadn’t been interrupted in some way. In fact, this would be my second time going out on a date with Errin.
To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure why I’d gone out of my way to reschedule this date.
Our first date, at this exact restaurant, had been quite a dud.
Though, I’d chalked it up to having a long day at work.
When I’d seen Errin the next day and she’d asked for a redo, I’d relented.
Though I wasn’t expecting any better results this time.
Errin was an ER nurse. I’d met her for the first time while transporting a patient to get stitches.
Though she was funny and hot, there was just something about her that wasn’t doing it for me. And she had a strike against her even before I’d given her the chance for a date.
She touched my hand lightly. “I’m going to get a salad. What are you getting?”
I hadn’t even picked up the menu yet.
I’d been too busy looking at the woman across the aisle from me out of the corner of my eye.
Though, the menu had been in front of my face since they’d sat down.
“Not a salad,” I murmured. “You like salads?”
My attempt at small talk nearly blew up in my face.
“I…” Errin started. But Ares’ melodic voice had me entranced.
“I need an appetizer of some sort,” Ares said. “I’m positively starving.”
The man in front of her snorted. “Order a salad. That comes out before the meal.”
I swallowed hard and let my eyes drift to the appetizers.
“What can I get y’all to drink?”
I looked over to see the waitress at Ares’ table.
The man ordered a beer and Ares ordered a sweet tea. Seconds after that the man ordered his food, leaving Ares scrambling because she wasn’t sure what she wanted just yet.
After spouting off an order, and likely only ordering what she had because her date had been glaring her down the entire time—I mean who the fuck ordered grilled chicken and broccoli?—she looked quite disappointed.
“Have y’all decided what y’all want to eat?” the young waitress asked when she moved our way.
“Yes,” I said. “I want to order the jumbo pretzel as an appetizer. For dinner, I’d like to have a steak, medium rare. House salad with ranch. And a loaded baked potato.”
Normally I wouldn’t have eaten that much food, but Ares was inspiring my inner fatty.
That, and I kind of wanted to rub the fact in a little bit when, after taking my order, the waitress moved to Errin.
While Errin was occupied, I allowed my gaze to drift over to Ares to see her glaring daggers at me.
I winked at her.
She rolled her eyes and looked away.
“So how was work?” Errin asked once the waitress left.
I wanted to talk about work about as much as I wanted to be on this date in the first place.
But I made small talk with Errin, eventually turning around her question and directing it at her instead.
By the time our appetizer arrived, I was plumb worn out and tired of talking.
I wasn’t much of a talker in general, which was why dates usually didn’t go all that well for me.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure why the hell I’d agreed to this one.
But I was fairly sure it had a lot to do with seeing a certain redhead the day before visiting her father. Momentarily making me lose my mind.
“You want any of this?” I asked curiously, holding up a piece of the pretzel.