“Yeah, Amanda the bartender has herself a new man. He’s always sitting at the corner of the bar while she works, and I guess all the regulars gave them that nickname. You’ve never noticed him?” Zach asks, as if I see him every day. I’m not even sure I’ve met him before.
“Oh, no, I guess I’ve never really noticed him, but I think if you have, then maybe you’re spending a little too much time in the bar and not enough time—”
But he cuts me off before I can finish. “In your pussy.”
I smack his chest and throw my head back in laughter. “You are crazy; you know that, right?”
I start walking ahead. Zach reaches out for my hand and pulls me back to him with enough force that I knock into his chest. He leans in closer, our lips just a breath apart.
“I am crazy…crazy in love with you.”
His lips then meet mine, and we spend a few moments lost in each other, possibly a little too friendly for the streets of downtown Annapolis.
We are brought back to reality when people start whistling around us, and one guy yells, “Get a room.” I tuck my head into his chest in embarrassment, and he kisses the top of my head.
“Come on, let’s go get this over with and give your dad cardiac arrest for his birthday.”
I throw my hands up in the air and shake my head at him. “There’s the asshole I know and love. I knew you couldn’t always be such a sweetheart.”
“Hey, for the record, you always knew I was an asshole.” He winks, and his voice grows serious as he leans down to whisper in my ear. “And you know very well that I’m not always a sweetheart.”
The tone of his voice alone causes my heart to beat faster and my core to tighten.
He extends his arm in the direction we were walking. “Shall we?”
I nod, knowing damn well if we continue this conversation, we may end up being late to dinner.
We walk hand in hand till we reach the restaurant. Zach opens the door for me, and as I walk through the door first, he places his hand on my lower back. The hostess lets us know that the rest of the party has already arrived, and she leaves to walk us to the table.
Zach places his forehead against mine. “You’re my girl. I love you.”
I place a quick kiss to his lips. “I love you too.”
My grip on his hand tightens as we approach the table where our parents are seated. My mom is the first to notice us.
“Oh, look who’s finally…” She pauses as she sees us standing hand-in-hand. “…here.”
Oh shit, this isn’t good. All four adults make faces back and forth. I can’t tell if it’s that they’re mad or confused. Why isn’t anyone saying anything?
Zach clears his throat, and I look up at him and mirror his smile back at him.
“Well, shit,” I hear Mr. Adam say as he reaches into his pocket and retrieves his wallet.
What the hell is happening?
I watch both my mom and Ms. Kelly break out into a fit of laughter while Zach and I exchange confused looks.
We watch his dad hand over a fifty-dollar bill to my dad.
My dad kisses the money. “Happy birthday to me!”
Zach chimes in. “Umm, does someone want to fill us in with what’s going on here?”
My mom stands and walks over to us, hugging us both. “Well, you see, we had a feeling something was going on with you guys—call it parents’ intuition. And your fathers decided to bet on how long it took for you two to admit your feelings.”
“What!” Zach and I both exclaim at the same time.
My mother goes back to her seat, and Zach holds out my chair for me before he sits next to me.