“You were too. I know when you’re drunk. You can barely look at anyone in the eye, and you were kinda looking to the left of me every time you had something to say,” I reply with a smirk.
“And I’m old enough to be able to buy any kind of alcohol I want. Unless, you know, you’re the morals police now and I can kiss any boner I might get good-bye?”
I prop my feet up on the rungs of the stool and begin to jump one of my legs as I fold my hands on the countertop and grin at him again. “Just wanted to make sure you were sober if this went any further tonight, is all.”
“If what went further?”
I blanche at the sound of Katy Kat’s nicotine-addled voice and run a hand back through my hair nervously, “Um—”
“He thinks he can beat me home. You know. On foot, while I have a sports car in the parking lot,” Xavier intercedes slyly.
Dick.
“Well, honey, if I knew that I would have been plying you with decaffeinated coffee instead,” she replies, tilting her chin in the air, then walking away.
“That lady doesn’t like me very much, does she?” Xavier grumbles as he keeps his eyes on her.
“She doesn’t like anyone who behaves like they’re better than everyone who works here. It’s not always about money, Xavier. Sometimes, it’s about behavior and if you want me to be honest with you, yours sucks. Big time.”
He turns his face toward mine, a wicked grin spreading across his lips, and I can feel my heart start to beat erratically. The sound of it in my ears is almost enough to cause me to cover them, but I know it’s coming.
Three … two … --
“That’s not the only thing that sucks, I hear.”
One, I muse with a chuckle.
“Haven’t gotten any complaints so far,” I respond breezily with a cheeky grin.
“What else can you do?” he asks, lowering his voice and leaning a little closer to me.
“Dealer’s choice,” I semi-challenge him with a shrug.
“Hm.” He lets out a breath as he gets to his feet, slaps the countertop loudly to get Katy’s attention, then waves her over.
“Check, please!” he calls out in a sing-song voice.
I roll my eyes.
Even telling him that he’s been behaving like a prick doesn’t get him to stop acting like one.
Katy walks dutifully over to us, pulls the waiter pad out of one of the pockets in her apron and flips through until she finds his bill. She heads over to the cash register and begins to crunch the numbers before coming back and dropping an invoice slip in front of him.
“Have a nice night,” she grinds out.
It’s obvious to me that she’s happy that he’s leaving and is making no qualms about hiding that little fact.
Xavier reaches for the bill and then over the countertop, running his hands along the low counter until he manages to find a pen. I watch as he scribbles his name at the bottom then immediately moves toward the total, and I swipe it away from him before he can stiff her on the tip.
“Come on. Don’t be cheap on top of everything else. You know damn well she deserves a little compensation,” I bark at him.
“Very little,” he replies with an eye roll.
“Just give her a good tip, Xavier. Katy’s really protective of everyone who works in here, and that’s why she can come across as mean sometimes, but I promise you she’s not.”
He gives me a side-long glance before shaking his head and holding out his hand for the invoice.
“You promise?” I ask him carefully.