God, I hope they leave her alone.
Chapter Five
Xavier
A different waitress leaves the kitchen holding my fresh burger, and I eye her up with interest. I’ve not seen this one before. Kicking Shane under the table to get his attention, I jerk my head toward the new girl.
“She’s new,” Shane observes, his eyes lighting up with mischief.
“Fresh meat?” I joke, as I flick my gaze between her and Shane.
Simon glances up at the girl, shrugs, and returns to his food. Redheads aren’t his type, but Shane would eat this girl for breakfast, lunch and dinner if given half a chance. Shane shuffles across the booth after elbowing Simon to get him to lean back.
He moves as though he’s about to stand, but he pauses briefly, hovering over Simon’s lap until he grumbles. “Move your ass, Shane. I ordered a burger, not a rump.
I chuckle and shake my head, watching as the door swings shut behind the girl, hoping to get a glimpse of a different kind of meat that’s also not on the menu. Shane finally moves out of Simon’s way, but not before shaking his ass once in his face, and then drops back onto the bench. With his palm on the table he prepares to get up and approach the redhead, but our view of her is cut off as the older woman intercepts the new girl. The two of them stop and talk for a moment, then she hands the plate to the older woman.
“Bad luck, dude. Looks like you’ll have to shop in the cougar aisle instead,” Simon snickers around a mouthful of fries.
Shane jams an elbow into Simon’s ribs, making him choke on his food. “Serves you right for being a pig. You know very well she won’t put up with any of our shit.”
“Here’s your replacement burger, will you boys be wanting anything else?” she asks politely, but her tone gets my back up, and I watch as the lettuce peeking out of the burger shakes as she all but slams the plate down in front of me.
“Not right now, we’ll be sure to tell you if we change our minds,” I reply, mimicking her tone as I turn my face away and look down at the burger.
“Hmm,” she huffs as she whirls around and moves over to another table.
Not sparing her another glance, I pick up my burger and take a bite. It’s delicious, juicy, and has the perfect amount of relish and salad to balance it out. Amos may have a shitty attitude and be a thorn in my side, but it seems he can fry up a damn good burger. Not that I’d ever tell him that. I eat just over half of it and then pop a few fries into my mouth. I should have probably ordered a fresh portion of fries along with the new burger. Shrugging, I decide not to worry on it. Why make an effort to create less work for Amos, when I can use this as an opportunity to hassle him some more?
“I’ll be right back,” I tell the guys who are sucking down the milkshakes they ordered.
“Have fun,” Simon says knowingly.
“Always do.” I wink, grinning at him as I pick up my plate.
Seeing me on my feet with my plate in hand, the waitress hurries over to see what the problem is. Before she can get to me to take my plate and complaint, or open her mouth to stop me, I’ve sidestepped her, flipped up the divider at the end of the bar and walked into the back.
“Excuse me, that area is for employees only!” she snaps, but I don’t stop.
“I need to have a word with the cook,” I snip out as I turn to lower the flap.
Her eyes narrow in a warning glare, but I don’t falter. I raise my eyebrow and smirk, otherwise ignoring her as I slip through the door that leads to the kitchens.
“Oof!” I hear as I collide with the redheaded waitress. I step back as the girl overbalances and lands on the floor in a heap.
“Suzie, are you okay?” Amos calls out, and I glance down at Suzie as I step over her and walk behind the line.
“She’s fine,” I tell him.
Amos whips around to face me, and his face falls in dismay a split-second before he alters his expression to one of irritation and annoyance. He clenches his jaw, and his light-brown eyes narrow as he takes me in.
I stare right back at him, noticing that his face is red and glistening with sweat, and the sleeves of his shirt are shoved up to his elbows, exposing his tattoos. The black ink is stark against his usually pale skin, barely hiding the burns he’s gotten from working with greasy fryers and spitting burgers.
“I want a fresh plate of fries. These ones are cold and shit,” I tell him bluntly.
Amos’ eyes flick over my shoulder, and I hear the door close. I’m guessing Suzie has gone to get reinforcements. Too bad, I was having fun.
“Fine,” he snaps, taking the plate from me and tipping the remaining food in the trash. “I’ll send them out when they’re done. Now, get out.”