Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 2 - Bad First Date

CHAPTER 2

CAT

Hannah looked absolutely stunning in her dress, showing off a pair of long legs that made Cat feel somewhat resentful of her very boring, very average, 5'4" stature. Hannah always towered over her, and it didn't help that she was wearing heels tonight. They clacked against the hardwood floor as she rushed over and wrapped Cat into a big bear hug.

She caught a mouthful of Hannah's sleek raven hair.

"Is he here?" Cat blurted out before her brain had time to process the question. Immediately her face went red with embarrassment, and she clasped her hands over her mouth.

Hannah raised a plucked brow and gave her friend a playful smile.

"Don't tell me you're excited," she smirked.

They were making their way into Josh and Hannah's cramped kitchen, which was surprisingly tidy considering how Hannah didn't clean. Of course, she didn't really cook either. Josh was the one that did all of those things.

"I'm a little curious," Cat corrected as she shrugged out of her coat and draped it over one of the kitchen chairs. "But that doesn't mean it's gonna turn into anything! I'm just meeting him, that's it. I don't have any expectations after that," she added promptly.

"God, you're so freaking jaded," Hannah snorted.

"I'm just being realistic," Cat smiled.

"Hey, at least you're not meeting him on some sketchy dating app," Hannah lifted a thin shoulder as she darted over to the refrigerator and pulled out some orange juice, which she placed next to the vodka bottle sitting half-full on the kitchen counter. "Plus Josh and I will be there too so it won't be all awkward and weird," she added.

Cat couldn't help but wonder about all of the things that she could say or do to make things awkward and weird, and she found that the list was pretty damn extensive. There was a reason she was an English major and not into public relations or media studies: she could put things down on paper just fine, but when it came to speaking out loud and having to interact with other humans, she was the walking definition of awkward and weird.

"This was a bad idea," Cat sighed, running her fingers through her curls, which were probably a tangled mess after spending all of that time standing out in the Chicago wind.

"Just drink this and loosen up," Hannah smirked as she handed her friend a cup that was filled to the brim. She poured herself a drink too and took a very generous sip, looking like a girl on a mission.

Cat looked at her drink a little hesitantly, thinking of her son hanging out at Amanda's. She didn't drink a whole lot – in fact, the last time she could say she'd gotten really wasted was the same night she hooked up with James and conceived Luke.

"I don't know if—" she began to speak, making a move to put the cup back down onto the counter. Before she had a chance to tell Hannah she didn't feel like drinking alcohol tonight, the front door opened and two voices could now be heard from the entryway.

She recognized Josh's upper Midwestern accent immediately, but the other voice was foreign to her. He was laughing about something Josh had said, and Cat couldn't help but like the sound.

"You can just hang your jacket on the back of the couch, just... uh, two steps to your left," Josh spoke. "Kitchen's down the hall in front of you... we've got booze. Hey babe, are you here?" he added.

"Over here!" Hannah called, giving Cat a sideways glance and accompanying it with a smirk.

The boys came into view before Cat had a chance to react. There was Josh, an obscenely tall and slightly overweight man with green eyes and a bushy, dark brown beard. Then there was the other man – Nick, Cat assumed. He was shorter than Josh, but still two or three inches over six feet. He was incredibly handsome... actually, handsome didn't quite cut it. He was downright sexy, perhaps one of the sexiest men Cat had ever seen. He had that whole mischievous, rugged, devil-may-care sort of vibe about him, with thick dark hair and a small amount of stubble over a square jaw. Cat couldn't tell the color of his eyes as they were hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses.