Never Forever

Number 6. The Dreaded Date

"Wow..." I breathed. The restaurant was beautiful with its rustic appearance and antler chandeliers. Every table by the walls and corners had its own private booth. Nice country music played in the background. There was a bar in the opposite side as you walk in where you could eat and drink. Elegantly dressed waiters and waitresses made their rounds, all seeming to be in good moods. One in particular, bounced up to us with a warm smile. 

"Reservation?" He questioned, picking up a clipboard. You had to reserve a spot in advance. Very classy.

"Yes, Tracker Master." Cassie replied politely. The waiter studied the clipboard. Then his eyes lit up. Tracker Master? Sounds like some kind of racer.

"Here you are! Follow me. Your friends are already here." He happily chucks the board on the front desk and beckons us to follow. I trail after Cassie, wishing I could run. My heart is fluttering as fast as hummingbird wings. My stomach is turning itself into knots. I gulp as we came nearer and nearer to one of the side booths. Holy crap. I feel as if I'm going to have a panic attack. 

The waiter stepped off to the side to let us go by first. My hands were hot and sweaty by now as I followed Cassie to my may be doom. As we entered the booth I noticed how cozy it was; with its antler lights and wooden interior. The bench was smooth wood and the table was a slab of a huge tree trunk.

"Hi guys, this is Jacey Stoner." I jump as Cassie takes my arm as she introduces me to the two strangers. I quickly zero in on both of them. I let out a silent sigh of relief when neither looked even close to Nick. Cassie continued to grip my arm as she introduced them to me. "The black haired boy is Tracker, and that one is Kyle-his older brother." She pointed to each boy in turn. Tracker had two inch raven black hair swooped to the side, green eyes that crinkled at the corners, strong jawline, tanned complexion, a carefree boyish look to him, and arched eyebrows that suggested a good sense of humor. He wore blue jeans and a white button up shirt with its sleeves rolled up and he was grinning at me. Where have I seen him before?

"Pleasure to meet you." He stood slightly to shake my hand. I slowly extended my hand to grip his, ready to give him a Karate chop if necessary. I smiled politely, hoping my eyes weren't hard stones. I'm pretty sure any other girl would have turned to mush by now by his charming nature.

The other young man was a little more serious. He had dark brown hair, cool blue eyes that seemed to see everything, tanned, straighter eyebrows with a slight arch, more manly jawline than Tracker's, and looked a bit older. He wore a white shirt as well with a loose tie, I couldn't tell what kind of pants he wore since he was on the other side of his brother. He seemed more solidly built than Tracker. Both were quite muscular.

 "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Stoner." Kyle says politely.

"Ya... you too." I mumble awkwardly. Cassie grins mischievously and slides onto the bench, me following closely. I hadn't even known that the waiter had been waiting patiently for us to take our seat as he stepped up the moment we were seated.

"My name is Terry. I will be your host for this evening. Can I get you anything to drink?" He asks, pulling out a notebook and looking expectantly at me.

"Uh I uh, whiskey?" I stutter. I hear a muffled snort come from Tracker but he does not comment. The waiter looks at me regrettably.

"Sorry, but you can only have hard liquor at the bar." He explains. "You can have a beer though." I had noticed that the brothers both had a beer earlier, but that's not what I wanted.

"Oh, um, iced mocha?" The waiter smiles and jots it down before looking at Cassie.

"What would you like, Miss?"

"Milk, please." She responds sweetly. He writes that down. 

"You gentlemen need anything else?" Tracker gives his beer bottle a gentle shake as if to see how much is still in there.

"Water is fine, Terry." He says, sitting back with his eyes on me. I gulp and look away. I know I've seen him from somewhere...

"Of course." The waiter smiled. "I will bring you all water." He turns and exits the booth, leaving an awkward silence behind him.

"So Jacey..." Tracker leans forward with elbows on the table. "Tell me about yourself." I stare at the tabletop. I slowly look up at him. He waits looking eager to know a whole bunch of lies I'm about to tell.

"Uh like what?" I say lamely. "You got to be more specific." He just grinned.

"Have you lived here long?" You have no idea.

"Most of my life."

"Do you have plenty of family here?" No.

"Not that I know of." I fingered my menu.

"How old are you?" I don't know.

"21. How old are you?" I think my bravery is coming back.

"Same." We all turned our heads as Terry came bouncing back in with a tray of drinks. He carefully set them all down.

"Ready to order?" He asked cheerfully, whipping out his notebook again.

"Yes." Everyone said at the same time. The waiter smiled.

"Lets start with this pretty little lady." He gestured to me, making me blush slightly. No wonder the restaurant hired Terry-he's quite charming with everyone. Way too aware of all the eyes on me; Tracker's laughing ones, Kyle's cool ones, Cassie's giddy ones, and Terry's expectant ones.

"I'll take your double bacon burger and fries." My voice is a lot smoother than I thought it'd be.

"Jacey!" Cassie gasps at me. "What about your figure?" I turn to look at her shocked face. I caught Tracker in the corner of my eye silently laughing. Even Kyle looked amused.

"What about it?" I reply innocently. Cassie just sputtered but stayed silent. I turned my head back to Terry who looked slightly awkward. I nodded my confirmation and he quickly wrote it down before nodding to Cassie. She huffed at me.

"I will have a Caesar salad." She said with dignity. I had to chuckle. Terry grinned as he put it down.

"I'll have the stake special." Kyle said, interrupting Cassie's glare at me.

"Wonderful." Tracker muttered as he scanned the menu with a furrowed brow. "I guess I'll have the... BBQ chicken burger." He snapped his menu shut and put it on top of the other menus.

"Good choices." Terry smiled, grabbing up the stack and turning away. "Expect up to a half an hour for your meal."

"Really Cassie? I knew you cared about your figure, but I never thought you cared about everyone else's." Tracker laughed as soon as the waiter was gone. Cassie flushed.

"I'm sorry." She looked at me soberly. "Did I embarrass you, Jacey?" She asked worriedly. I shook my head, smiling.

"No, you didn't." I gave her a friendly shoulder squeeze. Cassie sighed with relief. I suddenly realized I really liked her-as a friend. The thought of me having a friend shocked me. I need a breath of air.

"Um, I need to use the bathroom." I say suddenly, getting up quickly. The shock was too much. I catch Tracker watching me with an odd look on his face.

"Okay, be quick!" Cassie calls after me.

Not likely.

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