“I think I’ll just take the grilled chicken sandwich with a side of fries. Haylee?” Rydel turned expectantly to look at me.
“Oh.” I had almost forgotten where I was. “I’ll have the same, thanks.”
My thoughts had been drifting a lot recently. Although they hadn’t gone far. Ross. He was all I could think about.
“You seem distracted today, everything okay?” Rydel questioned. Her face immediately twisted into a look of mild disgust. “But if it has anything to do with Ross, please keep it to yourself.”
She knew. I suspected she’d known for a while. The whole band more than likely knew; I’m sure they had noticed me slipping in and out of Ross’s hotel rooms by now. Fortunately, they’d all had the decency not to say anything about it.
“Then I guess I’ll be keeping it to myself.” I said, smirking. I enjoyed being able to make Rydel squirm. It was funny.
She frowned. “Ew. I love you both but…ew.”
I laughed, smoothing a blue linen napkin across my lap. It wasn’t as if I had intended to start sleeping with her younger brother. It had come as a bit of a surprise to us both. I’d grown up with the Lynch family; Rydel and I had practically shared a crib, our birthdays were a mere three days apart. Growing up, Ross had always been the annoying little brother we both enjoyed picking on. The one we bossed around, put makeup on, stole the last cookie from… Things changed around the time Ross turned 17. And by change, I mean puberty. Damn. It did wonders for the boy. Of course, around that time I had also begun to develop into a woman myself. I didn’t realize it then but Ross had certainly taken notice, same as I had with him.
How does one fall into bed with a childhood friend she had once regarded as an annoying pain? As with many unplanned scenarios in life, it involved alcohol. During a ski trip to Colorado over winter break the two of us had drunkenly climbed into a hot tub together after a night out with the rest of his siblings. One thing led to another and well, I’m assuming I don’t need to fill in the rest of the details.
Once the hangovers had subsided and the bubbles settled, (and we’d both gotten over the ‘did that really just happen’ stage), we realized that we’d stumbled into the perfect arrangement. Both of us were entirely too busy for relationships at this point in our lives. But why shouldn’t we be able to enjoy a few…benefits?
I knew the situation had been odd for those of his siblings who had figured out what was going on. It was still odd for me. This was a kid I had spent the better part of my childhood tormenting. However, neither Rocky nor Riker were strangers to bringing a girl back to their hotel rooms on occasion. I was grateful they had decided to turn a blind eye to what went on behind closed doors when Ross and I were together. There was almost an unspoken pact among the boys: stay quiet about my indiscretions, and I’ll stay quiet about yours. Although to be fair, Ross’s sexcapades were a bit more difficult to ignore than their own. I had been a permanent fixture in the Lynch household since I was a child. I was now a walking reminder that their younger brother had been deflowered. And deflowered. And then deflowered some more.
“I have two grilled chicken sandwiches, both with a side of fries?”
A booming male voice instantly brought me back to reality. My eyes widened in appreciation as a tan, muscled arm placed my plate before me. My gaze immediately trailed upwards. A bleached-blonde man in a muscle tee and swim trunks was smiling down at me.
“Anything else I can get for you, beautiful?” he asked, flashing me another dazzling smile.
I could feel my stomach knot up immediately. Was he flirting with me? Was I still asleep? This had to be a dream…
A swift kick to my shin reassured me that I was indeed awake. Rydel was giving me a look from across the table.
“Ah…um, no. I’m good, thank you.” I said, smiling in return.
He nodded. “Well my name is Chris, let me know if you need anything.” He winked before disappearing into the back of the restaurant.
“What was that??” Rydel hissed as soon as he was out of sight.
I shrugged. “What was what?” I asked innocently.
She stared at me disbelievingly. “He was so flirting with you! If he’d made it anymore obvious he would have been giving you a lap dance!”
I scoffed. “He’s a waiter, Dell. He just wants a good tip.”
She continued to give me that look. The ‘you can’t seriously be this oblivious’ look.
“There is a difference between flirting for a tip and flirting. And if all he wants is your money then explain why he’s staring at you right now.”
I immediately whirled around to face the hostess stand Rydel had indicated with her eyes. Sure enough, blondie was staring intently at me. He quickly averted his eyes when he noticed I was watching. I felt my cheeks flush as I turned back around. Rydel was smirking.
“Told you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh stop.”
She stared at me incredulously. “Haylee, he is hot. And he’s interested! What’s the problem?”
Problem? There wasn’t a problem, not really. Rydel was right. Any other time I would have been thrilled to catch the eye of a guy like Chris. There was just one small, tiny little detail…
Ross.
We weren’t together. The word ‘relationship’ had never even entered our vocabulary. But I couldn’t explain why lately I had been increasingly holding onto the idea that someday, maybe…
I shook my head. I couldn’t live my life on ‘maybes’. Ross and I were friends, nothing more. I wasn’t about to be the clingy one who got attached to a relationship that was supposed to be purely physical.
“I’ll be right back.” I said, standing up.
Rydel grinned. “And where are you going?”
I quickly checked my reflection in the screen of my phone. “To live my life.” I flashed her a knowing smile before sauntering off in the direction of our waiter.
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(Part 3 & 4 coming.)
