It All Started in Vegas

Chapter 12

Charlotte POV

I didn't get a chance to properly look at all of the guys until we got to the restaurant. I sat with Sarah to my left, and Jake to my right, while on the other side of the table Jenny sat next to Ashley, with Kyle on the other side. Might I say, those two seem to really be hitting it off. The rest of the guys sat on the other side of the boys. Each of the guys was around six foot, and had good builds, but they definitely all had their differences. 

Kyle had dark brown hair to match his brown eyes, and he was wearing long khaki pants with a dark blue polo. 

While Mason had dark brown skin and light brown eyes, and full lips. He had short black hair, and wore a salmon colored shirt with khaki shorts. 

Next, we have Ryder. Ryder was blonde with green eyes, and a really good smile. From the short time I've known him, he has a really playful personality that was contagious. Ryder was sporting a red polo with black dress shorts. 

Aiden had light brown hair, paired with dark green eyes. He had on a light green shirt that brought out his eyes, and black dress pants. 

Well, you all know Caleb had his black hair and light blue eyes, but instead of just black basketball shorts, he had on a black shirt and white dress shorts.

 And this brings us back to Jake. While all of the guys were attractive, I took a particular interest in Jake. He wore a white dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up his forearm, and long khaki pants. Each of the boys seemed to dress up for the occasion, and I really appreciated it.

Once everyone had ordered, we fell into an easy conversation. Basically, we were all trying to get to know each other, since we had just met. There was one rule about the discussion: no school talk. We were all on vacation, and school started back up in a couple of weeks, so we all agreed that it was something we did not want to think about. We basically discussed where we're from, our families, what we like, and anything else we thought the others should know. 

Anything the girls said, I already knew, due to the fact that we spend so much time together. Everyone went around the table, and I learned Ryder's most embarrassing childhood memory, Kyle is from South Carolina, and Aiden can "outdrink anyone". Some things I learned about Jake: his last name is Williams, he likes sports, plays hockey, is from Chicago, and has a little sister. When he finished I realized it was my turn.

"Well, I'm Charlotte Parker, Char for short. I live in southern Illinois, so I'm a huge St. Louis sports fan." When I said that, Jake let out a little chuckle and shook his head, while I scowled at him. "I'm really close with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law, and I hate ranch dressing." 

Everyone sat there shocked, until Mason finally piped up. "You don't like ranch?" 

"How is that even possible?" Ryder added from the other end of the table. 

From the corner of my eye, I saw the waitress heading our way. "Oh look, food's here!" I said, hoping to end the ranch discussion.

It was pretty quiet while we ate, except for the occasional joke from one of the guys. Overall, dinner went pretty well. Once everyone had finished eating, we all sat around talking and laughing. Ryder made sure to get all of our phone numbers, "just in case something happened," which led to him putting all of us in a group message. He said that "officially makes us best friends". 

We all laughed and finally asked for our checks, ready to move on to the rest of our night. Jake whispered something to the waitress, and she nodded her head and scurried off. When she brought out our checks, she also brought out a free dessert. My friends took pictures of me with it to post on their stories, and I turned to Jake smiling. He was so sweet for telling the waitress that it was my birthday!

By the time I was done eating, everyone had paid and was getting up to leave. I stopped the waitress as she walked by, explaining to her that I never got my check. She gave me a small smile, "It's been taken care of!" 

I turned to my friends, getting ready to thank them, but they all put their hands up in the air to say they didn't do it. I furrowed my brows in confusion, until I felt a hand on the small of my back. 

"Consider it a birthday gift," a voice whispered in my ear, and then Jake walked past me, heading out of the restaurant.