“Hey,” he said.
Plastering a smile on my face, I ordered myself to not think about that party. I had to admit that Cody was definitely good-looking, which led to my bad life choices that night. He had a head full of wavy blond hair and an easy smile that he broke out frequently, complete with perfectly straight, blindingly white teeth and a cleft chin. He looked like he belonged on the beaches of California, hauling a surfboard behind him, instead of in Nowhere, Virginia.
And Cody knew he was good-looking. That knowledge was etched into that smile he gave so freely. “So what are you guys doing here?” I asked as I poured their water.
“Is that a question you ask all your customers?” Cody threw his arm along the back of the booth.
“Yes. Always.” Ice clinked off the glasses. “My version of great customer service.”
“We’re bored. Plus Phillip saw that Megan was here.” Cody swiped the glass of water. “Wanted to see her.”
I glanced over at the counter, where Phillip looked like he was serenading Abbi and Megan.
“And I wanted to see you.”
My head swung back around and I raised a brow. “Are you high?”
“Not at the moment.” He winked. “Why is that hard to believe? I like you, Lena. And I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“I’ve been around, working.” I stepped aside as Phillip joined them, scooting in beside Cody in the booth. I quickly took the others’ drink orders. “Do you guys need menus?”
“I do.” Cody gave me that smile, and my expression turned bland. “I like choices,” he added. “Lots of choices.”
Thinking that sounded like a really poor sexual innuendo, I shook my head and walked away. “Someone kill me now,” I said to the girls as I grabbed a stack of menus.
“Hey, don’t leave yet.” Megan twirled on the stool. “While you were busy adulting and I was busy ignoring Phillip, Keith texted Abbi and asked her out.”
“Oh, really?” I cradled the menus to my chest.
“To his party tonight,” Abbi clarified.
“He wants to get with you,” I reminded her, backing away.
Abbi rolled her eyes. “He can want whatever he wants, but that is never going to happen.”
“Famous last words,” muttered Megan, and then I heard her say, “We should go. I haven’t been to Keith’s in a couple of weeks.”
“I don’t know.” Abbi stared down at the napkin she’d been doodling on. “I have a feeling if I agree, you’re going to embarrass me.”
“Never,” gasped Megan.
“Well, you guys figure that out.” I turned away and brought the menus to the guys, placing one in front of each of them. Then I filled their drink orders and brought them over. “You guys know what you want yet?”
“I do.” Cody’s brown eyes twinkled as Phillip chuckled, and I prepared myself, knowing it had nothing to do with the menu. “What if I wanted a piece of you for dinner?”
I cocked my head to the side, not entirely surprised. Cody was... Well, he was just Cody. It was hard to take him seriously and he could be, as my mom would put it, crude as hell. “That had to be the absolute stupidest thing I’ve heard in the seventeen years of my life and I don’t even know what human being would be impressed by that statement.”
“Daaamn.” Phillip drew the word out, chuckling.
Cody leaned forward, completely unfazed. “I have better one-liners saved up. Want to hear them?”
“No. Not nearly buzzed enough for that.”
“Come on,” Cody insisted. “Trust me, it’s a true talent I have.”
“Well, you keep living the best life you can, and I’ll keep waiting for you to give me your orders.”
“Ouch.” He clasped his hand on his chest, falling back against the booth. “You wound me. Why so mean?”
“Because I just want to take your orders so I can go back to pretending to work when I’m really just reading,” I replied, smiling as sweetly as I could.
Cody laughed as he reached over, snatching the phone out of one of his friends’ hands. “Well, let’s not keep you from working too hard.”
The guys finally gave me their orders, and I walked back the short hall, past the restrooms and through the double doors into the kitchen. I found Bobby in the back, tugging a hair net on, smashing his man bun. I turned in the orders and then wheeled around, heading back to the counter.
“You guys need anything else?” I asked the girls as I picked up the empty fry basket.
Abbi shook her head. “Nah. I’m probably heading out of here soon.”
“Are you walking home?” Looking over her shoulder at the guys, Megan sighed as she eyed Phillip. “Why does he have to be so good-looking?”
“You have the attention span of a gnat. You ask me if I’m walking home and then immediately start talking about Phillip.” Abbi rested her head on the countertop. “Your ADD has ADHD. And yes, I was planning to walk home. I live, like, five blocks from here.”
Megan grinned as she faced her. “You do realize I actually have ADD, right?”
“I know.” Abbi raised her arms but kept her head down. “We all know that. You do not need to be a professional to know that.”
“Did I ever tell you about that time when my mom was convinced I was one of those indigo kids?” Megan picked up her braid and started fiddling with the ends. “She wanted to get my aura tested.”
Slowly, Abbi lifted her head and looked at her, her lips slightly parted. “What?”
Leaving them to that conversation, I took that basket to the kitchen and checked the guys’ orders. When I stepped back out into the hallway, I spotted Cody in the hallway leaning against the wall across from the restrooms.
My steps slowed. “What’s up?”
“You got a second?”
I eyed him warily. “Depends.”
After running a hand through his shaggy blond hair, he then dropped his arm. “Look, I actually did want to see you.”
“Uh, for what?” I crossed my arms and shifted my weight from one side to the next.
“I needed to talk to you about Sebastian.”
My brows lifted with surprise. “Why?”
“Sebastian and I are good friends, but I know you guys are closer. You’re like his sister or something.”
Sister? Seriously?
“Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.” He looked away. “Has Sebastian said anything about not wanting to play ball to you? Like I said, he and I are close, but he won’t talk to me about something like that.”
I stiffened for a fraction of a second and then folded my arms. There was no way in hell I was going to betray Sebastian’s confidence. Not even to his friend. “Why would you think that?”
He then tipped his head back against the wall. “He’s just... I don’t know.” Cody dropped his arm from his head. “He just doesn’t seem into it. Like he’d rather be anywhere but at practice. Couldn’t seem to care less about the upcoming season. When he’s on the field, he’s only half-there. He’s got talent, Lena. The kind of talent he doesn’t even have to work for. I’ve got this feeling he’s going to throw it all away.”