Strut the Mall (Love at Westbrook Mall #4)

33. Double Trouble

33

Double Trouble

A double date at the bar required a casual-cute outfit. I wore a low-key designer jacket, a crop top, and high-waisted pants with deep pockets. I wanted to look good, not just hot. After all, I wanted him to take me seriously after this.

Harvey was the first one there. He glowered at a corner table and played with his piercings while seemingly drawing on a phone app.

It took me actually pulling out a chair at the table for him to glance up. “Hey. Are the cousins late?” I asked.

“They’re almost here.” He frowned. “You’re Nikki, right?”

“Yep.” Did he not remember me? I tugged at my shirt. Maybe the lack of a lime green tee made it hard for him to place me.

Shelby jingled all the way to our table. “Harvey,” she cheered.

“Hey, sugarplum.” His whole face lit up like she was some dazzling being. He stood, tall as hell, and swiftly made his way around the table to sweep her into a hug.

She squealed and squeezed him tightly, then peeked through their embrace at me. “Hi, Nikki.”

“Hi.” I waved warily. Were they on some kind of proximity-triggered ecstasy?

Zack marched up to me. “Hey.” He leaned in to briefly kiss my cheek.

A tingle shot to my toes. I squeezed his bicep and returned the kiss to the beginnings of his scruff. “Hey yourself. Did you carpool with Shelby?” Last night, we’d discussed hanging out solo after this.

He nodded. “She’s going home with Harvey.”

“Oh.” So, he was going home with me. Maybe.

We settled around the table and looked at the menus. I sat next to Zack and across from Shelby.

Harvey leaned over her shoulder to read the specials. “Half-price appetizers,” he noted.

She shook the floppy menu. “Ooh, let’s get the soft pretzel and cheese sauce.”

Zack frowned. “All you eat is bread.”

“Well, if she likes that stuff, she probably found the right guy,” I said.

“I did.” She beamed at her boyfriend. “I like him even more than cinnamon twists.”

“Probably because snacks can’t give you piggybacks.” He smirked.

“That’s not it.” She giggled and tapped her shoulder into his.

He rolled his lip piercing between his teeth and glanced at her mouth.

Okay, they clearly wanted to kiss. My stomach twisted. I almost wished they’d smash their lips together to get it over with.

Zack grimaced, then flagged down a server.

“Hey, Zack. Nice set the other day.” The server, a curvy woman with nice lipstick, smiled and clicked her pen. She knew him. Of course she did. Coworkers and all that. "What are you all drinking?" she asked.

I scanned the menu. “I’ll do the special spritz.”

Shelby sat up straight. “Um, lemonade, please.”

Harvey stretched his arm across the back of her chair. “Water for me.”

“Same,” Zack said.

Oh shit. I leaned over the table. “If no one else is drinking, I can switch.”

“Actually, I was gonna do a beer too. Whatever’s on tap.” He reached for his wallet.

The waitress laughed and waved it away. “I don’t need to see your ID.”

He showed it to her anyway.

I smiled and procured my diver's license. My boyfriend was so by-the-book in some ways, and I kind of loved it. The server left, and as we put our stuff away, I caught a glimpse of Zack’s stern-looking face in his photo ID.

“You don’t smile at the DMV?” I asked.

“Why would I?”

“So your license doesn’t look like a mug shot.” I laughed.

“Excuse me for not ‘smizing.’ Not all of us are hot models.” He jerked his chin at my photo.

I grinned. “Aw, you think I’m hot. See, it pays to have the bouncer like your ID. That’s probably half of why you let me into that New Year’s Eve party.” The other half was pity. Or Shelby. But at least I knew he wasn’t inclined to smile in most photos now, even ones we weren’t faking.

Harvey narrowed his gaze. “I thought you two met at Fancee’s.”

“They first met in high school.” Shelby propped her chin up with her hands, her eyes aglow with hanging bar lights. “Do you think you’d have dated each other back then if the other person asked you out?”

“What?” Something tight banded around my lungs. I uncrossed my legs and bumped my knee into the table. The napkin dispenser rattled. I shot my palm out to steady it.

Zack spread his legs and warmed mine from the contact. “I would have, from what I remember.”

I gaped at him. “You would’ve?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his ear on his shoulder. “You were cute and nice and actually did work in group projects.”

“Why didn’t you ask me out then?”

“I don’t know.” He stiffened and glanced at all of us. Was he looking for an exit?

Harvey stifled a chuckle and twirled the ends of Shelby’s hair around his finger. “You starting trouble, sugar?”

“No.” She pouted.

Zack scrunched down in his seat. “I thought you were too quiet, I guess.”

“Too quiet?” I bristled.

“I bet he doesn’t think that now,” Harvey told Shelby.

I fixed him with a hard stare. “You want to chill on the commentary, Mr. Bean?”

He snorted.

Shelby tilted her head. “Mr. Bean?”

“Because he sells coffee.” Zack smirked like he loved that I’d been feisty.

Wasn’t I supposed to be classy though? Wasn’t that the character he needed from me? The girlfriend with a steady, respectable job and health insurance. The one who could deflect from invasive questions with grace. Not someone who snapped over stupid comments from his cousin’s boyfriend. Definitely not someone who sold feet pics.

The server came over with our drinks, so we all sat back and thanked her. She had an extra-wide smile for Zack. He didn’t seem to notice, thankfully. He wasn’t the type to flirt for free refills.

I posted a pic of my drink and tried to untangle the knot in my chest. Whatever Zack and I thought of each other in high school didn’t matter. He’d gone from the gruff quarterback shoulder-checking people in hallways to a gentle, bold giant. But if he was telling the truth, and he really would’ve dated my wallflower self in high school, that meant he’d probably date me as I was now: confident, chaotic, and loud.

Shelby patted Harvey’s knee. “You know, I thought Harvey was a real grinch when we first met, and he thought I was—”

“Bubbly.” He hugged her close, and she giggled.

“Annoying,” she clarified.

Zack arched his eyebrow. “And he doesn’t think that now?”

I nudged his knee for Shelby’s sake.

She snuggled in toward her boyfriend and tucked her chin down. “I’m just glad you two were able to see the real person underneath, like me and Harvey.”

“Thank you for being brave enough to show me.” He kissed her forehead, and her eyelashes fluttered shut. The tenderness was so intense my stomach clenched. I tightened my grip on my phone until my nails grazed the grooves on the table.

For all their PDA, they didn’t post mushy stuff or take a lot of photos. Then again, why would they? They weren’t faking or deflecting stuff or marketing. This was real, raw love, and witnessing it up close made my clothes shrink three times too small on me.

Zack eyed me. “Did you want a photo?”

“Hmm? No.” I wanted love. Not for our families, not for our exes, and not for some audience. I wanted it for each other. For life. But for any chance of that, I had to show him more than just the real me. I had to show him my heart and my empire of feet.