for a quick bite to eat before they head back to school. By the time they’re filing out, the dinner rush is coming in. I don’t have any time to worry about Charlie coming in for a burger, I’m way to busy keeping everyone’s glasses filled while Gus cranks the tickets out of the kitchen, one after another. So, when he does show up around seven-thirty, I’m unprepared. I’d just returned from doing a quick bathroom check, and he was already seated at one of the tables.
“Hey,” Charlie greets me with a soft smile.
“Oh hey.” I scan the rest of the tables not meeting his eyes.
“Have you had dinner yet, do you get a break?”
I run my hands over my short apron, which holds straws and my order pad. “Not really, sometimes I’ll grab a bite when we’re not busy, but we’ve been slammed all night.” I’m not hungry, I haven’t been hungry all day, and the fatigue that hit me yesterday afternoon is creeping up me. If what the guys told me is true, it won’t go away until I’m with them. That thought makes me a little angry.
“Well, do you think you could have a break now? Or I can wait until you get off if you can’t.” Charlie looks up at me. His face is a little soft around the edges. He doesn’t have any of the intensity Ares throws off in spades, nor does he possess the masculine beauty Ollie has. He’s lean, but his body isn’t sculpted the way Milo’s is, nor does he hold any of the attraction I’ve felt toward Dante since our first meeting. Charlie is safe.
I want to tell him ‘yes, I’ll have dinner with you,’ just so I don’t have to be alone, but also because he doesn’t want to be with me only due to some metaphysical connection between us. He’s seen where I live, he might not understand it, but he didn’t seem to judge me for it either.
“I—” My words get cut off when the jingle above the door alerts me to another customer. “I’ll be right back,” I amend before turning to the door. Ares is standing right at the entrance. His eyes flow over me slowly before landing on the table to my right. I snatch my hand back; I’d been resting it against the top of the booth near Charlie’s shoulder without realizing it.
His eyes narrow then glide to the young man in the booth. His mouth turns down in a frown. Ares eats up the distance between us, stepping into my personal space. I lean back slightly when he dips his head close to mine and inhales deeply.
Embarrassment floods me. Do I stink? He steps back quickly but places his arm around my waist in a way that makes us seem very familiar. Charlie hasn’t spoken a word, nor have I. I’m not sure what to say. My mouth opens a few times only to close.
“Hello Cara,” Ares finally purrs, his mouth close to my ear. I swallow thickly. When is he going to learn my name is Laura? “Been a busy night, how’s Maggie? And you are?” His free hand shoots out to Charlie, who is sitting at the table as dumbstruck as I am at Ares’s approach.
A few seconds pass without Charlie responding before he finally catches on and meets Ares’s hand for a handshake. A firm handshake if the wince on his face is any indication. “I’m...” He says in a rather high pitch, so he clears his throat before saying, “I’m Charlie, Laura and I go to school together.”
Ares looks down at me with a darkness in his eyes I don’t understand. “Then you must know my brothers?” I wrinkle my nose at the slip, only one of the guys is his brother. “Dante, Oliver, and Milo.”
Charlie peeks at me, then over to Ares who still has his arm around my waist. “I know who they are.” Ares’s fingers tighten on my shoulder as he pulls my side tightly to his. He leans in close to Charlie, like he’s about to tell him something important. The shock of seeing him and feeling like I was caught doing something wrong finally wears off and I blurt, “Do you know what you want to order?”
My voice comes out loud as I shrug out of Ares’s embrace. “You can find a seat at any of the open tables, I’ll be right with you.” I dismiss Ares, focusing on Charlie as I pull