Gravity (Greenford #2) - Romeo Alexander Page 0,11

people to do that. He was a big boy and could moderate his own behavior and emotions without someone feeling the need to baby him.

“So let me guess,” Samuel said, turning around to face the street behind them. “The little place with a brick front and a tiny ass sign is the place we’re supposed to be going to.”

Lucas snorted. “That would be the one. Come here often enough to know what’s new?”

Samuel motioned toward the squat building. “Because brick fronts, quaint little windows, and a really obvious attempt at a ‘homey’ and ‘humble’ appearance is in. Anywhere that’s popular is going to be hipster as hell.”

“Hipster as hell,” Lucas repeated dryly. “I always appreciate when someone is willing to give something a chance before making knee-jerk judgments. That’s what I love about you the most, Sam.”

Samuel pushed him away with a laugh. “Ass. You know it’s hipster. But there are some good things about hipster places.”

“Well, I know one of those things isn’t the prices,” Lucas said as they carefully crossed the street.

“Well, no. It’s that despite the prices, the food and drinks are usually pretty good,” Samuel told him as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

“You sound like you know your hipster places.”

“Eh. Remember, I lived in Portland a few years ago, back when the hipster trend was really picking up, and Portland was like, hipster central. Started cropping up everywhere. Organic this, farm to table that, artisanal everything.”

“Please,” Lucas said as he reached for the handle to the front door and pulled it open. “Continue to show open disdain for an establishment that is similar to the one you’re walking into. I’m sure they’ll love it.”

“It’s just pretentious,” Samuel grumbled, feeling properly chastised as he was being a little loud.

That didn’t stop him from an audible sigh of relief when they walked in. The place looked more like a hole in the wall bar than some of the eateries he’d been to in Portland. The brick continued to the interior, with smooth black trim along the edges. The small windows would have normally allowed the sunlight in faintly if it wasn’t for it being sundown, but the small, thankfully dim hanging lights over the gleaming wooden tables provided a comfortable amount of light.

“Oh,” Samuel said, looking around toward the bar in the back right corner and then to the set of wooden double doors just to the left of it. “Well, this place is cozy.”

A woman standing at the podium beamed at him. “You should see the patio.”

“Well, with an offer like that,” Samuel said, quick to smile. “Is there seating out there?’

“We’re at a part of the night that’s a bit quiet, so you’re just in time,” she told him, grabbing a couple of menus and motioning for them to follow.

He hadn’t noticed, but there really weren’t very many people sat at the handful of tables and small booths littered around the space. Both he and Lucas followed the hostess out onto the patio, through the double doors next to the bar. Despite his initial complaints, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the outside was just as cozy as the inside had been.

There were booths as well, just outside the double doors, as well as a few glass-topped tables in the center. The patio reached further back, down a couple of steps where a few small fire pits crackled pleasantly. There was another bar at the far back of the patio, and Samuel guessed, based on the lack of tables and booths on the lower section, that the location was meant for mingling rather than quiet eating.

The hostess led them to one of the booths and they sat down. After handing them the menus, she promised that a server would be with them soon and they settled in.

“Well, you were right about the terminology,” Lucas said with amusement as he gazed down at the menu in his hand.

Samuel gazed down at the menu and snorted. “Told you. I know what I’m talking about, but you never want to believe me.”

Lucas looked up, raising a brow. “Uh-huh. I’m sure there were plenty of places in Portland that weren’t, as you’ve put it, hipster. Why not go to those places?”

“Because they were everywhere?”

“Literally?”

“Well, no.”

“So there were other places.”

“Yes.”

“And…”

Samuel rolled his eyes. “Pick your damn food and leave my previous dining experiences alone. You are, by far, the worst date in existence.”

Yes, he was definitely trying to steer the topic away to something else. No, he was not going