to be assisted, Hudson replied.
Hudson: I don’t think you do. He’s not from Atlanta. He moved here a few years ago. He’s a good guy though. Why? Are you okay?
Me: I’m fine. Just thought I recognized him from somewhere.
Hudson: Nah, I doubt it. I don’t think he gets out that much.
“They have a table ready for us,” Chase said when he returned for me and his goblet of fancy beer.
I offered him a smile and let him usher me in the direction where we’d be seated.
After ordering a margarita on the rocks roughly the size of my head, I couldn’t help but subtly watch him over my menu. There was no real reason for me to be looking at it anyway. I knew what I was getting, but he was intently reading his, so I pretended to do the same.
When the waiter returned, I ordered my steak tacos with extra meat and extra queso to pour on top, and then I listened to Chase place his.
“Is the rice cooked with chicken or vegetable stock?” He was either vegan or allergic to chicken, which I’d never heard of, so my money was on the former.
“Chicken stock, sir,” the server answered.
“And the beans?”
“Yes, a little in there too, I believe.”
Chase closed his menu. “Okay. Thank you. I think I’ll have veggie fajitas. Please add mushrooms if they don’t come with. No beans. No cheese. No rice. And a side of pico.”
He wasn’t a dick about it, but I prayed—after ordering what I had—that I wasn’t in for a lecture. In my opinion, everyone was entitled to believe and eat what they wanted, but I wasn’t there to learn about the atrocities of animal cruelty. I was there to have dinner and possibly find a man to curl my toes later.
But I was already losing hope about the hooking-up-afterward part though because something was off.
“So you know Hudson well, then?” I asked while he took a sip of his drink.
“Not all that well. Actually, I was kind of taken aback by his phone call to set this up.”
“Oh, well, how do you know each other?” Maybe I’d get a hint about why I felt like I was having some twisted version of déjà vu.
“We played eighteen holes together at a charity fundraiser for the hospital. I’m his son’s pediatrician.”
Listening, I sucked my golden cocktail through the straw until the pieces began to click into place.
A doctor.
Short, dark hair.
Blue eyes.
Tall.
Picky eater.
Kind of geeky.
Hudson, the motherfucker, had essentially set me up with Calvin. I was on a date with my damn brother.
The ick factor that hit me was strong. Yet not powerful enough to quell my appetite. So, from then on, I didn’t worry if shoveling beef into my gaping maw bothered him. There was no chance this was going any further than the check at the end of dinner.
Strike one for Hudson, and if Hudson’s date was even a fraction better than the one I was on, Beep and Boop were one sad date closer to their kitty palace. So all wasn’t lost.
After a pretty dull conversion, Chase went up front to pay for our meals, which was nice, and I retrieved my phone from my purse again to get another Lyft when another message came through.
Hudson: Well, my date is over. You should just give me the keys now and forfeit.
Me: No way, my dude. Mine’s over too. And I have a major bone to pick with you.
Hudson: Do I need to kick someone’s ass? I’m at Huey’s now, but I can be at Mejor Mexicano in ten minutes.
I pecked at my phone and ordered a ride to the bar from the restaurant.
Me: Don’t move, killer. I’ll be right there.
I met Chase up front and together we walked out the door.
“It was nice meeting you, Chase. Thanks for dinner.”
He smiled, and if he hadn’t looked and reminded me so much of my Goddamned lame-ass brother, whom I loved dearly, he might have been handsome and charming. But the mere thought of leading him on or giving him any kind of encouragement about us ever being a thing was wrong and frankly disgusting.
“You’re welcome. Can I give you a ride somewhere? Wanna go have another drink? We could go for a walk?” It was sweet and absolutely something I could hear my sibling saying. So much so that, now, his voice was even giving me yucky Cal vibes.
Inwardly, I cringed.
Outwardly, I returned the smile and said, “No, thanks though. I called for a ride