already.”
“Well, can I get your number?”
I straightened and put it out there. “I hate to be rude and this may sound sort of blunt, but you and I aren’t going to happen. Ever.”
His brows bunched. “Oh. I just thought… I mean…I had a good time.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I did too.” It was time for a truth bomb, so I lit the fuse. “And I think you’re great. It’s that you’re way, way, way too much like my brother. I just—”
“Calvin?”
“You know him?”
“Sure. We work at the same hospital. He played in the tournament with Hudson and me.”
I put my hand over my heart and exhaled. “So you get it? You see it?”
He shrugged. “Not really. But I have two sisters, and if I were ever on a date with someone who I thought resembled either of them, I’d probably feel the same.”
“Yeah. It’s really weird.” The uncomfortableness of the moment was causing my neck to itch. “You look alike. Act a lot like each other. Talk the same. You’re both doctors. It’s just too much. Again, thank you for dinner, but I just can’t see this going anywhere beyond this evening.”
Scratching the back of his neck, he chuckled. “I guess, thanks for being honest.” He looked toward the parking lot and then started to say something else, but I interrupted.
“My Lyft will be here any minute. You can go.”
Awkwardly, he snickered again. “Okay, then. I’ll…”
I waited as he searched for the words, but evidently, he couldn’t find any, and left me with, “Bye. I guess?”
As soon as he was out of sight, I shivered and shook off the heebie-jeebies as my ride pulled up.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I accused as I threw myself into our booth.
“Currently, I’m pissed at you. But what are you talking about?”
I rested my face in my palms and sweetly answered, “Chase. I’m talking about Chase, Hudson.”
He sat back and flagged Carmen down to get another glass for me. “What was wrong with him? He has a good job. A clean criminal history. His credit score is over eight hundred and—”
I slapped the table, causing the beer to slosh in the half empty pitcher. “How do you know about his credit?”
“What? We’re putting a rental unit over his garage. And he is the slowest, most cautious golf cart driver I’ve ever had the unfortunate pleasure of riding with for eighteen holes. He’s perfect for you. He even has a damn cat. Did he tell you about his cat?”
Yeah, on paper, I could see why Hudson, a.k.a. Mr. Practical, would like him. Therefore, I couldn’t be too mad. That didn’t change the fact that even the idea of Chase touching me in any sort of sexual way made my skin crawl.
“All of that is fine and good, but—you blind Neanderthal—he’s Calvin!”
His face bunched up, and he leveled me with that classic deep-in-thought squint of his. “No.”
“Tall? Dark hair? Blue eyes? Puny? Vegan? Ringing any bells?”
“Calvin was only vegan for a few months,” he interjected with an ornery grin.
“He’s a Goddamned doctor.”
“Okay, you have me on that one.”
My head shook at the thought of Calvin-slash-Chase leaning in to kiss me. “You’re sick. In the head. You can’t be trusted. I need new friends. Maybe a lobotomy.”
He finished a long drink and set his glass down. “You should be one to talk. You think I wanna fuck Mary Poppins?”
I couldn’t help the laugh that ripped up my throat at his twisted face and his tongue hanging out in disgust.
“Seriously, Lex. Why? Just why?”
“Mrs. Hort—I mean, Susan is nice.”
“She smelled like oatmeal raisin cookies.”
I giggled again. “Well, she’s a baker, Hudson. What did you expect her to smell like? Leather and strawberry lube?”
His lip curled and he rolled his eyes as he filled the glass Carmen had brought for me. Then he topped his off while she waited. “We’re gonna need another one of these,” he told her. When she was out of earshot, he leaned in and discreetly answered my question, “I would have been more interested in the leather. She wore sneakers, Kid.”
Inside, I was rolling, but I remained calm and pretended to be offended. I’d thought she would have dolled herself up for a date. Guess not. “So? Women can’t wear athletic footwear now?”
“I took her to a nice Italian restaurant.”
I licked my lips to hide the smile threatening to spread across my face. “So no kiss on the first date?”
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I suspect her teeth were false.