“I’ll take that one.” The auburn haired woman says pointing at a cop who walks by. “And here I thought we’d all be watching a bunch of first responders who have their bellies straining their shirts. These guys look like they belong on the runway. They can cuff me anytime.” She leans back, sipping her fruity drink and winks at one of the guys.
I’m enthralled in the conversation, so much so that I lose track of the fact that Chelsea’s actually picked up her drink and sat at the table with them.
“Focus, Lauren. Maddie needs us.”
“Cool your jets, Vanessa. She’s not going to pull the trigger. She’s just going to obsess over him. She’s loved him since forever. Isn’t that right, Maddie?” Lauren sits up in her seat and gives her friend a knowing look.
Maddie doesn’t pick her head up off the table when she nods. I wonder how long they’ve all known each other?
“Sorry for interrupting…” Chelsea says.
Victoria’s wide eyes focus on mine. “OMG, she didn’t.”
“She did.” I nod.
“You girls are all single?” Chelsea asks.
“Yeah,” Vanessa answers warily.
“And friends?”
“No we’re strangers,” Lauren says and rolls her eyes at her friends.
“This is them!” Chelsea points to the table. “This was totally us six months ago!”
“Oh.” Victoria’s interest is piqued and she gets up and takes a seat at their table, too.
“What’s your story?” Chelsea asks.
All three of the girls seem to look at one another confused about why Chelsea is all up in their business. I don’t blame them.
“We should leave these ladies to themselves,” I say.
“Nonsense,” Chelsea shuts me down. “You don’t mind, do you? Are you guys planning on bidding?”
“Hey babe, what’s going on?” Dean approaches with a similar looking drink to Chelsea’s.
“She’s bothering these three nice women.” I point to the beautiful girls across from me.
He glances down to her and she shrugs like ‘come on this is going to be fun.’
“Yeah, I’ll be over here. Don’t let her bid for you girls, okay?”
Two of them blush at Dean. Not that I blame them, there’s no question that he’s a hottie—the boy next door with a sexy smirk.
Roarke pauses briefly at our table, leaning down to speak into my ear. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to join Dean.” He nods to the table the three of us were sitting at and heads over.
Seconds later, Reed is sitting with the other two guys at the table beside us.
“Let’s get back to you,” Chelsea says to the brunette who now has her eyes poised on a man across the room dressed in firefighter gear. They must make him wear that in the hopes that it makes a woman want to throw her cash down to win a date with him.
“Excuse me?” she asks in a tone like someone just offended her. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business.”
“Maddie loves the hottie in the corner,” Lauren says. “The one with the cop and paramedic.”
Chelsea’s mouth hangs open. “You know Mauro?
The brunette’s eyes widen and her face grows beet red in the space of a second before she grabs her drink and sips from the straw.
“Since she was like what? Fourteen?” Lauren says.
“Shut up, Lauren,” the Maddie girl says, spearing her friend with an evil eye. “We went to the same school. Sure, he’s hot. I just…”
“Admire him from afar,” Lauren says, finishing her sentence. “She’s loved him since the day she set foot at St. George.”
“St. George? You guys went there?” Chelsea asks, practically vibrating in her seat.
At this point Victoria and I are silent, heads bobbing from one person to the other.
“Yeah,” Lauren says.
“I went to the public school in the area, Lane Tech.” Chelsea beams. “I bet we grew up near each other. It’s how I know the Bianco brothers. So you know them, too? Let me call them over.” She points to the group.
“NO!” Madison screeches and smacks Chelsea’s hand down.
“That would entail Mauro knowing who Madison is,” Lauren deadpans.
“Why would he not know you? St. George isn’t that big.”
Madison and Lauren exchange a look and I see that the tall blonde, Vanessa, seems to be as lost as Vic and me.
“Let’s just say they ran in different circles,” Lauren says. “She was too good for him then and she’s too good for him now.”
“So you think you know better than her?” Chelsea asks Lauren.
“Yep.” She crosses her hands in front of her.
Chelsea grabs the paddle in front of Madison and slaps it down in front of Lauren. “You select who she bids on then.”
“No way!” Maddie says. “She’ll have me with some meathead guy with monster muscles who can’t hold a conversation.”
Lauren points to Madison. “I resent that comment. Tad was an engineering major.”
“And he’s still in college trying to make the dream happen,” Vanessa says with a laugh.
“Well, he was gifted in other areas,” Lauren insists.
“Aren’t they all?” Vanessa rolls her eyes.
“It’s not my fault you pick the three and a half inch floppy dicks.” Lauren nudges Vanessa.
“Then it’s settled.” Chelsea picks up Lauren’s paddle and hands it to Vanessa and then hands Vanessa’s paddle to Madison. “You each pick a guy for the other one.”
“No way,” Madison hands Vanessa’s paddle back. “She can’t pick for me.”
Chelsea relaxes back in her chair and sips her water.
“You’ve had way too many trips to the bar. Our tastes are completely opposite,” Vanessa objects, which kind of surprises me because of the three of them she seemed like the up-for-anything kinda girl.
“It’s one date. It’ll be fun!” Chelsea insists.
“Then you do it.” Madison tosses her friend’s paddle into the middle of the table.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” Dean leans back on two legs of his chair telling us he’s been listening the whole time. “She’s taken.” He rubs her stomach again and Chelsea beams.
“You don’t have to do it, but I think it would be fun.” She stands and pats Madison’s arm. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me, but Mauro really is a great guy.”
Madison’s cheeks flush pink and I don’t miss the way Lauren’s tamped down her dislike for him. Her eyes ping-pong between Madison and Mauro and I hope the gears are shifting. Maybe giving her friend a date with the one guy she’s been pining over might be the best gift she could give her.
“Where are all my single ladies?” the MC booms over the microphone and I slide out of my seat and back over to the table with Roarke. His arm instantly comes around to rest on the back of my chair. “Let’s meet the first responder bachelors up for auction tonight.”