“Yeah, because families need to be in a bar. There’s the diner for that. Besides, I don’t offer a whole lot.” The very thought of opening a diner or a restaurant had filled her with so much anxiety she’d immediately turned off the idea. She loved owning a bar, hearing about people’s troubles, providing good food. Besides, the town had a lot of fairs and potlucks, and she was accepted as part of their community, which also meant she could provide baked goods of any kind when she needed, or just to be nice to a neighbor.
“No, but we all know you could.”
She rolled her eyes. “You two are going to give me a big head with all this ego talking. Stop it.” She waved her hand even though she loved this about them. Neither of them was afraid to tell her how they felt.
Humming to herself, she pulled the crispy fries out, drained them on some paper towels, finished each burger, and plated up. She put the plates in front of each man, and she took the spot at the head of the table, climbing onto the stool.
Each man took a bite with relish. Both of these men were dangerous to her equilibrium, but this was what she loved, feeding people.
She started to eat her own food, shoving a fry in her mouth.
“So, Connie, I was wondering. How do you feel about going out with me next Friday?” Scott asked. “Ouch, what the fuck, dude?”
“I also want to go out with you,” Beau said.
She laughed. “Guys, I don’t know what’s going on here.” Was there something in the food?
She glanced at Scott then at Beau. There was no way she’d said how sexy they both were out loud, was there?
“Simple, both of us want to date you,” Beau said. He threw his hands up in the air. “However, we wanted to see which one you liked first.”
“I … what?”
They were both glaring at each other.
“Let me get this straight, you both have been hanging around here because you both want to date me?”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Scott said.
“It’s not?”
“It sounds bad, like the only reason we came around was because we wanted to date you, but our hearts are in it,” Beau said.
“Look, I don’t know what you guys are thinking and to be honest, I’m a little uncomfortable right now. You’re best friends, right?” she asked, looking between the two.
“Well, yeah,” Scott said.
“Then I don’t think this is a very good idea. I’m not the kind of girl to get between friends and I’m not going to cause any kind of rift here.” She got to her feet, suddenly losing her appetite.
“Wait, what?” Beau asked.
“You heard me. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, or if this is to see which one will be able to score first or what, but I’m not part of it. Really, I just want to live my life trouble and drama free.” She turned her back to them, walking to the sink. She threw her food in the trash, feeling the tension mount in the room.
“We won’t take it personally,” Beau said.
“You’ve told me you’ve been friends for life, and you’re both standing there saying how much you want to date me. It’s not going to work. I’m not interested. Really not interested in having two friends fight with each other. I’ve got a good thing going and I know for a fact you two are well-respected and liked in town. Even though I’ve been here for six years, it doesn’t stop the fact they’d kick me out if you two started hurting each other. I don’t come between friends, and I’m not going to be the kind of girl to pick sides. Sorry, but you need to find someone else.”
****
Scott had a shitty morning. First of all, three of his clients hadn’t lost any weight and had openly admitted to binging on fried chicken and chocolate pie. They didn’t even know if they wanted to continue working out. He didn’t mind difficult clients, the ones who struggled with weight loss. When they came to him, they’d made the decision to change. He didn’t believe in forcing anyone to do something they didn’t want to do.
His gym was about accepting everyone and giving everyone the comfort they needed to take a chance on a gym. He didn’t accept horrible trainers, and if anyone who lodged a complaint, each one was investigated thoroughly. He didn’t want his gym membership to be the kind of regret people made in the new year, and six months later canceled.
Besides all of that, he was still pissed off after last night. In truth, he’d expected Connie to laugh and say, sure, no problem. Then of course Beau had to open his stupid mouth, and now she wouldn’t even give either of them the time of day.
He was pissed. No, he was furious.
With the last of his appointments dealt with, he jogged all the way over to the mechanic shop. It was probably a good thing it was on the other side of town, otherwise, he’d have killed the bastard. As it was, his anger subsided a bit as he jogged over. It still didn’t help the way he felt though, which was extremely pissed off.
He had no choice but to dodge a flying wrench as it came hurtling at his head.
“Fuck, bastard, fuck!” Beau shook his hand out, cupping it with his other, glaring like he could shoot laser beams from his eyes.
“Bad morning?”
“Fuck off.”
“You could have taken my head off with that thing.”
“You deserve it after last night’s crap. What were you thinking? I thought we agreed to let her do the picking and not to pressure her.”
“There was no pressure,” Scott said, leaning against the wall, folding his arms.
“No? Really? What part of asking her out on a date was not pressuring her?”
“Come on, Beau, you can’t tell me you didn’t see it, can you? Let’s face it, she’s putting us in the friends column, which means some useless asshole will get a shot at her. I was tired of being put in that zone. I don’t want to be in that zone.” Between them helping her close the bar and the food, he saw a long life of literally being nothing more than a friend. He didn’t want to be a friend.
He’d wanted Connie the moment he saw her, before she opened her bar. He’d caught sight of her in the grocery store, sniffing an orange. It wasn’t the most attractive first time, but she clearly had an appreciation for food, as did he.
Not only had he liked her smile, but also her body. He was more than happy with a woman with a lot of padding. Nice big tits, full hips, rounded stomach. He was a strong guy and he liked to fuck hard. Connie didn’t look like she’d be in pain if he gripped her hips too tightly, or complained if he held in her place as he fucked her harder.
She looked like a woman who needed a good, strong man in her life.
“Friend zone or not, we’re not in any kind of zone. I fucking hate you right now.”
“No, you don’t, otherwise, you’d have actually hit me with that wrench.”
“Why are you here?” Beau asked. “Don’t you have someplace to be? A business to run?”
“Unlike you, I want to resolve our problem with Connie.”
“She’s not going to pick between us, asshole. Face it, neither of us are going to get her in our bed.”
“Exactly, which is why I think we should look at this as the two of us chasing her together.”