Friends & Lovers Trilogy (4 page)

“
Okay, girls, but you have
to sit there and eat it all while mommy gets her shopping done, all
right?” the young mother answered.

“
Okay, Mama, we promise,”
they said.

As they got to the counter and boosted
themselves up on the stools, Rich turned on the charm.

“
Good morning, ladies, what
can I get for you on this fine day?”

The twins giggled and looked back at their
mother, as if asking permission to speak.

“
Go ahead, girls, tell the
young man what you’d like,” she coaxed with a smile.

Colin gave Rich a slight nod and then walked
off to find his father. The girls’ giggles followed him, as Rich
laid on the charm. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sound.

“
Hey, Pop,” he said as he
approached the counter.

“
Rich all set up?” his
father asked.

Colin looked back over his shoulder where
Rich was making up a couple of sundae’s, talking to the girls as he
worked.

“
Oh, yeah, he’ll be
fine.”

“
I thought he’d be a good
fit,” Mr. Grayson replied. "It's just too bad he’ll only be here
for the summer.”

“
It’s not like he’d want to
work a soda fountain for the rest of his life, Pop. It’s a
temporary kind of job. I was thinking rather than trying to hire
someone on like Roberta, we should focus on kids. No one wants to
work a job like that for as long as she did, anymore. I think we
should look at it as more of a temporary position.”

His father looked at him and smiled. “You’re
probably right. Roberta was one of a kind, that’s for sure. I know
that no one wants to work for minimum wage for long if they don’t
have to, I just hate the thought of constantly having to train new
people.”

“
If it’s a part-time
position, we could hire a few kids to work. That way, we’d always
have someone with experience and they could do the training as the
job turns over.”

“
See, Son? I knew you’d
take to running this business like a dog to water.” His father
grinned, slapping his hand on his back.

Colin couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t
think that’s the expression, Pop.”

He couldn’t retain his foul mood with his
dad so happy that he was there, and the sounds of Rich
smooth-talking the customers coming from the back. He just hoped he
could find a way to retain that happiness.

Chapter Five

Briana started her shift,
happy that not only was it Friday, but that it was actually
her
Friday. Getting
weekends was rare, and rarer still was getting weekends off with
her friends so that they could barbecue at the gravel
pits.

Pam had allowed Briana, Kara, and Pete to
switch shifts with some of the more seasoned workers, who had the
prime shifts already locked. Most of them were happy to pick up a
weekend now and then. It was a lot more packed and they usually
made better money.

It was busy, even for a Friday, but Briana
had plenty of help in the kitchen, so she didn’t feel like she was
overwhelmed. Just busy, which was how she liked it.

Kara came sauntering back into the kitchen
to pick up an order. “So, Bree, is Mr. Gorgeous going to be at the
pits tomorrow?”

“
Rich?” Briana asked
absently, putting the finishing touches on the grilled chicken wrap
for Kara’s order. “Yeah, he said he was going to stop
by.”

Kara walked up to her, forcing her to look
up and focus. She had an odd look on her face and didn’t say
anything for a minute.

“
What?” Briana asked her.
“I’ve got a lot of orders to finish, Kara. Why are you acting
weird?”

“
I’m not, I was just
wondering if you would be upset if I talked to him, that’s
all.”

“
Who, Rich? No. Why would I
care?” Briana looked at her and Kara gave her a look that said,
“You know why.”

“
Kara, I told you about
that. It was just a one-time deal. We never dated or had a
relationship. It wasn’t like that. I have no claim on him. It’s
fine, I swear.”

“
Okay, cool,” Kara said
with a smile and a bounce. “I didn’t want to poach. I just wanted
to make sure there was nothing there. You know I’d never do that to
you.”

“
I do. Now get this wrap
and get out of here. I’ve got work to do,” Briana said, trying to
push her back out into the dining room.

Briana worked diligently, getting orders out
as fast as she could until it was break time. She decided to go out
into the dining room. Pam didn’t mind if they took their breaks out
there, as long as it didn’t cause a problem for the customers.

Briana grabbed a Coke from Pete and was
about to find a seat when she found herself face to face with
Colin.

“
Hey, Bree.”

This was the moment she’d been dreading, but
now that it was there, she found that she knew just how to handle
it.

“
Hi, Colin,” She replied,
and started to walk around him.

“
Wait,” he said, putting
his hand on her arm to stop her from walking away. “Can’t we
talk?”

She looked pointedly at his hand and then up
at his face, not saying anything until he removed it.

“
We don’t have anything to
talk about, Colin,” she said, hoping her face looked bored because
her nerves were bouncing all over the place. “Besides, I’m
working.”

“
Looks like you’re on
break,” he replied. “C’mon, Bree, just give me a couple
minutes.”

She was about to tell him to shove it, when
she felt someone come up behind her and two strong arms wrapped
around her.

“
Hey, Babe, I’ve been
wondering if Pam was ever gonna give you a break.” Kent whispered
in her ear

He said it loud enough for Colin to hear,
and Briana noticed him stiffen at Kent’s words and his obvious
familiarity.

“
Yeah, I’ve got a quick
one.” Briana turned and gave him a grateful look, before going up
on her tip toes to meet him for a brief kiss.

She thought she heard a grunt or something
come from Colin, so she turned to give him a smile and an
introduction.

“
Oh, sorry,” she said,
though she wasn’t in the least. “Kent, this is Colin. We went to
high school together. Colin, this is Kent.”

“
What’s up, man?” Kent
asked, extending his hand for a shake.

Colin looked at the offered hand, then back
at Kent who may have been an inch shorter than him and shook
it.

“
Not much. You must be new
around here.” Colin said.

Briana tried to hide a smirk at Colin’s
discomfort. It looked like he wanted to punch Kent in the face.

“
I’ve been here for about
two years. I work over at the paper. You know, just temporary, to
gain some experience and move on to a bigger gig.”

He seemed happy to hear that Kent was just a
transient and that he’d be moving on eventually.

Briana couldn’t help but think that Colin
had no right to be jealous of anyone in her life. He was the one
who walked all of those years ago.

“
Cool, man. Well, I’ll
leave you two to your business and I’ll see you around,” Colin
said, eager to get out of there. “Bye, Bree.”

“
Yup,” was her only
response. She pretended to ignore him as he walked away, focusing
her attention on Kent. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“
Who was that guy?” Kent
asked, looking up at Colin’s retreating back before looking back
down at her. “At first I thought he was your date or something, but
the look on your face changed my mind. It looked like you wanted
out of the situation. I hope you didn’t mind me coming up behind
you like that. It just seemed to fit the situation.”

“
No, I didn’t mind, I
appreciated it. We dated in high school and I really hoped I’d
never have to see him again. Pretty stupid, considering how small
the town is, but he’d never planned to move back here.”

Kent was quiet for a moment. “Oh, so he’s
the douche from high school.” He looked up again, as if wishing
Colin was still standing in front of him.

“
Yeah, but it’s no big
deal. It was a long time ago. He just took me by surprise, is all.”
As did the feelings she’d had when his hand touched her. It didn’t
seem fair that the one person she never wanted to see again was the
one person who could set her body on fire with one innocent
touch.

“
All right, Babe. You know
that I’m here for you anytime you need me. If you want to tell him
we’re together, feel free,” Kent said with his cocky little grin
lighting up his face.

Briana touched her hand to his cheek and
smiled, wishing she felt the things for Kent that she’d felt for
Colin.

“
Thanks, but I’ll be okay.
I don’t want to cramp your style and ruin your chance with the
ladies,” she responded playfully, trying to soften her negative
response.

Kent looked down at her seriously, his heart
in his eyes. “Bree, you know all you have to do is say the word,
and there will be no other ladies.”

She nodded, wishing she could give him the
answer he wanted.

He smiled again, all seriousness leaving his
face. “You still want me to pick you up at one tomorrow?”

“
You sure you still want to
go?” she asked, giving him an out if he wanted one. “If you have
other plans, I’ll understand.”

“
Nope,” he replied. “I’m
all yours.”

“
Okay. One o’clock will be
perfect.” She tip toed up to give him a quick kiss before turning
to go back to the kitchen. “I’ll see you then.”

Chapter Six

Briana and Kent were among the first people
to arrive at the gravel pits. They parked along the side of the
dirt road and unloaded the stuff from the car. Kent grabbed the
charcoal grill and started walking.

“
Hey, Bree, if you can
bring the bags and blanket, I’ll come back for the food and
charcoal,” he grunted back at her, as he carried his heavy
load.

“
Okay,” she replied,
grabbing the backpacks and following him down the lane.

Once they reached the end of the path, they
walked through a hole in the chain-link fence. It opened up to a
large pool of crystal blue water.

Kent walked up to their usual spot by the
water and set the grill down. He turned and stopped to kiss
Briana’s forehead before heading back to the car to get the rest of
their stuff.

She set up their blanket and put their
backpacks down to hold it in place. It was a pretty hot day
already, so she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put her
sunglasses on, then applied some sunscreen and chapstick. When she
saw Kent coming back in through the fence, she went over to grab a
bag from him.

“
Kara texted and said that
she and Pete are almost here. They just stopped to put ice in the
cooler,” Briana said.

“
Sounds good. I’ll just get
the charcoal started. That way it’ll be hot enough to start cooking
when everyone gets here. If you want to jump in while you have the
place to yourself, go ahead.”

Briana loved swimming, and Kent knew she
cherished these moments of solitude in the water. Pretty soon the
pits would be filled with people, so she decided to take him up on
his offer.

She looked out over the water as she
shimmied out of her cutoff shorts, so she didn’t see the look on
Kent’s face as he watched her get undressed. She took her top off
next, then ran to the water and dove in.

She swam around, enjoying the feel of the
cool water on her hot skin. When she came up for air, she turned
back to say something to Kent, and saw that Pete and Kara had
arrived. They were setting up next to Kent. She swam back towards
the shore to get out and join them.

She walked out of the water, her hair
slicked back with droplets cascading down her body.

That was the image that greeted Colin when
Rich ushered him in through the fence. He stopped abruptly. Rich
ran into his back, and Colin stood there, mouth open, as he watched
her.

“
Dude,” Rich yelled. “What
the hell?”

Briana looked up at the sound of Rich’s
voice and saw Colin watching her. The look on his face was enough
to make her body tingle, and she couldn’t help but feel some
satisfaction in the stupefied look on his face.

Kent looked up at Rich’s shout as well, and
was less than happy to see the way Colin stared at Briana. The only
one who seemed oblivious was Rich, who was still trying to shove
Colin through the gate.

“
Colin, I can’t walk
through you, dude.”

Rich’s voice finally registered, and Colin
said, “Sorry, man,” as he got out of the way.

Briana walked over to her friends and pulled
Kara off to the side. “What the hell is Colin doing here?” she
asked, trying to keep her voice down. “Did you know he was
coming?”

“
No, I had no idea,” Kara
replied. “I’m sure Rich invited him. It’ll be fine. There will be
so many people here that you’ll never have to talk to
him.”

Kara walked back over to finish setting up
her blanket and unpacking her things. Briana watched Colin and Rich
go up to Pete and slap hands to say hello. They all started
talking, probably catching up since they last saw each other, and
she took the opportunity to look Colin over while he was
distracted.

He wore solid blue swim trunks with a tank
top in the same shade. His arms looked really good, toned and tan.
She felt that tingle run through her again and she couldn’t help
but remember what it felt like to touch his body.