Page 27 of When the Time Is Right
“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 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?”
