Page 37 of Bad Habit
“What the fuck did you do?” Eli asks before I even sit down. He’s definitely done putting up with my shit tonight.
I dig my bike key out of my pocket and toss it on the table. “I need your car tonight.” I flag down the waitress.
“The fuck you do.” Eli hates taking my bike, always prefers his own.
“She didn’t wear pants.” I tap the keys. “I can’t take her on the bike.” Eli groans as he pockets the keys and puts his on the table. I knew he rode with Maxwell in the car. But our brother has been drinking and Eli has been nursing a rootbeer all night.
“Fine. But only because it’s Mia and AJ will murder us if anything bad happens to her.” I would never let anything bad happen to her. Hence why I’m switching out the bike for the car.
“What do you need, Oliver?” Morgan, the waitress I flagged down, asks as she reaches our table.
I put the barely sipped glass of whiskey on the tray she is holding. She and I hooked up a few times and now every time she sees me she likes to act annoyed but I know that if I were to ask her to come home with me, she would. “I need the biggest glass of water you have. And a napkin andred sharpie if you have one. And a cherry margarita. Extra cherries. Tell Grover it’s for me. He won’t argue about the extra cherries.” She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Please, Morgan.” She rolls her eyes but I know she’ll do what I ask.
“Why does the guy Mia is with keep staring back at you?” Maxwell asks, looking over my shoulder.
I scoot back into the booth and grin as I meet the stare of her date. “Because I told him that I was taking Mia home. Well, kinda.” Eli and Maxwell laugh then Maxie flips the guy off for safe measure. Ride or die.
“That’s why you two were squared off.” Eli says, understanding more now. I actually have no idea why he brought her on a date here. This is definitely not his scene.
Mik’s has had several contemporary updates over the years. It’s definitely still a dive bar but it’s slightly more upscale. There isn’t grime on the floor but the tables and booths are well worn and loved. The lights are new and the paint is fresh. The bar was reinstalled with the same top, just freshened up.
I watch Morgan, carrying the tray of drinks, reach their table and put two gin and tonics down on the table. Mia grins at the drink and then looks up at me amusingly. Morgan walks over to me and drops the sharpie down on the table and a stack of napkins. My water is filled to the brim and almost overflowing. The cherry margarita is made to perfection though.Thank you, Grover.
Morgan starts to walk away and I catch her by the wrist. She smiles at me but I ignore it. I scratch out a new note on the napkin with my free hand. I gently lift the napkin and the margarita back to her. “Will you take this to the blonde?”
“The one with another guy?” She says in shock. “Stealing a date is below you. You can have anyone in here.” She says anyone but she really means her. Subtlety is not her strong suit. And I liked that about her at one time. But now I crave Mia’s vibrancy.
“Just take the drink to her. And the napkin.” I let go of her hand to tap the napkin for a reminder.
“Whatever.” She pouts as she makes her way back to the table she just came from. Mia’s whole face is annoyed now. She glares at Morgan as she brings her drink to her. She slaps the napkin on the table. And puts the glass of margarita on the table without care, causing some of the liquid to run down the side of the glass. Mia quickly picks the glass up before it can ruin the napkin.
I know she’s reading what I wrote in red ink.See you Saturday, pretty girl.
She picks up the glass and stares at me unwaveringly. Her date is still talking, not even noticing that she is paying absolutely fuck all attention to him. She drops her head to something in her lap.
Mia
After you finish that water and eat something, you can drive me home.
Oliver
Yes ma’am.
MIA
I’m sitting in my car staring outside his house. Hismom’shouse. That he doesn’t like people to be at but here I am, waiting to go inside because I lost the deal and he invited me here. I knew that he would find a way to ruin my date. I didn’t anticipate his confidence in how the night would end with him taking me home but I should have.
That dinner was important and I nearly threw it out the window as soon as his smug ass sat across from me. He knew what he was doing and I let him. When the waitress dropped off the cherry margarita I almost sent it back just out of spite but I was desperate for it. Plus the waitress would have lit me on fire with her glare if she could. They definitely had some kind of history but I don’t care. Every time I stole a glance his way, he was already staring at me. And that made me feel a certain way.
He took me home in Eli’s car and called me out for not wearing jeans so we couldn’t ride his bike. I will never admit it to him, but I regret not doing what he asked. I love riding on the back of that damn bike. When he dropped me off, I kissed his collarbone. I’m pretty sure he was waiting for it because he wore a shirt that had a wide collar and was already pushed slightly to the side when I turned around.
He texted me this morning and told me that we could work in the kitchen with backsplash and replacing the sink and hollowing out the cabinets. Which sounds like a lot of work for most people but to me, it sounds like a day full of creation. A lot of people didn’tlike open cabinets, but I have an entire inspo board dedicated to them. I think it helps the space look more inviting but also less cluttered at the same time. And it shows life in the kitchen. Life isn’t perfect, it’s lived. Our homes should also reflect that.
He told me to just come in through the front door when I got here. But it feels weird to just enter through the front door. That’s why I’ve been outside, contemplating the simplest thing and making it complicated.
AJ
Are you sitting in your car? He won’t bite.
