Before Lucky (Forever Love #2.5)(19)
Author: J.S. Cooper

Lila played with her long brown hair and sipped her drink before making a face at me. “This tastes disgusting.”

“Oh?” I sighed as I realized that she was going to make this a pretty long night.

“I think that waitress gave me the wrong drink.”

“I doubt it very much, Lila.” I tried not to roll my eyes at her condescending tone. I stilled in anticipation as I smelled Lucky’s perfume. I could sense that she was on the way back to our table.

“Is this Diet Coke?” Lila snapped at Lucky with an attitude the size of Florida. “I asked for Diet Coke and this tastes like regular Coke.” She made a face as she looked at her glass.

“I can assure you that this is Diet Coke, ma’am.” Lucky made a face that almost made me laugh. “I personally filled your drink order, and I made sure to hit the Diet Coke button.”

“Well, are you sure? Because it doesn’t taste like Diet Coke.” Lila glared, and I thought World War III was going to start over a soft drink.

Lucky took a deep breath and turned towards me. “Is there anything else you need, Mr. Beaumont?”

“I told you to call me Zane.” I laughed. “And no, we’re good here. Thank you, Lucky.”

“My pleasure.” She beamed at me before turning away and I watched her as she walked in her graceful way. It took everything in me to not run after her and beg her to come to the party tomorrow. I was becoming so uncool in my head that it wasn’t even funny. I nibbled on my fries absentmindedly, listening to Lila ramble on as I watched Lucky greet a new couple that were canoodling in their booth. There were lines on Lucky’s face I hadn’t noticed before. She looked like she was stressing over something, and I wondered if she were still worried about her car. I hated seeing her look like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Everything okay, Lucky?” I called out to her as she walked past the booth. She looked at me in surprise, and I realized that she didn’t know that I knew she had personal worries. “I hope nothing’s burning in the kitchen.” I added on for good measure.

“Oh no. It’s all good.” She smiled at me and turned away quickly. I could see her face flushing red. “Do you guys need anything else?” She looked back at me quickly, and as our eyes connected, I realized I was way more connected to this woman than I wanted to be. I could feel my heart aching for her unknown pain and worry. I’d never had this type of empathy before, and it scared the shit out of me.

“Just the check.” The smile left my face, and I looked away from her warm brown eyes feeling panicky. “And quickly, please.”

“Sure.” She turned away, and frowned. I was sure she was wondering why I had suddenly gone cold, but I couldn’t help myself. “I’ll get it right now.” She walked away in haste and I regretted my sharp tone immediately. I didn’t want to hurt Lucky or make her think I was some sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character, but I was scared by the depth of my feelings. What if I couldn’t convince her to come to Los Angeles with me? What would I do then?

“So, Zane, where are we going now?” Lila leaned towards me and grabbed my hand. I looked back at her and realized she could be the perfect way to get my mind off of Lucky.

“I thought we could go get some cocktails on the beach.” I smiled at her and turned on the charm as best as I could.

“South Beach?”

“Yeah, we can go to Washington. I know a cool place.”

“We can go to my place.” She was straightforward in her invitation, and I watched as she pushed her chest out and licked her lips slowly.

“Yeah, we can do that.” I caressed her hand. It had been too long since I had gotten laid, and I was tired of waking up every morning to images of Lucky riding me. I need more than a teenage fantasy in my bed.

“Here you go.” Lucky dropped the check in front of Lila and snapped. “You can pay at the front.” She walked away quickly, and my heart started beating rapidly. I couldn’t let our last encounter in the diner go down like this. I didn’t want her to hate me. I wanted to slap myself for being an idiot.

“I’m ready to go now, Zane.” Lila slid out of the booth. “Let’s go and have some fun.”

“I’m coming.” I got out and walked with her to the front. “I’ll meet you outside in a minute.” I looked around for Lucky but I didn’t see her. “Excuse me,” I tapped the other waitress on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Shayla.” I read the name on her tag, “Do you think you can go and get Lucky for me, please?”

“Sure, just a moment.” She grinned and me and almost ran to the kitchen. “Lucky, your young man wants to talk to you.” I heard her hissing and I smiled to myself. Maybe Lucky was a little fond of me after all. I waited for Lucky to come out, and watched as she walked over to me, with a question in her eyes.

“Hey, Lucky, thanks for coming over to talk before I left.” I stared at her hard, willing her to understand why my emotions were all over the place. I gave her a small smile, but she didn’t smile back.

“Sure.”

“I have to go in a second because she’s waiting in the car.” I nodded towards the door. Come to the party tomorrow was all I could think of, but I couldn’t seem to voice the words in my head.

“Okay.” She nodded at me vacantly. “So did I get something wrong on the bill or something?”

“I wanted to apologize if I said anything to upset you.” I interrupted her question. “I just hope I didn’t come off as rude.” Don’t hate me.

“Oh no, of course not.” She looked at me in surprise.

“I was raised to treat everyone equally,” I continued, not even sure what I was talking about. I could tell by Lucky’s look of surprise that she had no clue either. I was just making things worse. “I hope you don’t think I was disrespecting you as a waitress!” I took a deep breath.

“Not at all.” She blushed and looked away from me. I had made things worse. So this was how it was going to end. Unless she made it to the party tomorrow, I had officially ruined three months of almost-friendship.

“Good. Well have a pleasant evening, Lucky.” I decided to leave now, before I had her calling the cops on me.

“You, too.” She smiled at me weakly and turned away. I felt my heart dropping as I stared at her, I couldn’t just leave like this, so I ran my hand over her shoulder and rubbed it softly. She looked at me in surprise, and I wondered if she had felt that sweet jolt of electricity as well.