he gave me the knife and shit, but he did, and I started cooking.”
“Oh god .”
“It gets worse,” Grey assured her. “So, I’m butchering the shrimp and whatever the hell else is on the griddle thing, and Cody tells me to flip a shrimp into his mouth. Drunk me thinks that sounds like a great idea, so I load a shrimp onto the spatula and toss it to him. But instead of getting it in his mouth, I ended up hitting some poor old woman who was sitting two tables away from us in the forehead.” She laughed with Lauren at that and shrugged. “And, yeah, I shouted an apology that people on the street probably could have heard, the chef took his stuff back, and I sat back down in my chair.”
“Sounds like a very wise decision.”
“Thank you.” Grey tipped her head in a small bow. “Anyway, once the food started piling up on our plates, we were too busy eating to come up with any other genius ideas and so we managed to finish the meal without getting into trouble. But, once we finished dinner, one of the waitresses comes out with a little ceramic Buddha guy with a candle on his head and a bowl of ice cream, another waitress is behind her with a Polaroid camera, and they and the rest of the waitstaff in the restaurant start singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Cody. He makes a wish, blows out the candle, and then next thing I know, he has the Buddha guy, our friend Mike has the camera, and the rest of us are all following them around the restaurant in a drunken conga line, singing to random people and taking their pictures.”
“And how long did that go on?”
“Maybe five minutes,” Grey said, taking a sip of her drink. “At first, I think everyone was amused by our antics, but once we climbed onto chairs at an empty table and started singing It’s Gonna Be Me —Cody’s favorite song at the time—at the top of our incredibly inebriated lungs, the manager came out, took the stuff away, and asked us to never return to the restaurant again.”
Lauren laughed and shook her head. “My god. The nerve of that guy.”
Grey finished off what was left of her Painkiller, and grinned as she set the empty glass onto the table. “I know, right?” She glanced at her watch as Lauren polished off the rest of her drink. It was only a little after eight o’clock. The idea of ordering another round was tempting, she was genuinely enjoying herself and was not ready for the evening to end, but she knew that they should not return to the boat with anything more than a light buzz. Will and Kim were cool, but she was running a business and that did not include her being totally hammered when there were guests aboard her boat. “You wanna go get some ice cream?”
“I ce cream?” Lauren repeated, nodding as she got to her feet. “You just don’t want the night to end yet, huh?”
“No,” Grey answered seriously , her eyes soft as a shy smile tugged at her lips. Her heart stuttered at the blatant honesty she could hear in her answer, and she cleared her throat quietly as she held Lauren’s gaze. “I just…really want some mint ‘n chip ice cream and all we have on the boat is vanilla.”
Lauren stared at Grey, trying to get a read on what she was thinking. She had only been teasing Grey about not wanting the night to end, but she could tell from the open look in Grey’s eyes that she was serious. That, somehow over the course of the day, the weird unsettled balance between them had found its equilibrium. And, if she were being honest with herself, she did not know how she felt about it. A part of her was pleased that Grey was so much more open and friendly and even a little flirtatious with her, but she also could not forget the look that had haunted Grey’s eyes earlier that morning when she had caught her staring at the picture of her and Emily. She genuinely enjoyed Grey’s company, and seeing her laugh and smile filled Lauren with a surprising warmth of affection, but she could not help but wonder if all of this
“Oh god .”
“It gets worse,” Grey assured her. “So, I’m butchering the shrimp and whatever the hell else is on the griddle thing, and Cody tells me to flip a shrimp into his mouth. Drunk me thinks that sounds like a great idea, so I load a shrimp onto the spatula and toss it to him. But instead of getting it in his mouth, I ended up hitting some poor old woman who was sitting two tables away from us in the forehead.” She laughed with Lauren at that and shrugged. “And, yeah, I shouted an apology that people on the street probably could have heard, the chef took his stuff back, and I sat back down in my chair.”
“Sounds like a very wise decision.”
“Thank you.” Grey tipped her head in a small bow. “Anyway, once the food started piling up on our plates, we were too busy eating to come up with any other genius ideas and so we managed to finish the meal without getting into trouble. But, once we finished dinner, one of the waitresses comes out with a little ceramic Buddha guy with a candle on his head and a bowl of ice cream, another waitress is behind her with a Polaroid camera, and they and the rest of the waitstaff in the restaurant start singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Cody. He makes a wish, blows out the candle, and then next thing I know, he has the Buddha guy, our friend Mike has the camera, and the rest of us are all following them around the restaurant in a drunken conga line, singing to random people and taking their pictures.”
“And how long did that go on?”
“Maybe five minutes,” Grey said, taking a sip of her drink. “At first, I think everyone was amused by our antics, but once we climbed onto chairs at an empty table and started singing It’s Gonna Be Me —Cody’s favorite song at the time—at the top of our incredibly inebriated lungs, the manager came out, took the stuff away, and asked us to never return to the restaurant again.”
Lauren laughed and shook her head. “My god. The nerve of that guy.”
Grey finished off what was left of her Painkiller, and grinned as she set the empty glass onto the table. “I know, right?” She glanced at her watch as Lauren polished off the rest of her drink. It was only a little after eight o’clock. The idea of ordering another round was tempting, she was genuinely enjoying herself and was not ready for the evening to end, but she knew that they should not return to the boat with anything more than a light buzz. Will and Kim were cool, but she was running a business and that did not include her being totally hammered when there were guests aboard her boat. “You wanna go get some ice cream?”
“I ce cream?” Lauren repeated, nodding as she got to her feet. “You just don’t want the night to end yet, huh?”
“No,” Grey answered seriously , her eyes soft as a shy smile tugged at her lips. Her heart stuttered at the blatant honesty she could hear in her answer, and she cleared her throat quietly as she held Lauren’s gaze. “I just…really want some mint ‘n chip ice cream and all we have on the boat is vanilla.”
Lauren stared at Grey, trying to get a read on what she was thinking. She had only been teasing Grey about not wanting the night to end, but she could tell from the open look in Grey’s eyes that she was serious. That, somehow over the course of the day, the weird unsettled balance between them had found its equilibrium. And, if she were being honest with herself, she did not know how she felt about it. A part of her was pleased that Grey was so much more open and friendly and even a little flirtatious with her, but she also could not forget the look that had haunted Grey’s eyes earlier that morning when she had caught her staring at the picture of her and Emily. She genuinely enjoyed Grey’s company, and seeing her laugh and smile filled Lauren with a surprising warmth of affection, but she could not help but wonder if all of this
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