Ready or Not (The Love Game Book 4) by Elizabeth Hayley (pdf ebook reader .txt) 📕

“What’s up with that hostess, anyway?” Brody asked.

“Who? Gail?”

“Gail?” Brody’s eyes were wide with surprise. “My mom’s friend from college is named Gail. That chick’s like our age and looks like a bitter female version of Marilyn Manson. No way that’s her name.”

“Yup, it’s Gail,” I told them. “And she’s actually pretty nice. A little hard to read, but that’s why she’s good at her job. A lot of people come in being dicks for no reason—”

“Like Gail was,” Carter chimed in.

“Was she really that bad?” This time I looked to Ransom because for some reason I felt like he would be the most objective.

“I mean…” He hesitated like he didn’t want to bad-mouth her, which I could appreciate. “She wasn’t the friendliest person I’ve encountered today, but we’re at a table in your section, so I can’t be too upset, right?”

I was about to reply when a voice from behind me got my attention. “Hey, can we order now.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, sorry. I’ll be right there.” I put the drink specials on my friends’ table, ready to go over to Mr. Personable’s table before the vein in his neck burst and my section looked like an episode of Dexter.

“Can you just do your job, please?”

I wanted to tell him that just because he said “please” didn’t mean he was being polite, so there was really no point to the pleasantry, but there was no sense reasoning with him.

“What’s your problem?” said Ransom.

The white baseball cap guy’s two friends started snickering as they looked at Ransom.

“Somethin’ funny?”

The guys quit laughing, and one muttered a “Nah,” but the other remained silent.

Unfortunately, the asshole sitting across from them wasn’t as smart. “This your boyfriend?” he asked with a nod toward Ransom.

“Nope,” Ransom answered before I could. “Just a guy who’s gonna teach you a couple things about manners.”

Brody put a hand on Ransom’s shoulder as Ransom started to stand. “Let it go.”

Ransom’s chest expanded with the breath he’d taken, and he held it there for a second before slowly releasing it and taking his seat again, his eyes never leaving the other man’s.

“It’s fine,” I told him. “Let me take their order. I don’t want to get a complaint from a customer.”

“Sorry about that,” I said to the group of guys, even though I wasn’t. I would’ve felt bad for making them wait, but their reaction made it difficult to apologize with any sort of sincerity.

Once I had their order, I hustled toward the kitchen to retrieve food for another table and get my friends’ wings going before heading to the bar to grab their drinks. I also put in a few appetizers for my friends, figuring I might be too busy to take their orders soon, and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t mind some fried food arriving.

I stopped by a few times to check on a few of the tables in my section but didn’t get a chance to circle back to Sophia’s table until about ten minutes later. “I got some apps cooking for you guys. They should be out soon.”

“Oooh, awesome,” Carter said. “I hope there’s mozzarella sticks involved.”

“Those plus loaded fries and hot and honey wings.”

He looked like he was about to begin drooling. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

“The fuck is wrong with you?” asked Drew on a laugh, causing me to laugh too.

“So much,” was Carter’s reply.

“Hey,” Sophia called from the far end of the table. “You think someone could get our picture? Or maybe we could just have you do a selfie or something at the end of the table if you think you can fit all of us in.”

“You want a picture of me working?” I groaned but had already accepted it was going to happen. Sophia could be relentless when she wanted to be.

“This girl thinks she’s a reality TV star,” Drew joked, pointing to Sophia. “How much would someone have to pay you to never take another picture? Hypothetically. Like would a hundred thousand be enough?”

Sophia stared blankly at him, and it seemed like she was considering his question. “Just to clarify, am I never allowed to take a picture again, or I’m just not allowed to be in it? Like could someone else take the picture, or does that violate the agreement?”

“Both. Can’t be in any and can’t take them yourself.”

“Oh, then no way. I can’t put a price on that.”

“Life-changing money,” Drew added.

“Can we just take the fucking picture already?” Brody said. “I feel like I’m losing brain cells with every comment.”

“I’m so glad you guys came in,” I said dryly, already taking Sophia’s phone and positioning myself at that end of the table. I held up the phone, my arm outstretched so I could capture everyone. “Squeeze in. Brody and Ransom, duck down a little.”

The guys did what I said, and I snapped a few shots of us smiling and a few goofy ones.

I wanted to look through all of them because there was no telling which one Sophia would post, and I didn’t want to look like a complete weirdo.

“Thanks,” Sophia said when I handed her phone back. “And now to choose a filter.”

“Jesus Christ,” Drew said, dropping his head into his hands.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” I told them. “I’m gonna go check on your appetizers, and then I can take your orders. Right after I do one more lap around to check on everyone else.”

A few minutes later, I was back with the apps, so I quickly dropped them off before checking in on the four other tables I had. I was relieved to find that the group of guys who’d been a little rude earlier wanted to settle the tab they’d started not that long ago. I was a little concerned that their unexpected departure had something to do with my service or maybe Ransom’s response to them, but it wouldn’t do any good to worry about something