“Zane.” He smiled at Leeza briefly and then looked at me. “I’m a friend of Lucky’s.”
“You never told me about any Zane.” Leeza stared at me with accusatory eyes.
“Well, we’ve just been getting to know each other recently.” I started.
“Now now, Lucky.” Zane slid his arm around my waist. “What do you consider the last three months? The honeymoon period?”
“Well, you know.” I was left speechless by his little act and his hand lit a fiery trail on my back as he moved it back and forth.
“You two are dating?” Leeza hissed. “You have got to be joking.”
“Why?” Zane questioned her. “Did Lucky not tell you about our marathon sessions in the bedroom? I think we nearly broke her bed the other evening.”
“Zane.” I laughed and hit him in the arm. “Leeza’s my roommate.”
“Well, darn it. It was worth a try.” He grinned at me and his nose brushed mine as he leaned in to talk to me. For the next few seconds, we just stared at each other and all I wanted was for him to kiss me.
“It was good seeing you, Lucky. Have a good evening.” Zane pulled away from me slowly and I felt that sharp sting of regret that I hadn’t moved in for the kiss. Before I could say anything, he turned around and disappeared back into the crowd. I felt disappointed, but tried to hide my frustration as I turned back to Leeza. It was probably better that I didn’t spend too much time getting to know Zane better; I didn’t want to end up as one of his Friday night dates.
“He was cute.” Leeza grinned. “But he seems like a psycho.”
“Why does he seem like a psycho?”
“I don’t know. Just something about him seemed off. And his crappy joke.”
“He’s a nice—”
“Come on Lucky, let me introduce you to Evan.” Leeza cut me off and flung her hair over her shoulder again. She was wearing a super tight lack mini dress and I was slightly worried that her boobs were going to pop out each time she flung her hair.
“Who’s Evan?” I asked disinterestedly. I looked around the room to see if I could see where Zane had gone.
“Just come.” She grabbed my arm and pushed through the crowds of trendy people until we got to the stairs and then she let go. “All the cool guys are hanging out in the music room.”
“Uh, okay?” I frowned. “Isn’t the party at the bottom of the stairs though?”
“Don’t be a buzz kill, Lucky. Everyone knows the best parts of a party don’t occur in the public part of the party. All of the cool people like Evan hang out separately.”
“I’m not cool and I don’t want a cool guy.” I sighed.
I’m sure you will like Evan.” Leeza pleaded.
“Leeza, I’m really not in the mood for this.”
“He’s a hottie, and he’s rich.”
“Leeza you know I’m not looking for—”
“Just give him a chance, Lucky. Your plan hasn’t exactly been working for you. I haven’t seen you on a date in months. And I don’t even think you have a vibrator. Just give him a chance, okay?”
I didn’t stop to correct her comment. It wasn’t like I wanted to scream it out to the world, “I haven’t had sex in over a year”. I knew that wouldn’t help my case. I tried to forget about Zane as I followed Leeza up the stairs. I wished I had a potion to stop my heart from running every time I saw him. I could close my eyes and picture his sky blue irises staring into mine. They always seemed so open and honest. But I knew he was a player—a man not to be trusted. I just wished that I could embed that information into my heart. But every week that he came into the diner, was a week where I found myself liking him more and more. It was funny. I was his server and we weren’t really friends, but we had had some pretty interesting conversations in the diner. Sometimes they happened while he waited on a date to arrive and sometimes he stayed in the restaurant and chatted for a bit if the girl decided to take a cab home. Getting to know Zane these last few months had really brightened my day and I couldn’t imagine a Friday night without him coming in.
“Come on, Lucky.” Leeza called down the stairs as I walked up slowly to meet her. “Hurry it up, I don’t have all night.”
“I’m coming.” I sighed.
“Come on.” She grabbed my arm as I reached the top of the stairs and then pulled me into a room with her. “This is my friend Lucky, everyone.” Leeza’s tone changed as she opened the door, and I followed her in hesitantly. There were four guys sitting on chairs and drinking, and they all smirked at me, as they looked me over. “Lucky, this is Evan.” She pointed to a tall guy with jet-black hair and striking green eyes.
“Hi.” I shook his hand, and he leaned over to kiss me.
“Hi beautiful.”
I blushed at his words and turned away, slightly uncomfortable. I saw another guy in the corner of the room, giving me a sympathetic look, and he jumped up.
“Lay off Evan.” He hit Evan on the shoulder and held his hand out to me. “Hi, I’m Braydon.”
“Hi, I’m Lucky.” I smiled, grateful that I didn’t have to deal with Evan. Leeza had already disappeared, and I was already feeling slightly annoyed.
“That’s an unusual name.” Braydon laughed. “Would you like a drink?”
“I’m okay, thanks. I have to drive home, so I’m not having anything else.”
“Well, that’s no fun.” He grinned.
“Sorry, I guess I’m not a fun person.” I grinned and made to turn around but he grabbed me by the arm.
“Hey Lucky, want to have a seat?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” I followed him back to the corner, and we sat on a brown leather couch.
“So tell me about your name, Lucky.” He smiled a genuine boyish smile and I relaxed as I looked into his brown eyes. He seemed like a nice guy, somewhat familiar, but I knew that I had never met him before.
“My parents thought they couldn’t conceive. They tried for years.” I smiled. “And then, they had me. And they considered themselves the luckiest parents in the world.”
“Wow, that must have been a nice surprise.”
“Yeah. They were really happy to have me.” I smiled wistfully. “They used to tell people that they won the lottery. And then they would boast about how they were the luckiest people in the world.”