Make It Last (19 page)

             
“C’mon, Nic,
don’tchyawanna hang
out with me?”
He
gave her a bleary smile and tried to give her a pinch.

             
Her
face flas
hed with hurt and embarrassment
before turning to anger. “I’m not going to be one of your rebound girls, Kent.”

             
Then she turned and stormed off into the back of the restaurant.

             
Briana looked at Kent
, who stared
after Nicole with a confused look on his face.

             
“I w
asn’t trying to make her mad,” he said.

             
Briana turned as Rich walked up beside them.

             
“Why don’t I
give you a ride home, Bro?” he
asked Kent, putting his hand on the other man’s shoulder.

             
Kent looked up at Rich and let him
help him up off of the stool. “Hey, Rich. You don’t think Nic’s mad at me
,
do ya? I was just messin’ around.”

             
Rich grunted under the weight of the l
arger man and responded, “Nah, man.
I’m sure she’s okay. Let’s get you home.”

             
“Thanks, Richie,” Briana said as they walked towards the exit.

             
“No problem, Bree,
” Rich responded with a wink.

             
Roni came up and put her hand on Briana’s arm before Briana could walk into the kitchen.

             
“Don’t take it personally, Bree,
” Roni
implored. “It’s not just you that has him upset
, s
o please don’t feel bad. There’
s some stuff going on with our parents, and Kent hasn’t gotten any of the job
offers that he was hoping for…a
ll of that on top of what he sees as your rejection has
just become too much for him
. He’s going to be fine, he always is. He’s always been the strong one i
n our family. H
e just needs a little time to pull himself together.”

             
“Okay, Roni. Thanks” Briana said, instinctively pulling the other girl in for a quick hug. “Let
me know if you need anything, o
kay?”

             
“Sure,” Roni said with a smile, then went back to the hostess stand to wait for the dinner rush to start.

             
Briana went back to check on Nicole before getting the kitchen set up the way she liked it. Nicole said that she was fine, that Kent had just surprised her, but Briana could tell by the look on Nicole’s face that there was more to it than that. It was obvious that Nicole didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so Briana didn’t press her.

             
Once
the dinner rush started,
she was
happy to be in the weeds. With all of the drama going on recently, it
was nice to just cook and not have to think about anything..

             
Kara came in and out with Nicole, explaining the process of putting in the order, checking back on it and sometimes getting the condiments ready. Nicole seemed a little frazzled, but Briana was sure it was just first night jitters.

             
When it was time for her break, Briana went out on the floor to see how things were going. Roni was working her way through the crowd with a table of four, Kara and Nicole were waiting on a group of rowdy guys, and Briana noticed Rich and Colin sitting at the bar.

             
She went up behind Rich, wrapped her arms around him and
gave him a loud kiss on the chee
k.

             
He
turned around with a grin and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her soundly on the mouth.

             
“Hey
,
” Colin
objected.
“Get your hands off my girl.”

             
Briana giggled and smacked her lips
in an exaggerated way
as she kissed Rich back.
“Thanks for taking Kent home,” s
he said
,
turning serious for a moment. “I really appreciate it.”

             
“Sure thing,” he
replied with a wink, letting her off of his lap and turning to Colin. “
Your
girl?”

             
Colin looked sheepish for a moment
, then pulled Briana over to him and looked into her eyes. “If she’ll have me.”

             
She
met his lips gently at first, then deepened the kiss before pulling back and smilin
g brightly. “She’ll have you,” s
he replied.

             
Colin’s
face broke into a wide grin. He
reached over
to bump fists with Pete, who watched
the whole exchange from behind the bar.

             
“You h
ear that, Petey?” Colin sang
. “Looks like we’ve both hit the jackpot in the girlfriend department.”

             
“Better ya’ll than me,” Rich quipped taking a drink of his two dollar draft.

             
“You say that now,” Colin laughed, “But just you wait. W
hen the right girl comes along, you’ll be right there with us.”

             
“Fat chance,” Rich said, but Briana saw him watch Roni’s progress back to the hostess stand through the mirror over the bar.

             
“Briana, could you
please not sit on the customers?
” Pam requested as she came through the kitchen door.

             
Briana giggled and climbed off of Colin’s lap.

             
“Sorry, Pam
.
I was just finishing up my break.”

             
Pam
rolled her eyes and told her to get back to work.

             
“You okay?” Briana whispered to Colin before going back to the kitchen.

             
He nodded at her and gave her a small smile.

             
As she went back to work she heard Rich ask, “So, what’s up dude? What did you want to talk to me about?”

             
She
was leaving Colin in good hands with Rich. As much as he loved to joke around a
nd have fun, Rich
was the most loyal friend she’d ever known, and she knew without a doubt that he would be there for Colin now.

Chapter Twenty

             
Briana hung up the phone. T
hen
she started
jump
ing
up and down and squeal
ing
.

             
“What?” Kara asked, running out of her bedroom. “Is everything okay?”

             
“Yes,” Briana shouted
,
jumping over to K
ara and pulling her in a hug,
jostling her around. “Everything is wonderful
.
I just got off the phone with the culinary school. They accepted my application and want me to start school in the fall
.
”

             
She
broke apart from Kara and did a booty dance, shaking her butt and circling Kara.

             
Kara couldn’t help but laugh as she started dancing around the room with her.

             
“Yay
! That’
s wonderful
.
” Kara
enthused
. She sto
pped suddenly. “Wait a minute…t
hat means you’re moving to Austin.”

             
She
pouted prettily,
which made Briana laugh
.

             
“It’s just to Austin,” Briana assured her. “You’ll come visit me and I’ll come visit you.”

             
“Promise?”

             
Brian
a pulled her
into a big hug. “Of course. You know I love you, girl.”

             
“I love you
,
too.”

             
“We still have a couple weeks together. O
h, I’ll have to give Pam notice.
I feel bad about that, but she knows this is what I really want to do, so I think she’ll be happy for me.”

             
“She will be. D
on’t worry about that, Bree. Everyone is going to be happy for you. I’m so proud of you for going after what you want
.
” Kara’s eyes misted over
.

             
“Thanks, Kara. Oh
. M
y
.
Gosh
.
I have to tell Colin,
” Briana said. “I’m going to see if I can catch him at the store. I’ll see you at work, okay?”

             
“Sure,”
Kara laughingly responded
to Briana’
s retreating back.

             
Briana parked and ran into the store, looking for Colin through the aisles. She stopped at the counter where Rich was making a shake for a little boy. He looked up at her and she mouthed
,
Colin?
H
e pointed his head toward the back office and she gave him a huge grin before she went through the door to the back.

             
She found Colin
sitting at the desk when she walked in. He
was starting at the computer,
a notepad in front o
f him and a pencil in his mouth, H
is brow
was
furrowed in thought.

             
He looked adorable.

             
She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
He jumped
, then smiled and leaned back to nuzzle her neck.

             
“W
ell, this is a nice surprise,” h
e said in between kisses along her jaw.

             
His hair smelled spicy and delicious.
She
closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel and smell of him.

             
“I have some good news,” s
he whispered

             
He turned in his chair so he could face her. “
I’m
always ready for good news.”

             
“I just got off of the
phone with the culinary school. I’ve
been accepted to start in the fall
.
” She said it so quickly that by the time she got to the end of the sentence her voice was a few octaves higher than normal.

             
“That’s awesome,” he
replied, pulling her in for a quick kiss on the lips, his pride in her eviden
t on his face. “I knew they’
d accept you. It’s so great that your dream is coming true.”

             
“I’m so glad you think so, ‘cause
I’m
super excited
.
” Briana squealed and gave him another quick kiss. “I’m gon
na tell Pam tonight. I know it’
s too soon to give notice, but I
don’t want to keep it a secret.
I want to tell
everyone
. And I want her to have a chance to hire someone else that I can train before I go.”

             
“I’m sure she’s goin
g to be thrilled for you,” he
assured her. He held her hands in his, looking up
into her beaming face. “I love you, Bree.”

             
Briana’s mouth formed an O and her expression changed from excitement to surprise, and finally to happiness.

             
Colin continued talking before she could say anything. “I know now
may not be the best time. You’
ve just started to trust in me again, and it may seem
too
soon, but I swear, I’ve never stopped lo
ving you. These last few weeks having you back in my life
have been the happiest of my life, and I don’t want another moment to pass without you knowing that.”