Outrunning Her Past

“Hey, can I use your phone?” I asked the buff bartender who had his back to me. I was admiring his well-defined butt when he answered.

“Yeah, come around to the end, and I’ll hand it to you.” Breaking from my silent ogling, I moved to the end of the bar, then turned back to the dancefloor while I waited. “Dani?” a voice asked as I turned around. I didn’t remember saying my name.

My jaw dropped when I turned around. “Nate? Is that really you? Holy shit, what happened to you? Where’s the scrawny kid with his hair sticking up?”

His cheeks flushed red, “Aw, come on, Dani, it was fifth grade for Pete’s sake,” he grumbled. “I don’t see you sporting braces or pigtails anymore.”

I laughed, “Yeah, fair point.” I nodded to the phone in his hand, “Uh, can I still use that?”

“Oh yeah,” he stuttered, looking down at the phone. “Everything okay?”

I nodded, giving him a fake smile, “Yeah, I guess I left mine at home. Just got separated from my friend, and I was gonna call for an Uber.”

Nate glanced at his watch, “If you can hold off for another thirty minutes, I’ll be off and can give you a lift. You can hang out in the breakroom if the club is too much for you.” I think he could see my hesitation as he quickly added, “Hey, no strings, just an old friend helping out.”

“Are you calling me old?” I snorted, making him crack up. “Yeah, I guess that’d be okay. Thanks, Nate. I’d love to take you up on the break room offer. These lights are killing me.” He pointed to the small hallway next to the restrooms and gave me his swipe card along with a bottle of water. Once I reached the small and oddly clean room, I sat in a small cushioned chair, sipping the drink.

“Dani,” Nate’s voice was quiet as he gently shook my shoulder.

I swiped my hand across my face, hoping I didn’t drool all over myself. “Sorry,” I yawned, “I guess I was more tired than I realized.” He reached out and smoothed my hair from my face with a grin. “Okay, maybe I’m old,” I laughed.

“Nah, you don’t look a day over fifty.” I gasped and slapped his chest. He made an “oof” sound and choked, holding up one hand to his chest where I hit him and the other up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry, I meant twenty,” he choked.

I tossed my head in an exaggerated model move, “That’s more like it, peasant.” That had both of us cracking up in laughter. “But seriously, thanks for letting me hang back here.”

“Of course,” Nate grinned. “So you ready to go home, or do you want to grab a bite with me first?”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to do that. I’m okay,” I protested.

“Seriously, Dani, I could use the company. Not much at home, not even a goldfish, and I haven’t grocery shopped recently.”

“Why, Nathan Roberts, are you seriously telling me you’re a stereotypical bachelor living on takeout?” I playfully batted my eyelashes at him.

“Shh…it’s a secret.” He held his hand out to me, helping me up from the chair, then grabbed a jacket out of a locker. “So, dinner?”

“Lead the way, good sir,” I laughed. He grabbed my hand again and led me out to the back parking lot, then to his car. I eyed it suspiciously.

“Yeah, I know, it looks like a dump, but she runs like a dream. I haven’t gotten the body work done yet,” Nate commented. I gave him a raised eyebrow as I nodded and slid in the door he had opened. He came around to his door then fired up the engine. It purred like a newborn kitten. “See,” he smirked. “Are you good with the old diner? I’m not much on fast food.”

“Red’s? I can’t believe that place is still open,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s got a different owner now, but he kept the name as a joke, kinda. Do you remember Talon, the kid I hung out with who always climbed trees? His older brother owns it now,” he said.

“Oh yeah, I remember him. He’s the one who was always sneaking up and scaring me and that blonde kid, um…Derek or something like that, wasn’t it?”

Nate let out a laugh, “Shit, Dean’s gonna freak when he hears you called him Derek.”

“Wait, you still know him? What about the two other kids in our grade, the one with curly hair and the bookworm kid, do you still know them, too?” I gaped. Hell, I don’t have any friends from my youth. I couldn’t even commit to a hair color for longer than a few months, let alone a relationship.

He nodded as he parked the car, “Yep, we still know each other. Leo was the guy with curly hair. He works at Mercy General now. Just finished his residency. Wyatt was and still is a bookworm.” He opened my door and once again held my hand as we walked into the diner. The soft bell jingled as the door opened. The smell of coffee immediately filled my nose, and I sighed as my stomach rumbled. “Guess dinner was a well-timed suggestion,” he laughed.

I gave a sheepish grin as we sat in a booth with high padded seats. Not that I’d tell Nate, but I hadn’t eaten in almost a full day. Things weren’t exactly going my way recently, and the only reason I’d been at the bar was to meet up with a friend about work, but she didn’t show up. I didn’t have a phone, and I was staying in a rent-by-the-week hotel for now. Hell, I’m not even sure what possessed me to come back to Charleston. “Hey, Nate, and hello, beautiful,” a deep voice said as I looked up from the menu.

Nate chuckled, “Hey Dani, you remember Derek, right?” My cheeks flushed crimson.

The man made a choking sound, “What the fuck? Who the hell are you calling Derek?”

“This is Daniella, Dean. She went to school here when we were kids. She couldn’t remember your name earlier and thought it might be Derek. I was just teasing.”

“Pfft, Derek…I’m too damn sexy to be a Derek,” he mumbled. “Well, nice to see you again, Daniella. Dean Kingsman, now what can I get started for you?”

I reached out and touched his arm, smiling at him and explained, “Sorry. It has been quite a while since elementary school. He also failed to mention that I didn’t remember any of your names except Nate. Then again, I lived next door to him, so he’s a bit more difficult to forget.”

Dean grinned, his blue eyes brightening, “Well, I suppose you’re right. All’s forgiven, beautiful. Would you like some coffee, a soda?”

“Coffee, please,” I said. Nate ordered the same, and his friend walked away, letting us continue to look at the menu. “Since you come here all the time, what do you suggest?”

“Well, my favorites are the pork tenderloin with fries, or French toast with bacon if you have a craving for middle-of-the-night breakfast,” he chuckled.

“Hmm, breakfast does sound good,” I mused. It was the cheaper of the two meals. I mentally calculated how much I’d have left after tax and tip to live on for the week and nodded. “French toast it is!” Dean returned with our coffee and took our orders.

Once he had walked away, Nate asked, “So how long have you been back?”

“Not long, a couple of weeks maybe.” I took a sip of the steaming coffee and hummed. “So is the bar a full-time gig? No wife or hidden family?”

Nate choked on his coffee at my question, “Damn woman, give a guy some warning,” he laughed. “No wife, girlfriend, or kids, and the bar is a stress relief job. I work a few shifts a week to help out. What about you?”

I felt a knot in my stomach tighten. “No significant other or kids, and I’m job hunting.” Before he could ask anything else, Dean showed up with our food.

“Pork tenderloin for you, and French toast for the lady. I added some strawberries and powdered sugar on the side, just in case you like that,” he grinned as he set the plates down, then grabbed the pot to refill our coffee cups. “So how did you run into this guy?”

“I was meeting a friend at the bar, and needed the phone. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was him,” I giggled, then popped a strawberry into my mouth. I closed my eyes and let out a low moan of happiness. I swear I could live on strawberries alone. I opened my eyes to see them both staring at me and blushed furiously as I lowered my head. “Um, sorry. I really like strawberries.” They both made a sound of agreement as Nate muttered under his breath something about being jealous of a strawberry. “So Dean, what have you been up to?” I asked, as I proceeded to drown my French toast in sugar and syrup.

“Good grief, you’re going to develop diabetes,” he swore, and I giggled again. “Well, I survived school with a minimal amount of being bullied thanks to friends like Nate, then got an art degree. I work mostly on commission now.”

I frowned, “Then why are you waiting tables in the middle of the night?”

Dean laughed, “Oh, I’m just helping out Dalton. He’s been feeling a bit sick lately, so some of us are taking shifts. Most of us worked here in high school, so we know our way around the place. Gotta take care of your family, you know.”

I nodded, but didn’t really have any way to relate. My own folks had been decent, I guess, but distant. I often think they had me just because it was expected of them. When they divorced, I moved out west with my mom and never saw my dad again, not even when mom got sick, eventually dying. Of course, by then I’d already made the mistake of my life with my ex.

“Hey, Dani, you good?” Nate asked. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Guess a full stomach is just making me tired.” I took a drink of the coffee again to hide myself from further questions. I started to dig in my pocket for my cash when Nate handed Dean some money. He ran off before I could intervene. “Hey, I can pay my own part,” I protested.

Nate shook his head, “Nope. I’m the one who invited you to dinner, remember? You can take me out after you find a job.” His smile was infectious, and I quickly found myself agreeing. Dean smiled and waved as we headed back to Nate’s car. “Where to?” I cringed as I gave him the address. I saw something flash in his eyes before he schooled his expression and drove. We talked about mindless topics in the short drive, then he parked the car and turned to me. “Are you safe staying here?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. I keep my doors locked, and no one bothers me,” I replied.

“Can I give you my number, just in case?” he asked.

“Um, yeah.” He wrote it down on a piece of paper, making me promise to call if I needed anything, then came around to open my door. “Thanks for dinner,” I told him.

“It was my pleasure,” he smiled, “I really enjoyed seeing you, Dani. I hope we can do it again soon.”

“I’d like that too.” I gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek before turning to climb the stairs to my hotel room. I noticed he stayed looking after me until I closed the door and cracked the curtain to wave goodbye. Once he’d left, I fell back on the lumpy bed and sighed. “Don’t get attached,” I told myself. “Staying put for too long isn’t an option.”

I groaned at my own inner monologue, hauling myself up to brush my teeth and change for bed.