Page 45 of Not Looking
“Probably.” He grinned and handed me a bag. “I got you pulled pork, some mac and cheese, potato salad, and a roll. Oh, and spicy sweet sauce.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Good,” he replied with a laugh as he rounded the table and plopped onto the other chair. “Because I got myself the same thing to make things easy.”
“What’s this?” I asked as he handed me a styrofoam cup.
“Fresh-squeezed lemonade.”
“Damn, they’ve got all the good stuff.”
He nodded, shifted the plastic bag down below the rim of the styrofoam to-go container, grabbed his napkin and plastic fork, then opened the container to reveal the food inside.
Hunger hit as soon as I got a look at his food, and I rushed to open mine. I took advantage of the lull in customers to eat while it was still hot.
I was about halfway through my meal when voices from outside the canopy warned me that I was about to have a customer. “Let’s check out the wood stuff.”
I closed my container, stood, and put the bag on the chair so that I had room on my table. Then I rounded it so that I could greet my customers.
Two men came into view—one omega, the other alpha. “Welcome,” I started, then froze. “Craig?”
He blinked several times. “R-Randy?”
The cute omega next to him glanced up with an unreadable expression.
I swallowed. That was it. He was just a flirt. He already had an omega.
“Wait… Randy?” the omega asked with a laugh. He turned to me. “Are you the woodturner Craig’s told us about? The one who uses his own trees?”
I blinked. He was talking about me? “Yes?” I managed.
He grinned and stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Joey.”
I accepted the handshake. “Likewise.”
I froze, struggling to ask the question on the tip of my tongue. “So… how long…”
He laughed and shook his head, “Oh, we’re not together. We’ve been friends since high school, and I badgered him into joining me today so I can get my sister and her mate ahousewarming present.” He leaned in with a grin. “It’s better than staying home alone, and I promised him some barbecue as a bribe.”
“It’s delicious!” Kerry chimed in from where he was still eating. “And don’t skip the potato salad. I might have to get a container to take home.”
Joey straightened. “Really?”
Kerry lifted his container. “Some of the best I’ve had, aside from my Mama’s, of course.”
Joey laughed and edged toward Kerry to continue the food conversation, leaving Craig and me facing each other.
I hadn’t seen him since I’d picked up the final load of my order, and I was still trying to work through my emotions around him.
“H-hi,” I managed.
Craig smiled. “Hi.” He gestured at the shelves in my booth. “So this is your work?”
I nodded. “Yeah. This is my work.”
He picked up a natural-edge bowl and turned it in his hands. “Was this from one of your trees?”
“Yes.”
