Page 50 of Check You Out

Nicole frowns. “What?”

Holding my hands above my head, I gulp in air before repeating, “I have a date with Aidan Talbot.”

Her frown vanishes, and her eyes light up as she jumps up, clapping her hands. “I’m so proud of you. You finally asked him out.”

I slide onto the barstool. “Why are you assuming that I asked him out? Maybe he asked me out.” I pause. “Actually, no. I think we asked each other. It was kind of weird.”

She rests her chin in her hands on the bar. “Start at the beginning. You guys set up a bunch of signs today, right? How did that go?”

“Pretty uneventful, we got the signs all set up.”

Nicole’s eyebrows rise. “And now have a date with Aidan. How did that happen? I’ll make you a drink. What do you want?”

My mouth parts. “I don’t know. Something yummy. My brain can’t think right now.” My mind is racing. What am I going to wear on Saturday? What topics should we talk about? Where should we go after we go to Triple C? Should I whiten my teeth? Should I shave my legs?

“Tell me while I make you something good,” Nicole remarks and starts pouring liquids. “I need to know everything.”

“It’s actually pretty boring,” I remark. “I just sort of asked him if he liked getting coffee with people, and he asked me if I wanted to go with him. Now we have a date for Saturday.” I grip the edges of the bar. “Wait, what if he didn’t think that I was asking him out on a date? What if he thinks that I just wanted to hang out and drink caffeinated beverages?” I palm my forehead. “Oh god, Nicole. I never said it was a date. What if he gets the wrong idea and brings Xander with him? What if he thinks this is just a friend hang out?”

She slides a tall glass filled with something pink in my direction. “He knows it’s a date.”

“Does he though?” I ask, sniffing the rim of the glass before taking a sip. “Because I never explicitly said it was. Oooh, what is this?” The drink reminds me of a fruit punch with no hint of alcohol.

“Hawaiian crush,” she replies.

“This is dangerous.” I take another sip and pull out my phone. “Should I tell Aidan that coffee on Saturday is a date?”

“Hey Georgie,” Nicole calls over to her uncle. “Come over here and give us an expert opinion.”

He groans and steps over to us, leaning on the bar next to her. Standing next to Nicole, the resemblance is clear. His red hair is streaked gray, and he has the same green eyes. “What do you want to know?”

“Charlotte has a question for you. A guy question.”

I peer at her. “I do?”

“Fine, I’ll ask.” She turns to him. “Let’s say a beautiful, intelligent, funny woman asks you to get coffee with her. Do you consider that a date?”

He scratches his bald head. “Do I know her socially, or is she my lawyer?”

Nicole takes another sip of her drink. “Socially.”

He shrugs. “Maybe. I wouldn’t want to assume anything, though, ya know. She might just want to be a friend. I don’t assume nothin’. You know what I say about assuming things.”

“It makes an ass out of you and me,” Nicole repeats in her gruffiest impression of his voice. “But would you at least hope it is a date?”

“Sure,” he replies. “Especially if I liked the lady. Why?”

She smiles and sings out, “Charlotte asked Aidan—”

“We asked each other out for coffee,” I interrupt. “But I didn’t tell him it was date.”

His brows knit and he crosses his arms and peering down at me. “Wait, he also asked you to get coffee? At the same time? How does that even work? Did y’all just speak at the same time?” He scrunches his nose. “How would you even hear each other?”

I nod. “We sort of just finished each other’s sentences. Does that make a difference?”

“Yes,” Georgie replies. “It sounds like a date to me. Especially if he likes you.”

Nicole gestures to me with an “I told you so” look. “Aidan does like you. He knows this is a date.” She sounds so certain.