He had never been so glad to be in Boston in all of his life. Sure it was cold, and the snow was a bit much at the moment, but it was home and it was a damn shade better than Los Angeles. Los Angeles just felt so fake; the people, the place, the general way of life. That's why whenever he wasn't working, he was in Boston. Away from the noise and the limelight.
Chris Evans loved his job. He loved acting and he was more than grateful for everything it had given him; the freedom to live the way he wanted and not have to worry about money, the ability to take care of his family and those he loved, but some days (most days in fact) he'd give about anything to disappear into a small cabin in the woods, away from the hustle of it all.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and shivered as he walked out the lobby of his apartment and into the blustery winter. Luckily for him, the bar he was meeting his best friend at was only a couple blocks away, otherwise he likely would've cancelled. But he had just arrived back in town and a night out with Toby was always a more than amusing.
He walked into the pub where he'd be meeting his longtime friend and was somewhat amazed. It was obviously fairly new, the fixtures and decorations sleek, modern and shiny. It was packed to the brim with people laughing and carrying on. Normally it also doubled as a fairly popular eatery, but it was obvious this crowd was here for the spirits. It seemed to be a happening place, which for Toby "Hooters" Jones was a bit out of the ordinary.
He sniffed the cold from his nose and made his way to the open spot at the end of the bar counter, pulling off his leather jacket and draping it on the back of the only available stool in the place.
"What can I get for you?" the bearded, tattooed man behind the bar asked.
"Um, Boulevard. Whatever you have on tap. Thanks," Chris said with a smile as he pulled out the stool and took a seat, his blue eyes still scanning every corner of the bar. The more he looked around, the more Toby's suggestion of this place didn't make any sense.
"Here ya go."
Chris looked back. The voice delivering his drink had changed. Now standing before him was a gorgeous brunette, tan skin, chocolate eyes, black thick rimmed glasses and what was quite possibly the tightest tank top he had ever seen. "Um. Thank you. You've changed a lot since I ordered," he said with a grin.
The girl laughed. "Brent had to step away. Sorry for the disappointment."
"Definitely…definitely not disappointed," Chris said with a grin, lifting the bottle to his lips. The beauty just smiled and made her way to the other end of the bar. She was cute. He could get used to this place.
"So are you just going to sit here all night by yourself?" his beauty asked as she wiped down the counter that had become a little less occupied.
"Mm," Chris said, shaking his head and finishing what was probably his third beer of the evening. "I was supposed to be meeting a friend but…apparently…he is running a little behind."
"Lemme guess," she said with a smirk. "Toby?"
"You know him?"
"I should hope so. We're family."
"Wait what?" Chris asked. He chuckled. "You're related to Toby?"
"Cousins, his mom's side," the girl responded, wiping her hands on the dry towel tucked into her belt. She extended a hand toward him. "Kyle Donato."
"Chris Evans," he grinned as he shook. She had a strong grip. It was kind of sexy.
"I know who you are," she laughed. "Is there anyone who doesn't?"
"Probably a couple," Chris said with a shrug. He looked at the girl again and shook his head. "Wow. How are you related to Toby? That doesn't even make sense."
"Trust me. I've been struggling with that feeling all my life," Kyle stated with a laugh.
"You definitely got all the looks in the family."
Kyle arched an eyebrow behind her thick frames. "Famous and charming? My haven't we hit the jackpot?"
"Ah there it is. The sarcasm. Now I believe you're related," Chris stated, eliciting a chuckle from the bartender. "So…how haven't we met before? I've been friends with Toby since we were kids. I've met pretty much his entire family."
"I haven't been around much," Kyle stated. "My parents divorced when I was a kid, mom moved to Florida, didn't spend a lot of time up here."
"But now you're back?"
"Yeah. After a four years in Italy, Boston was calling me back."
"Italy?" Chris asked. "Kind of impressive."
"Culinary school."
"And you're bartending?"
Kyle laughed. "Well when your head bartender calls in sick, you fill in where you're needed."
"Your bartender?"
"Yeah, I kinda own the place," Kyle said scrunching up her face and issuing him a nonchalant shrug. "No big deal."
"Wow," Chris said, giving his head a bit of a shake. "I am…actually impressed. That is cool. Really cool."
Kyle smiled. "Thank you. I'm pretty proud of it."
"You should…" Chris began as he felt a hard slap on his shoulder and a shout.
"Hey!" his best friend Toby bellowed finally walking into the restaurant.
"Finally," Chris sighed standing up and embracing his friend tightly. "Where the fuck you been, man?"
"Sorry. Amanda and I got into it."
Kyle rolled her eyes. "Go fucking figure."
"I don't need any lip out of you," Toby stated, taking a seat next to Chris. "I see you've met my annoying little sister of a cousin."
Chris chuckled. "She hasn't annoyed me yet."
"Yet being the operative word," Toby sighed. He looked to Kyle who was busy stocking the beer coolers. "Can I get a drink or what?"
"You can go fuck yourself," Kyle stated. "That's what you can do."
Toby sighed. "Someone's a little extra sassy today."
Kyle grabbed a bottle of Stella Artois from the cooler and slid it toward her cousin. "I was just having more fun talking to your friend than you."
"I'm sure you were. Chris here is a pretty charming fucking chap," Toby stated, once again delivering a sharp slap to the man's shoulder. "That's why he gets all the ladies."
Chris scoffed. "I wouldn't say that."
"Do you know who this dick is dating?" Toby continued, ignoring the "shut up" look he was getting from his friend. "Mara Huntington. The supermodel slash actress slash every man's mental porn star."
"Gross, Tob. You're married," Kyle said, scrunching her face.
"Married not dead." Toby turned to his best friend. "How is the gorgeous girl anyway?"
Chris opened his mouth and searched for words. "I don't know…actually. We broke up a couple months ago."
"What?! Are you fucking insane?!" Toby shouted, practically sipping out the mouthful of beer he'd just taken. "Why would you break up with that? How could you?"
"Look, I'm sorry I hurt you, man," Chris said with a laugh. "It just wasn't working out."
"A girl like that, you figure out a way to make it work. No matter what. You don't give up. You have to live the dream for the rest of us," Toby commanded. He quickly finished the rest of his beer and rose from the stool. "I need the can. Be right back."
Chris scoffed and shook his head as he went back to the beer in his hand.
"He's a bit much sometimes, huh?" Kyle said, wiping off the glass in her hand.
Chris shrugged. "I guess I've gotten used to it. Doesn't bother me…anymore."
"Guess I just haven't gotten used to it yet," Kyle sighed.
"So what brought you back to Boston?" Chris asked.
Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. It's the first place I ever remember feeling at home. The little time I spent here with my dad was…some of the best moments of my life…and…I don't know. Thought it'd be a good place to plant my roots I guess. Plus with my dad getting sick…"
Chris suddenly knew exactly which member of Toby's clan Kyle's father was. "Rick."
"Yeah."
"Rick's…a great guy, man. I remember…a lot of summer's spent out on the water with him. Out on the boat. I threw Tob overboard a lot. Some good times," Chris stated. "Gotta be hard."
Kyle shrugged. "I mean…yeah. I don't know. I don't really like to talk about it."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to…"
"No you're fine," Kyle reassured with a smile. "My dad actually talks about those summers a lot. I used beg my mom to let me come up here for the summer. I HATED Miami. With …a passion. I still do. It's so…ugh. Just…fake…and the people…"
Chris laughed. "That is…exactly how I feel about Los Angeles."
"Yet you live there."
"MmhmmMmm," Chris said, taking a swig as he shook his head. "I do not live in Los Angeles. I work in Los Angeles. I live here. Boston is my home. There is…nowhere in the world I'd rather be."
"I can understand that feeling."
"Sorry, man. I gotta bounce. The wife requests my presence," Toby said, returning from the restroom with a sigh.
"You just got here!" Chris exclaimed with a laugh.
"I know, I know, but…you know how it is."
"No, I really don't," Chris argued, shaking his head. "I have never seen a more codependent relationship in my life."
"Look, when you're married, you'll understand."
"I really hope I don't," Chris said, laughing. "I would like to not spend my entire marriage in a fucking horrid cycle of fighting and making up."
"Shut up."
"You guys go from wanting to rip each other's heads off to planning the next fifteen consecutive years. I don't get it, but good for you. I'm glad you're happy…ish."
"Fuck off. You and Kyle here can sit around and bond over your bitter, shitty single lives. I'm going home to my wife," Toby stated. "Have a good night, kids."
"Hey! You gotta pay for that!" Kyle exclaimed as Toby made his way to the door.
"Nah, I know the owner," he responded with a wink before disappearing into the night.
Kyle sighed and shook her head. "I'm going to go broke because of that son of a bitch."
Chris laughed. "Just add it to my tab."
"Can I add the hundreds of other drinks and enormous amount of food he's had on the house?" Kyle asked with a smirk.
"Maybe some other night."
Chris and Kyle spent the rest of the night talking and laughing while Kyle worked and Chris drank. Crowds of people would come have a few drinks and leave for another place at random intervals, but by the time closing arrived, Chris had begun to feel as if he'd made a new friend.
"So you work every night, I assume?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked Kyle to her car.
"Mostly. I tend to stay pretty busy," Kyle responded as she found her keys in the bottom of her oversized purse. "Why do you ask?"
"Well I, um…I have tickets to the Celtics game tomorrow night and I was going to take Toby but he wasn't around long enough to ask so…I don't know, thought maybe you'd like to go?" Chris answered, shrugging his broad, muscular shoulders.
Kyle laughed. "Ya know…I'd really like to but…its probably a bit short notice to bail on my employees."
Chris shook his head. "That's fine. I totally get it. Some other time…"
"Yeah," Kyle nodded. There was a short moment of silence. "Do you want a ride?"
"I'll be alright. It's really only a couple of blocks," Chris assured.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah. I live really close," Chris nodded. He paused again. "Unless…you wanted to join me for a nightcap or something?"
Kyle laughed again. "Is that code for something?"
"No!" Chris exclaimed. "God no. No. No. Not that…no, that's not what I meant."
"I was joking," Kyle reassured. "Don't get your panties in a twist." She stared at Chris as his blue eyes drifted closed with the rise of his smiling cheeks. "Ya know what? Sure. Let's have a night cap."
"Really?" Chris asked happily. "Alright, cool."
"I'll just leave my car here."
"Yeah, that's fine. Parking at my place is a bitch."
Kyle relocked the doors with a click of a button and then turned the Chris. "Lead the way."
Chris smiled, extending his elbow, hands still in his pockets. "My lady."
Kyle laughed and roped her arm through the loop that had formed and they began down the still snow covered sidewalk.
"Fuck!" Chris exclaimed, tossing the Xbox controller down on the table in front of him. "How do you keep doing that?" He sighed and ran his hands over his head. "Jesus Christ this is embarrassing. I'm really, really disappointed in myself."
"I really thought this would be harder," Kyle said with a laugh, standing up just long enough to cross her legs under herself before sitting back down. "You make showing you up quite easy."
"Fuck," Chris groaned again, heading into his kitchen for another beer. He grabbed two and shut the fridge door as they clicked together. "Ya know, if I would've known you were just going to make me look like a fucking moron, I probably wouldn't have invited you back here."
Kyle laughed as he walked back toward her, handing her the chilled brew in his hand. "I probably should have warned you."
"You really should've," he agreed, climbing over the back of the couch. "I mean, you're hot. You own a bar. You like the Celtics. And you just kicked my ass at MarioKart for like the fifteenth time tonight. I might be falling in love with you."
Kyle laughed loudly. "I'm going to go ahead and discourage that one right now."
"Why?" Chris asked. "I don't seem to see an issue."
Kyle rolled her eyes. "You're drunk."
Chris pursed his lips and shrugged. "Maybe a little. Doesn't mean I can't see what's right in front of me."
There was a moment of silence and Kyle could feel Chris's blue eyes practically staring a hole into her. She was a bit uncomfortable. Sure it was flattering and all but…she didn't date. She didn't do relationships. She was terrible at them and starting one with him, one of the world's most sought after men, wasn't exactly at the top of her priority list. She took a deep breath and shifted. "I, um…I should probably go," she said softly before climbing to her feet.
"Why? Hey," Chris said, springing from the sofa and following her to the door. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make things weird."
"It's fine," Kyle assured with a weak smile. "It's like four in the morning. I should probably get going."
"Well let me walk you to your car."
"I'll be fine, really."
"Kyle…"
"I had a lot of fun tonight."
Chris sighed as he realized he was getting nowhere with the guarded girl. "Yeah. Yeah. We should do it again sometime."
"Yeah. Sure."
"Soon."
"You know where to find me," Kyle said with a smile as she fastened up her coat. "Have a good night."
"Yeah. Yeah. You too," Chris smirked as she opened the door and headed out. He sighed as he closed the door tightly behind her. He wasn't exactly sure what had just happened. They'd spent the entire night together, even while she was working, followed by two hours of video games and jokes and laughter on his couch and then a switch flipped and she was up and out the door before he could even say her name. He shook his head and began picking up things around the room before deciding to call it a night. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would have to talk to Toby.
