Chapter 8

"Where are we eating at?" I asked.

"Where would you like to eat at?" He countered

"I don't care. As long as the menu has more than just seafood on it I'm happy."

"How about Diablo's?"

"Diablo's?" I said shocked.

"Yeah come on it'll be fun."

"But don't you have to have like reservations to get in to that place?"

He smiled, "Way ahead of you."

"I guess that means I'm following you since you know where you're going."

"Alright. Try not to fall too far behind."

"As if" I smiled hopping into my truck, following him out of the parking lot, and going to the restaurant.

"You know I'm not exactly dressed for this kind of thing" I told him, getting out my truck.

"What are you talking about? You look fine. You are just as dressed up as me."

"This is true." I agreed walking inside.

"Name please." The lady at the podium said.

"Bagans. Table for two." Zak replied.

She scanned her list. "Ah! Right this way Mr. Bagans." The lady said grabbing a couple menus and walking away. We followed her to a back corner booth that gave us a view of everyone in the restaurant. "What can I get you to drink this evening?"

Zak looked at me. "Um… I don't know about him," I said addressing the waitress, " but I would love to have a drink. Do you have any margaritas?"

"What flavor would you like ma'am?"

"I'll take apple if you have it."

"And for you sir?"

"I'll just have some water."

"Alright I will be right back" the waitress said walking away.

"You and water, I swear."

"What?"

"You are such a health nut" I teased.

"Yeah look who's talking Miss I-eat-junk-food-everyday"

"I do not eat junk food every day. More like every other day. And I work out to counteract it too so mmmh" I said sticking my tongue out at him.

"How has your workouts been going?" he asked.

"Pretty good. I'm up to running almost 4 miles now and lifting 100 pounds."

"Not bad. For a girl."

"Oh shut up. Not everyone can have machine guns for arms." He laughed at my joke.

"I would like to have been practicing my self-defense stuff, but NOOOO SOMEone had other stuff to do."

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay" I smiled "As long as you promise to go with me next time so I can kick your ass."

"You think so huh?"

"I don't just think Bagans. I know." We laughed.

"Here are you're drinks," our waitress said, "Are you ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?"

"Go ahead" Zak told me.

"Umm… I would like the Chicken Fried Steak with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans."

"And I'll have the Seafood platter." Zak replied.

"Alright. I'll have that right out for you."

"Thanks" I said as we handed her our menus. We went through the rest of dinner just catching up on the months we missed out and cracking jokes. About half way through my second margarita I started to get drunk so Zak stopped me after the third drink. After we ate, we—or rather he—paid for the bill then helped walk me out of the restaurant.

"You are definitely a lightweight." Zak commented as we walked to his car.

"I may be a lightweight, but I am a goldfish." I said matter of factly.

"Goldfish?"

"I keep drinking 'til the bottle is empty." I elaborated.

"Thanks for the heads up."

"You are welcome. Where is my truck at?" I asked looking around.

"Oh no you don't" Zak said holding onto my hand, "You are not driving anywhere."

"But my truck-" I started to protest.

"I'll call Nick or Aaron to come get it here in a little bit. Let's get you home first, okay?"

"Okay" I agreed, giving up my protest as I climbed into the passenger seat of Zak's tricked out Dodge Charger.

The car ride to my house was mainly me jamming out to his radio while giving him directions to my house. Once there I slowly hopped out of his car, trying not to fall. "Are you sure you are capable of making it to your room?" he questioned.

"Yeah. I'm good. I got it. I'll let you know if I need help."

"Okay. Call me when you get inside so I know you made it up there okay?"

"Okay. Night, Zak. And thank-you for dinner."

"No problem. Night Lynn. Be careful."

"Aren't I always?" I smiled before slowly walking towards my condo. Once inside I texted Zak to let him know I made it up the stairs without killing myself.

The next couple of days were pretty normal with the exception that Zak was talking to me again. Courtney didn't like that too well, but I could care less. I got my friend back and that's all that mattered to me. On Tuesday, me and the guys went to the gym and worked out while Aaron watched. I was running, Nick was doing sit-ups upside down, and Zak was being a showoff doing push-ups on his hands against the wall when all of a sudden Aaron pops up with a camera. "Since today has been a slow day in the office we decided to take a break and make use of the gym. There's Nick doing us proud with his acrobatics. The lovely Lynnette owning the treadmill" I waved to the camera with an embarrassed smile on my face "and then there's Zak showing us that he doesn't need equipment to lift he just uses himself as his weights" Aaron laughed while Zak dropped to his feet then flashed the camera a dazzling smile. "What about you Aaron? Why don't you work out with us?" I asked.

"No! I'm good. You guys go on without me."

"Hater."

"I don't hate. I'm just allergic to extreme workouts."

I laughed "Sure."

After we finished, we went our separate ways to shower then headed over to Nick's for lunch. Veronique was cooking in the kitchen and little Annabelle was in the living room watching movies when I arrived. Everyone else was already there.

"Took you long enough," Zak joked.

"The only reason you beat me here is because you didn't bother spending the extra hour and a half to put up your fohawk. Otherwise you would still be in front of your bathroom mirror right now so mmmh" I said sticking my tongue out.

"Don't hate on my fohawk." Zak said as he reforms the fohawk.

"I'm not hatin'. I'm just saying that it is sad that I as a female with ten times the amount of hair that you have spends half the time you do fixing my hair."

"That is sad" Nick agreed.

"And how is my little Anna doin'?" I asked walking up to her.

"LYNN!" She smiled as she stood up and gave me a giant hug.

"Hey sweetie. Whatchya doin'?"

"Watching Mermaid."

"Watching Mermaid? That's so cool. Mermaid was one of my favorite movies when I was your age."

"You wanna watch it with me?"

"Always" I smiled and sat down in the floor of the living room with her, watching The Little Mermaid. Fifteen minutes later, Veronique called everyone into the kitchen for lunch. We all grabbed a plate and started loading it up with chips and hotdogs. "This is delicious. Thank-you." I told her somewhere in the middle of eating.

"Oh, You're welcome."

After we ate, Annabelle and I went into the backyard and played while the guys sat by the pool, talking. It was about 8 o'clock before I made it home. Once there, I rubbed some aloe vera on my arms to keep from burning too badly. The next day the guys got a verification on a lockdown location out in Georgia. They left on Friday. I went to the airport with them to say bye before heading to work. I got called in early due to someone on the day shift being sick. Work was slow, but at least it was better than moping around the house. I was so bored without the guys that the next day, I went in to work almost three hours early just for something to do. By the time Wednesday came around I was miserable. I talked to the guys a little bit, but with the huge time difference, we had a hard time getting in touch with each other. I missed having someone to hang out with so finally I decided to call Veronique.

"Hello?" a woman said.

"Hey Veronique?" I asked

"Yeah?"

"Hey! It's Lynn. Do you wanna go hang out today?"

"Um…Sure. Where do you want to meet at?"

"Hmm… How about Crossroads?"

"Okay. See you later."

"See ya." I said, hanging up. I went and changed into some shorts and a light t-shirt. I was so excited about having something to do besides moping around the house that I was at Crossroads in about half the time. I waited for almost thirty minutes before Veronique pulled up beside me. I got out of the truck and gave her a hug. "Thank-you so much for doing this. I was so freaking bored at the house I was goin' insane."

She laughed, "It's no problem."

We walked into the mall, trying to decide on where to go first. Finally, we decided to start at the end closest to us and work our way down, going into whatever store piqued our interest. We talked and laughed throughout the entire trip. It was so nice to have some good quality girl time with someone other than myself. By the time it was all said and done we each had about four bags per arm. We bought stuff for ourselves as well as Annabelle and the guys. After we unloaded all the bags into our vehicles we were starving so we went to Chili's.

Shortly after our arrival, we were seated at a booth on the left side of the building. Veronique sat facing the front door while I faced the wall next to the bar. We ordered our drinks before Veronique said, "So, Nick tells me that you're crushing on a certain someone within our group of friends."

I nearly spit out the drink I had just taken a sip of, "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Not really."

"Come on, Lynn. You can tell me. Is it true? Do you like him?"

"There are a lot of hims. Which him are we referring to?"

"Lynn, I think you know exactly who I'm talking about."

"I…I don't know," I finally admitted, "I mean yeah we talk a lot and hang out sometimes, but I don't really know if that constitutes 'liking' him."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yeah."

"Do you consider him to be your best friend?"

"They are my only friends. Well, besides you."

"Okay, but he is the one you talk to the most is he not?"

"Yeah, I guess, but—"

"Then he's your best friend."

"How do you feel when he talks to other girls?"

"It doesn't really bother me when he talks to other girls. I just don't like his girlfriend, that's all."

"Why do you not like her?"

"You know why. Because she's a stuck up, self-centered, fake, egotistical, bitch who's gonna get her ass kicked if she does anything to hurt Zak—oops!" I felt my cheeks flush and I quickly looked down to try and hide it.

"I knew it."

"Okay. So I like Zak," I admitted, "What are you getting at anyway?"

"Nothing," she said trying to act innocent, "I just may have heard some things—about you."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell. It's a secret," she grinned mischievously as the waitress came by to take our order.

After the waitress left I tried to get Veronique to tell me what she knew, but she wouldn't budge. Throughout the rest of the meal we talked and told stories until I heard an eerily familiar laugh. I looked behind me to see none other than Courtney Barrett—with another guy.