Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories (The Flirts! Collection) by Lisa Scott

bathroom. “We’ll never get out of here if that happens. We’ll take turns.”
    I tried my best to get ready quickly, but it takes a while to blow out my hair. By the time I was dressed, made up and ready to go, I found Tony on the couch, freshly showered. And asleep.
    I leaned over and kissed him. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. I’m ready.”
    He jumped up. “Sorry. What time is it?” He squinted at the clock. “Wow, it took an hour to get ready?”
    I swept my hand in front of me. “You think this just happens naturally?”
    He pulled me to him. “You looked pretty good to me this morning. I want to take you to this restaurant my buddy’s brother just opened up. A greasy spoon, but it’s good, and I want to support him.”
    I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “That sounds great.”

    I couldn’t finish the gigantic burger I’d ordered or even half the fries. “This gets five stars from me. Good stuff.” I shifted on the stool at the counter wondering if I’d be able to drag myself to his truck.
    A group of people came in the front door and Tony turned to look. He raised his hand to greet them. “Hey, Jason. Haven’t seen you in a while.”
    I swiveled around on my stool. Two guys in black leather jackets walked in with three women, also wearing leather and jeans. I started counting the face-piercings between the five of them, but stopped. I’d been too chicken to get my ears pierced until I was sixteen. I couldn’t imagine one in my nose.
    They walked over to us and I held my breath. The women were checking out my strappy sandals and sundress that really were too fancy for the place. I smoothed my hand down the silky material on my thighs and forced a smile. “Hi,” I said.
    “Who’s this?” Jason asked.
    Tony put his arm around me. “This is Kristen. We met the other day. Kristen, these are some friends I know from McGruder’s bar.”
    “Nice to meet you,” I said, toying with a lock of my hair, although none of them offered their names.
    The women’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two of us. “And where did the two of you meet?” one of them asked, incredulously. “Did you fall through her roof?”
    Tony laughed. “It’s a long story.”
    “He saved me from a guy trying to steal my purse.” I set my hands on my knees and shrugged.
    Their eyes wandered to my purse, sitting on the counter, probably trying to size up whether or not it was real.
    “I think he had more than that in mind,” Tony said, with anger lacing his words.
    I squeezed his bicep. “Tony jumped off a roof and tackled him.”
    “Yeah, but you pulled the knife away.” We were smiling at each other, and I realized we probably looked like one of those couples people longed to smack.
    He kissed my cheek and I noticed one of the women rolling her eyes. Another one snapped her gum and spoke up. “I suppose this means I should tell Sheila you ain’t interested.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “She gets done at the plant in half an hour and was going to meet us here. If you don’t want to see a grown woman cry, you should probably take Barbie, here, and go.”
    I stiffened, and Tony squeezed my shoulder. “Jessie, I’m just not interested in Sheila; I’m sorry. She’s a great girl, but not for me.”
    The woman looked me over again. “I see.”
    “Don’t worry, we were just leaving.” Tony tossed some money on top of the check and stood up. He reached for my hand and helped me off the stool.
    “Nice meeting you all.” But it wasn’t. I knew they were making assumptions about me based on my clothes and the way I looked.
    “Sorry,” Tony said, when we got into his truck. “I think they were a little intimidated by you.”
    I blew my bangs off my forehead. “Guess we won’t be double-dating with any of them. We won’t be doing dinner with my family or yours, and your friends won’t be inviting us out any time soon.”
    “There really doesn’t seem to be a place for