“Food sounds great. And, frankly, some company,” he replied. “It wasn’t my brightest idea to come here alone, but I was losing my bloody mind in my hotel room.”
A man honest about wanting company. I liked it. I could relate.
I was terrible at being alone. It’d never made me rush into a relationship, but it definitely made me rush into harassing Sloan. I constantly wanted people around me, and my closest buddy had the privilege of suffering for it.
“I’m Archie, by the way.”
Archie. That sounded British too. “Greer. Good to meet you.” I extended my hand and shook his firmly. “What brings you to Winchester?”
“A long series of bad decisions,” he joked. “I love rural towns, though. I hope I have enough time to drive around for a bit before I go home.”
And home was where? My money was on a major city. Being a New Yorker, I found Winchester a rural town too. But the locals around here had a different perspective.
I found the source of the amazing smell when we passed a barbecue joint with their own seating area, so that settled things for me. I was gonna sit my ass down, eat ribs until I passed out, and drink beer till I was unfit to drive and had to call Kaden.
The two lines were long but fast-moving, and I appreciated a place with a basic menu. You could order a ribs platter with fixings, or you could order barbecue chicken with fixings. Vegans were politely asked to go elsewhere.
I smirked and took a picture of the chalkboard menu. Then I sent it to my vegan sister-in-law. To this day, years after hooking up with my brother Cullen, marrying him, and popping out a few kids, she was The Vegan in my phone.
She’d jokingly named me Big Daddy after discovering I was into BDSM.
You’re not welcome around these here parts, vegan.
Archie was on his phone too, and I had to grin when I saw him typing Semper Fidelis into Google.
Unable to help myself, I rested my forearm on his shoulder and dipped down. “What does it mean? Is it Latin?”
He went rigid and promptly pocketed his phone. “Caught that, huh?”
I chuckled and straightened again.
“Sorry—I was confused when you said you weren’t a soldier,” he admitted. “I could’ve sworn Semper Fidelis was military-related.”
“It is.” I sent him a sideways smile. “I was in the Marine Corps. They turn boys and girls into Marines, not soldiers.”
He lifted a brow. “I got derailed by semantics?”
I laughed and took a step forward. Almost our turn. “They’re not semantics to us.” I was so hungry now that my stomach was talking to me.
“Next!” a man yelled.
I gestured for Archie to go first, and he ordered a ribs platter with fixings and two beers. I liked him instantly. I ordered one of each menu item when it was my turn, and I copied him. Two beers. Fuck standing in line twice. I made sure to grab a handful of wet wipes too. I’d delivered six dispensers to this joint earlier today.
It was too loud to talk here; people just wanted their food, and the three guys behind the counter were hollering all over the place.
In the distance, I heard screams from the rides. Music everywhere. Carnival workers daring men to beat various challenges—and we were a bunch easy enough to goad.
Once we got our food, we went over to the seating area and found an available spot at the end of one of the several long tables. I set my niece’s gift on the table and sat down.
“Man, this looks good.”
It definitely did. Six barbecue-glazed chicken wings or a slab of baby back ribs, a Parker House roll, then four plastic cups with fixings—mac and cheese, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and half an ear of grilled corn-on-the-cob. But I was glad I’d ordered two platters. The cups weren’t big.
I took a swig of my beer as I emptied the collard greens into my mashed potatoes. That was how collard greens went from eh, it works to fantastic.
“Oh my God.” Archie’s moan caught my attention, and I watched him clear the tender meat off two bones with too much interest.
I didn’t know how someone could come off as both delicate and rough around the edges, but this guy managed somehow.
I shook my head to myself and diverted my focus to food. This was where carnivals robbed me blind. I loved festival food—so many grilled meats, anything that could be deep-fried and sold on a stick, and all the sweets.
My weekend was already mapped out. I’d do deliveries in the mornings up till noon, and then Angelo and I were gonna try every damn food vendor in the area.
“Uncle Greer!”
Fucking really? Was the kid stalking me?
I chewed on a mouthful of ribs and mac and spotted Kaden coming toward me.