My Fake Fiancé

Chapter 23

~Kurt~

"I was thinking," I start as I lock up behind us, "Dave mentioned that his wife had talked about us coming over for dinner at their house. We don't have to if that would make you uncomfortable, but it might be nice to make friends as a couple."

"Couple friends," she smiles and tugs at the hem of her sweater as it rides up exposing her lower belly, as she walks. "Sure, that sounds fun."

"Great, I'll let him know we are available whenever they want." She nods and then stumbles as we make our way out to the street. I grab her elbow and keep her standing, then slide my hand down her arm and our hands find their way to each other, intertwining out fingers. It seems natural and she doesn't seem to mind. "Where do you want to eat?"

"Oh," she pauses both with her words and stops in the middle of the sidewalk, "I hadn't actually thought about that. I want chicken strips." She says, absolutely sure of her decision.

"I agree, that sounds good. I know just the place. And don't judge it by how it looks on the outside, well and the inside. But they do have great chicken strips. And fries." She laughs and I see that twinkle in her eyes again.

"Oh, baby. you should know by now that I judge by someone's outward appearance," she pats her hand on my chest and smirks a little then skips off ahead of me.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" I laugh as I jog to catch up with her. She slows down to wait for me and I drop my arm over her shoulder causing us to jostle together before we figure out how to walk together.

We fall into a quiet walk but it isn't awkward, it's just peaceful. Adriana trusts me to lead her in the right directly and allows me to steer her over a few blocks and across a couple streets. We are nearing the poorer part of down but I stop on the outskirts and lead her towards an old bar with the sign barely hanging from a few rusted old nails. I sense her hesitation as I hold the door open for her.

"What happened to not judging outward appearances?" I tease, then gesture for her to keep walking. And she does. She steps into the bar and I follow close behind, putting my hand on the small of her back and ushering her to a booth near the back. The bartender, Benny, catches my eye as he helps a very drunk older gentleman into a bench in view of the bar so Benny can keep an eye on him. He gives me a nod and makes a gesture letting me know he'll be right over.

"So, when and how did you find this place?" Adriana asks as Benny makes his way over to our booth. He delivers a slap on my back making me wince and Adriana smiles up at him.

"Benny and I went to law school together." Adriana's eyebrows draw together in confusion.

"I bet you're wondering why a man who went to law school ended up as a bartender in this dump?" Adriana looks like she is about to protest but Benny's laugh stops her. "Don't worry sweetheart, no offense taken."

"Benny only went to law school because he got bored sitting around in his mom and dad's mansion playing video games. Or rather inventing new ones and selling them off for millions of dollars." I boast about Benny's accomplishments and enjoy teasing my friend while also watching the look of amusement in Adriana's eyes.

"Oh, so you own this place?" She guesses correctly, and I can tell she is impressed but also confused why he would choose to own this bar.

"Yes ma'am. Owner, chef, bartender, lawyer, you name it, I can do it."

"Speaking of, we would like two baskets of your famous chicken strips and fry's combo. And yes, I am ordering two because neither of us will want to share, I can promise you that." I give Adriana a look and she nods, licking her lips hungrily and I can tell she is excited.

"Alright, two chicken strip baskets coming up. Any drinks I can get you before I get started?" Benny asks as he slowly backs away from the table his fingers twitching and ready to get back to the kitchen.

"Did I mention he also has a passion for cooking?" I look across the table at Adriana and her smile brightens the room. "No, go have fun in the kitchen, I'll help ourselves to some water." I confer with Adriana and she gives a nod of approval so I slide out of the booth and make my way to the side of the bar where Benny keeps a full pitcher of cold water and clean glasses.

"This is kind of a family style bar, you just help yourself to whatever you need. There are, of course, limitations to that, because of the health code, like not going in the kitchen. We try to make sure the bar wouldn't be shut down but of course, Benny and I, and other friends from law school would be all willing to fight for this place." The cups make a clank on the table as I set them down, Adriana takes the pitcher and fills both cups. She nods while I talk and she watches me closely.

I sit back and take a breath realizing that I am the one now rambling. Once I pause, Adriana's eyes dart around the room, taking everything in. She notices every little detail and her eyes stop on a photo of our group of friends after we passed the bar.

"That's you," she gets up and makes her way over to the photo. I follow behind her to look at it as well.

"Yep, that's us. That group right there is the only reason I made it out of law school and passed the damn bar." I let out a puff of breath remembering all the late nights and tough exams before the big one.

"That's cool," she says admiring the picture a little longer before drifting down the wall to look at more of the pictures and posters, some new from Benny and some older from the previous owners.

I hover back a few steps but follow her and point out funny sayings or explaining posters to her on the way. By the time we make it around the whole bar and back to our seats, Benny is headed our way carrying two baskets overflowing with fries and heading to our table.

"Dinner is served." Benny announces and slides out steaming baskets onto the table, pulling a ketchup and ranch bottle out of his apron pockets and plops them on the table. "Enjoy," he says and takes a bow before walking off to talk to a group that has just entered the bar.

"Wow this looks delicious." Adriana reaches for her chicken strip splitting one open and watches as steam comes barreling out, she blows on them gently before greedily taking a big bite. I wait for her reaction and smile as she closes her eyes. "Damn, tastes as good as it looks."

"Homemade too," I comment before beginning to devour mine as well. We fade into silence as we both realize how hungry we are.