Beer, Burgers & Boyfriends

“Hi, my name is Shania, welcome to ‘Beer and Burgers!’ What would you like to order?” She took the pen tucked behind her ear and pulled a small notebook out of her apron.

“I know it’s not on the menu, but could I order your phone number please?” Nick asked with a slimy smile, but before Shania could answer, Jacob whacked him on the back of his head with the hardcover menu.

“Manners, you idiot!” He shook his head disapprovingly. “Seriously, why do you try this at every new restaurant we go to? It never ends well. When will you learn? Now order your damn food!”

“Yesss, Sir! I’m sorry, Mr. team captain.” Nick rolled his eyes and slumped against the table. He then added grumpily: “I would like a large strawberry milkshake and a bacon burger combo with a Pepsi, please.”

Shania looked rather unimpressed while she jotted down his choices and coldly added: “Would you like a salad or fries with that?”

It took us a while to order everything we wanted. After all, we were a big group of starving jocks who had just finished a long training and food was the only thing on our minds. Shania could barely keep up with our orders and had to use multiple pages of her little notebook before everyone had told her what they wanted. “..., one double cheeseburger combo with large fries and a lager, one large pepperoni pizza, 4 large vanilla milkshakes and a frappuccino. Is that correct?”

“Yes, that is correct and that will be all,” Jacob nodded patiently.

“Thank god,” she laughed relieved, “I was going to ask you that next, but it sounds a bit odd considering the amount of food you just ordered, doesn’t it?” She put the notebook back into her apron and stored her pen next to it. “Anyway, it might take a while to prepare your meals, but we will try our best to get it to you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you,” Noah and Caleb responded in unison.

“You always steal my moment to shine, you asshat!” Caleb sneered at Noah, which resulted in another fight between the two. Shania looked a bit concerned and confused, but when she saw that the rest of the group did not even bat an eye at Caleb's and Noah's shenanigans, she shrugged and walked off.

It did not take long for Caleb and Noah to be on good terms again and once they were, their friendly chatting with the rest of the group resumed. Jacob tugged the sleeve of my hoodie to grab my attention and inquisitively wondered: “Is everything alright, mate? I might be mistaken, but you’re usually the first person to pick out what you want to eat and it’s not like you at all to stay quiet while we’re joking around, you know?”

“Oh, I didn’t even notice I was acting differently than usual! But thanks for asking, I’m fine," I responded surprised. I then explained a little flustered while rubbing my neck awkwardly: “I might have been acting weird, because um… I was distracted by something I saw outside.”

“Something or someone?” Jacob smirked in turn. “I’ve known you longer than today, Joey and I know that there's not a lot in this world that can come between you and your food, so tell me what was able to catch your attention! I’m dying to know.”

I avoided Jacob’s piercing gaze and answered nervously: “It was someone… I thought I spotted a really pretty waitress...”

“Oh?” Jacob cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve never shown interest in any of the waitresses of the restaurants we’ve gone to over the years. I always thought you just came along to hang out with us, so what has changed? This waitress must be very special.”

“Hold up,” I quickly interrupted him with a laugh. My cheeks turned a bright red due to Jacob’s uncomfortable interrogation. "I said ‘thought’. Turns out it was um… a waiter, not a waitress.”

Jacob snorted and could barely hold in his laughter. “Seriously? That’s so awkward, dude! So what are you going to do, now that the girl of your dreams turns out to be a guy?”

I opened my mouth to give an answer, but then closed my mouth again when I realised that I did not know what to say. The uncomfortable truth was that I had not minded much that the waiter had not been a girl, and that fact both confused and terrified me to no end. If I felt attracted to this total stranger even after he turned out to be a guy, what did that say about me? I was not prepared to fully acknowledge the answer to that question at this moment, so I sure as hell was not ready to share the answer with Jacob. Fortunately for me, I did not have to because our food arrived at that exact moment. Unfortunately for me, however, it was not Shania who was serving the food.

The young, blonde waiter smiled brightly, but his ' boss-approved, customer-friendly smile did not quite reach his eyes. I tried to hide in my spacious st. Claire's hoodie to avoid being spotted, but when he looked around the table, our eyes inevitably met. His dark eyes lit up when he recognized me. Then, he introduced himself to the group with a more genuine smile: “Hi, my name is Simon. Shania accidentally burned herself in the kitchen, so I will be serving you today instead. Sorry for the inconvenience. Now, who ordered a large vanilla milkshake?”