Sleep came and went too quickly for Liz and Hollie. When the blaring alarm went off, Liz jerked away and smacked it off the table top. Hollie groaned and gave a small giggle/snort as Liz cursed.
"Someone's not a morning person," Hollie observed.
Liz mumbled and stretched, "Not until I get a pot of coffee down me." Sliding out of bed, she stumbled and groaned. "It's too early and y'all wore me out last night."
The happy blonde bounced across the bed and smacked her on the ass. Liz gasped and yelped as Hollie laughed. "Buck up little camper. Shower time! You can go first."
Meanwhile, at the other apartment, Todd groaned as the alarm sounded at five thirty. The previous night Ben had cursed at him when Liz's text had come in. Now he could see Ben's point. This was too freaking early for just breakfast, in a world where Captain Crunch existed. Todd guessed that Liz could have something to do early at school. Pulling on his robe, Todd stumbled out of his room, taking the time to rouse Ben as he made his way to the bathroom.
"Damn it, Todd," Ben grumbled. "This is why you should never make plans by fucking text message. I have half a mind to help Allen move in on your girl. At least he's already up at this hour."
"Oh Shit!" Todd yelled. "I was supposed to go over to Pornland to talk to him and get my schedule this morning. "
"Too late for that now," Ben replied. "Why don't you call him and have him meet us at Duke's. Oh wait. If he's there, you have to watch all the girls swoon."
"Yeah yeah. Heartthrob Allen and shit," Todd grumped. "Dude, can you just call over there and ask him while I get my shower."
"Yep.," Ben said. "Hmmmmm. Maybe he can bring a basket of goodies for Red Riding Good too...."
Todd laughed. "Watch out or you're likely to lose your ride too."
The girls were having way too much fun. The tiny bathroom was soon feeling cramped, with barely covered bodies brushing against each other as all four tried to apply makeup, brush hair and get dressed. Amongst the giggles, hands playfully smacked, pinched and squeezed.
Finally,
they all piled into one car, laughing and talking as they took off to Duke's. Liz called ahead of time, ordering a pitcher of juice and a couple of carafes of coffee so they could start before ordering their breakfasts.
Upon their arrival, the girls snagged a couple of tables and pulled them together, making room for everyone.
Todd and Ben got to Duke's quicker than they expected, but still a little late. Allen promised to swing by on his way home. At least that was the gist Ben had gotten from the four word response to his query. As they entered the restaurant they were not only welcomed by the delicious aroma of bacon, coffee, and pancakes. They were also embraced by a burly man in his 50s. "Ah, two of the heroes gracing my establishment today," Duke said.
"Er. thanks Duke," Todd replied. "We're supposed to meet..."
Duke cut him off. "Your ladies await you over there, and there are even more of them today than yesterday. The new one could be Pallas Athena herself, come down from Olympus." Duke motioned to the corner where four girls were laughing and chatting, rather than the three Ben And Todd had expected.
"Damn, Todd." Ben said. "Who's that? One of Liz's friends?"
"I don't know her," Todd answered. "Maybe she's with Hollie. Smoking hot, though."
"Damn straight she is," Ben agreed, "and I love a girl with dark hair. But we have to get all these statements out of the way
before
we go over there. Then we don't notice her till introduced, and she's a guy for all we know."
"Deal. Does she look familiar to you, though. I could swear I've seen her before."
"You probably saw her on campus, but I'm sure they'll introduce us. Let's go. I wonder if she'll flip for Allen too?" Ben batted his eyes at Todd.
Liz had saved Todd an empty seat next to her. That had been standard practice since they had become friends, but today she just really wanted to be near him. She was reading her menu out of habit, not because she needed to, when he came up behind her and pulled her back into a front to back hug. Liz sighed and smiled, shivering as the man's lips touched her neck and he murmured a soft hello.
"Hi." She grinned at him, blushing softly as he slid into the empty seat and casually threw an arm around her shoulders. Unable to resist, Liz snuggled closer.
"Aww young love." Mary mocked playfully, only to have Ben silence her with a warm, wet kiss that had her sighing as well as her cheeks colored.
Liz giggled, "That's what you get!" She poked her tongue out and winked. Mary laughed and Hollie pretended to gag as Tammy fanned her.
"You ladies are slacking, introduce us to the newest Scooby gang member." Todd put in and wiggled his brows at Liz, kissing her again on the forehead, making her insides totally melt.
Tammy turned her dark eyes on Todd and smiled. "Oh I'm nobody. Just some random girl they picked up in a bar and had their way with last night."
Liz blanched and choked on a sip of coffee, as the rest of the table laughed loudly at Tammy's "joke." "Breathe Liz, jeez, " Hollie said. "Guys, funny girl here goes by a lot of different names, but the usual one is Tammy. She's definitely one of the cool kids."
Ben and Todd both stood, each taking one of Tammy's hands and kissing it. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am," Todd said.
"Enchanted, even," Ben added.
Tammy blushed a little at the attention. "Why thank you kind sirs, " she replied. "I see why you girls like these two. They're well trained, well mannered, well groomed, and, from what I can tell, well equipped."
Everyone laughed at that, including Duke who arrived at the table with large platters of breakfast food. "From what I hear, our lovely new addition here is now part of the family," he said. "So enjoy the family discount. Your money's no good here, young lady."
This time Tammy stood and kissed the older man on the cheek. "Thank you, Duke. The men around here certainly know how to make a girl feel appreciated."
Duke chuckled. "If I weren't so old and married, you'd be hard pressed to find more appreciation. Alas, I must leave you to the attentions of younger men."
"Trust me Duke," Tammy said with a smile. "You're as attractive to me as any younger man. Your wife is a lucky woman."
It was Duke's turn to blush. "Keep this one around, Elizabeth. I like her."
The bells on the cafe door rang, and Todd noticed Allen coming through the door. "Oh Duke, can you pull us up another chair. Our last member of the party's arriving. Hope he's hungry."
Ben shot Todd a knowing grin as he heard Tammy make a little noise of appreciation as the tall, dark and handsome Allen stepped into the place, clad in dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt that seemed to mold itself to his impressive chest, muscular arms and wide shoulders. "Holy crap...this place is full of hunks." Tammy candidly commented.
The girls all giggled, "Uh huh...we have good stock around here." Hollie grinned and then felt her heart flutter and stomach dip as Allen's dark gaze found her lighter one and held it for a moment before shifting to the others. Taking the chair from Duke, he folded his tall body into it, squeezing between Mary and Todd and giving everyone a curt nod.
Under the table, Tammy gave Hollie a nudge and cocked an eyebrow, making the blonde blush and nudge her back. Tammy grinned and regarded the group again. Everyone seemed so at ease and at home, it was easy to fall into the flow of friendship with them.
"Hi," Allen said. "Thanks for inviting me."
"Glad you could make it," Hollie said, her smile getting bigger every second. "The guys didn't mention you were coming."
"It just kinda happened," Todd said sheepishly. "Mainly since I forgot I needed to go talk to him."
Allen turned to Todd. "What about?"
"We need to talk to a lawyer. The cops think Kevin and his merry band of dipshits may try to cause trouble for us."
"For protecting the girls and ourselves?"
"He's an asshole, but he's a famous asshole with money. They said it was just for our own protection. I just wish I knew someone. Well, someone I can afford."
"I think I'm missing some big story here," Tammy said," but I can say this. If you guys were protecting the girls, I think I can help."
Allen looked at Tammy for the first real time and their dark eyes flashed. "We haven't met have we?"
"No," Tammy replied, "but any friend of the girls is a friend of mine. I'm Tammy."
"Allen." The rest of the group watched the two new additions to the group carry on almost a silent conversation for a few seconds before Tammy continued.
"I know a law firm and I have connections, if you don't mind my butting in. I think I can get you a fair rate."
Todd let out a huge sigh of relief. "Mind hell, I couldn't thank you enough."
"Likewise." Allen said
"Well, that was painless." Hollie smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up and Allen flashed a brief smile.
"You'll have to fill me in on what exactly you guys are up against." Tammy added, "But not right now, lets enjoy breakfast."
The group agreed and soon Duke had another plate and silverware for Allen, who murmured his thanks to the older man. Duke grinned at them all and went back to work while they all dug in with happy noises. The teasing resumed, the jabs, the pokes and laughs. Allen's eyes studied the pretty brunette while the others were preoccupied with playing around. Still, it was hard for him to ignore Hollie's beaming smiles and laughter. She was all sunshine and happiness, it seemed.
"Todd!" Liz laughed as she fed him a piece of bacon and lost half her finger in his mouth. He gave her a sweet innocent look as she wrinkled her nose and pulled it out, wiping it on his own shirt. "Nasty boy."
He grinned and wiggled his brows, "You know you love me."
The gang stuffed themselves for a while longer, before the party began to wind down. Tammy checked her watch. "It's 8:40 ladies. We have to get to the hotel."
"What's at the hotel?" Ben asked.
