“Aww, Pops. This your daughter?” The waitress moved around me, heading over to fill up my dad’s mug without him asking.

He was watching me, a lot more cautious than this morning. “Yeah. This is my daughter. Bren.” He had a pen in his hand, and with it he gestured to Cross and Jordan behind me. “And a few of her friends.”

The waitress’ smile just got warmer, but she barely took in the guys. Her hand went to her hip, the other still holding the coffee pot. “Well, there you go. Pops here is family, so you know what that means, right?”

I didn’t respond.

My dad coughed to clear his throat, and he stood from his stool. He moved around the waitress, patting her on the hip. “How about we get an order of some burgers and chicken baskets? My daughter is underage, her friends, too, so we’ll just do soda.”

“Gotcha.” She winked at me, moving past us. “You guys get ready for some Twister Sister food, and you’ll never eat at another place again. Montreal’s won awards for his creations at the grill.”

“Thank you, darlin’.”

She winked at ‘Pops’ before she left.

Jordan moved closer, saying under his breath, “What’s her name?”

I elbowed him in the stomach.

He harrumphed, cradling his stomach and shooting me a look.

I ignored him, standing at the end of my dad’s table until he took a silent breath. He nodded to the empty stools on the other side. “Thinking you should claim one of those, hmm? Maybe your boys can take a walk.”

“Or play a game of pool.” Jordan was already spying the last open table.

The back of Cross’ hand grazed mine. “You okay here?”

I nodded, grazing mine against his arm in response. “I’ll be fine. And if I’m not, you’ll come running.”

A crooked grin was my response.

Jordan had started for the table, and he picked up a pool stick, holding it over his head. “You break, buddy.” He started pulling the balls out from the dispenser. “Have I told you how seriously phenomenal I am at pool?”

I couldn’t hear Cross’ response.

“They ain’t stupid, are they?”

I turned back, taking the inside stool across from my dad. It gave us enough space, and I shifted so my back was to the wall. I was facing most of the room, my feet resting on the stool’s footrest beside me. “Why do you ask that?”

He dipped his head, his gaze somewhere. “Because they’re about to get hustled.”

I looked over at them.

Three of the guys playing pool at the neighbor table were moving in.

Jordan started to converse with them, but Cross looked back at me. He held his hand in a small wave, motioning for me to stay where I was.