Wait For It (Sequel to Challenge Accepted)

Chapter Five: Freaking Terrified

So, we crammed into a cab. Marshall took shotgun, Lily was practically sitting on Ted, and I was sitting on Barney, against my own will and my better judgement. Lily and Marshall were saying something, but I couldn't focus considering Barney's hands were on my waist, his fingers skimming over the fabric of my t-shirt beneath my coat. He moved his thumb, causing me to freeze.

"Problem?" Barney whispered in my ear.

"Stop it." I muttered.

"Stop what?" He asked. His fingers moved up to trace my ribs. It was like my skin was on fire. I yanked his hands down, causing them to go to my hips. I shut my eyes, wishing the ride would be over. His fingers slipped into my pocket and removed the list. "Ha! Got it!"

"Got what?" Lily asked.

"Nothing. It's not important." I told her, scowling at the back of Marshall's seat.

"Honey, I'm so excited for you. After all these interviews, after all these disappointments, you deserve a triumphant mouthful of meat." Lily told him. Oh, yeah, another thing. Marshall has been unemployed for a while, trying desperately to find a job. I don't know what happened, but he lost it while I was in San Diego, and apparently, it's been rough.

"You know what else is a mouthful? All that double-talk other banks give you. At Goliath, customer satisfaction is our most important investment." Barney said.

"See, that's so random, why are you doing that?!" I asked.

"Barney, I hate to break it to you, but working for a bank's kinda lame."

"Oh, yeah? How lame is free automatic bill pay, Lil? How lame is 3.3% APY online savings? Yeah, that's right. Hate to make you look stupid in front of your friends, but you left me no choice."

"Ooh, we should probably call Regis."

"Filban?" I asked.

"It's a long story."

"Oh, gosh, that guy scares me." I took the phone from him, finding the name and calling the number. He put his hands on my waist again. I almost hated the fact that I didn't hate it.

"Hello?"

"Regis? Hi, this is Lauren, a friend of Barney's. We found the burger place? West 12th right off of seventh." He hung up without another word. "Wow. Nice guy."

"He doesn't play around when it comes to the burger." Marshall explained. The cab stopped and we got out. "Green door, red neon sign. Guys, this is the place."

"Whoo!" We all started inside.

"No, no I've actually-I've prepared a few words."

"I will eat your hand!" Robin yelled.

"Let's go inside then, shall we?" We all let Robin go in first.

We all sat down, and after a while the burgers came. I felt Barney's hand on my knee. I shoved it off.

"Cut it out, Barney!" I muttered. He just smirked at me."Seriously, stop. We're not together, and you know that."

"Yours will be right out." The waitress told Robin. She sighed. "Please go ahead, start."

"No."

"I don't know-"

"Just shut up, and eat." She told them. We all bit into our burgers.

"Oh my gosh. I'm never brushing my teeth again, unless it's with a toothbrush made from this burger."

"I want to take this burger out to dinner, then maybe a movie, then take it back to my place, put on a little Terence Trent Darby, and then I would just...fool around a little bit. Nothing serious. Just take it slow, you know?"