Chasing Elliott - Published

chapter nineteen ... downtown dinner

Strikhedonia (n.)
the pleasure of being able to say 'to hell with it'.
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We pulled up to one of the busiest parts of the city and struggled to find a place to park. As we finally found a spot, I glanced down at my outfit and suddenly grew a little self conscious. Normally I wouldn't care about my outfit unless I was trying to hook up with someone but it was a Saturday night in the city and we were still in our clothes from the batting cages.

"Don't worry so much," Cooper said as he gave my thigh a light squeeze. "Trust me, where we're going, no one is going to care."

Before I had the opportunity to question where we were heading, he opened up his drivers side and quickly climbed out. Sighing, I reached for my handle but the door was pulled out of my hand as it was opened for me. Laughing softly, I accepted Cooper's outstretched hand and slid out of my seat.

I followed Cooper through the busy streets, weaving in and out of people as he held onto my hand tightly so as not to lose me. Stopping outside of a restaurant with tall windows and dimly lit lights illuminating from inside, he smiled down at me widely before pulling me in after him.

The inside was loud as we entered and I almost rolled my eyes at the neon light decor that covered the walls. It had a typical sports bar feel but as we walked deeper inside, I noticed a stage sitting in the back corner.

Cooper found an empty high-top table and we quickly took the seats. As soon as we sat down, a waitress walked over and handed us some menus and two glasses of water. I ordered my usual Tito Cranberry while he ordered a Jameson Coke.

"I know what I'm ordering you," he said with a smile as he set the menu down and folded his arms on the table. I raised a brow as I slowly lowered the menu and took a sip of my water.

"A girl is perfectly capable of ordering for herself," I ventured as I picked up my menu once more and started scanning it again.

"I know a girl is," Cooper teased as he wriggled his eyebrows at me. "But I want you to try this. You order me something."

I rolled my eyes but nodded my head anyway, knowing that I could have someone worse ordering a meal for me. Once the waitress came over, we both placed our orders before I noticed a couple guys setting up equipment on the stage.

"Do live bands play here or something?" I asked as I turned my attention back to Cooper. He bit his lip to suppress his smile which caused me to narrow my eyes slightly.

"Not exactly," he drawled out as I turned my attention back to the stage. Suddenly, the two television screens behind it lit up and said Karaoke Night. I slowly turned my head back to Cooper to find him smiling widely at me.

"You expect me to sing?" I asked incredulously as I laughed and folded my arms over my chest. Before he had the chance to answer me, I spotted a guy roughly grab a girls arm at the bar and I saw her struggle to get out of his grip.