"You sure? Oh! Shit. I know! You're Rae Martin's brother, right?" Fast as a lightning strike, her apathy was replaced by excitement, her nervous smile making the dimple on her cheek pop out. "Rae was saying how you'd be moving back here. And now youare!"
"Now I am," Ash echoed, looking confused."You meanRhett, my littlebrother?"
"Uh… Yeah.Rae. We're in a club together." Crys averted her eyes and waved a hand through the air. "Anyway. It'll be good for them to have you home." She cleared her throat and resumed her apathetic expression so quickly, it was like it had never happened. "So.Dinner?"
I looked at Ash, who glanced at the menu and frowned. His fingers clenched inmine.
"Yeah, we were just talking about that. Two more minutes?" Iasked.
She rolled her eyes anddisappeared.
"Youokay?"
"That was weird," Ash told me. "Rhett's never had a nickname before." He shrugged. "Just highlights how much I've missed, you know? How much I have to get caught upon."
I nodded. "You'll get there. Give ittime."
"Yeah." He gave me a grateful smile, then grimaced at the menu again. "Uh, like I was saying before, aboutCalifornia..."
"Right?"
"Well, out there, every burger place has, like, a wide variety of actual burgers. Turkey, or bean, or quinoa. I forgot that here it's just..." He hesitated. "Meat."
I snickered. "It's true. A dozen kinds of cheese and buns and toppings, though. Like, The Harvest has these onions cooked in wine thatare..."
I stopped. Ash was shaking hishead.
"The toppings sound great." He winced. "I don't eat redmeat."
He said it like it was this huge confession, or something I would judge him for. It was odd, butendearing.
"No meat?"Jesus. I hadn't even thought to ask when I suggested this place. And of course he wouldn't have known, since he didn't live here and I was pretty sure Mari didn't even have a website, let alone one that listed hermenu.
I made an executive decision. I stood up from the table and, since our hands were still locked, he had no choice but to stand with me. "Let's get out of here. I'll take you back to my place and we can find somethingelse."
Orordersomething else. I was pretty sure I had enough mac and cheese for both of us, but that was hardlyimpressive.
He followed me out of the restaurant, pausing only to collect the coat he'd hung on the pegs by the front door. I realized I'd forgotten to take my jacketoffthrough our entire encounter, when it was usually the first thing I did when I walked in Mari's door. This guy was throwing every one of my routines out thewindow.
But he flashed me a smile and held the restaurant door open, letting me pass in front of him, and I realized I was more than okay withthat.
