“And you must be Willow,” Aaron says to me with a warm smile on his face.
I feel like I have a mouth full of marbles.
“Hi,” is all I manage to eke out through the goofiest grin ever.
“Here you go.” Conveniently, our server appears, placing the pot of hot water and a box of assorted teas on the table. “Your food will be ready shortly.”
“Thanks, darlin’,” Freak responds.
I’m nervously looking over the tea bag selection when Aaron addresses me again.
“You and I were supposed to have a tutoring session today,” he declares, as if I didn’t already know that.
Of course, I know that I want to scream. I was waiting all week for it, actually three years for it.
“Yes, I know.” I awkwardly grin.
“But my cousin here pulled some of his star athlete trickery and swapped places with me.”
Holy hotness, Batman.
They’re cousins?
How didn’t I know that Aaron had a relative at the same school who happens to be the star quarterback of the football team? Clearly, my investigative skills suck. I better always stick to nursing.
“You two are cousins?”
Freak leans back in the booth with his arms crossed in front of him and an unreadable expression on his face. I’m not sure what the deal is between him and Aaron, but he doesn’t say much. There’s just a lot of silent eye contact between them and a brewing tension.
“You owe me one,” Aaron says to Freak.
“Put it on my tab,” he retorts.
“I’ll talk to you later about how you can make amends. Pick up the phone when I call you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Nice to meet you, Willow. Maybe we figure out another day for tutoring?”
Good gravy, I could get very used to the deliberately sexy way that Aaron says my name. It sounds way better than Freak calling me that lame nickname of Teach.
“Um, sure, I’ll have the tutoring center email you with a new date.”
I can’t keep my eyes off of Aaron as he exits the restaurant, and I only snap out of it when Freak thumps his palm against the table three times in a row.
“Teach!”
“Oh my God, stop scaring me by slamming your hand on the table like that.”
“I needed to get your attention. You’re still sitting at this table, but your ovaries just walked out the door with my cousin. He’s got ‘em in his pocket.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?”
“You were practically stuttering when you spoke to him. Um, sure,” he tries mimicking me with a ridiculously high voice.
“You’re so juvenile.” I roll my eyes.
“And those puppy dog eyes you were flashing him? I think it’s pretty obvious you want to give him some pussy, don’t you?”
