“Mmm, I’ll take an order of those then with whatever sides they come with and another half and half.”
“Sure thing.”
“And my friend here will have the same.”
“You shouldn’t order for other people,” I tell him. “I don’t eat pork and I’m not staying for lunch, anyway.”
“What do you have against pork? Is eating it against your religion or something?”
“No, I just don’t eat it. Never liked it.”
“Wait, so you don’t like bacon? I don’t trust a woman who doesn’t eat bacon. Do you like bacon, Penny?”
I look up at our server who has stars in her eyes and seems to be enjoying the banter between Freak and I.
“I love bacon,” she gushes.
“See!” Freak replies with exuberance.
I inwardly roll my eyes.
Of course she does.
I scoot back into the corner and resolve myself to see this lunch through, because it’s obvious I’m not going to be able to get rid of this guy by simply asking. I’d have to make a scene and I’m not doing that. Plus, I don’t know, there’s something about sparring with this ball player that’s kind of… fun.
“I’ll take a grilled cheese and fries, please,” I tell Penny.
“Anything else to drink besides the lemonade and iced tea mix?” she asks.
“Actually, I don’t drink that. I’ll take an unsweetened iced tea.”
“Sure.”
“Thanks, Penny,” Freak says, flashing her a smile that seems to make her day. After he hands her back both of our menus, he turns his focus back to me.
“So how can I persuade you to tutor me?” He smiles and I notice a small dimple in that hard angular jaw of his. “I’m determined to make this work.”
“You can’t make this work.”
“I rarely take no for an answer.”
“You’ll have to this time.”
“I’m thinking this has something to do with Aaron?”
I keep my game face on, but internally I freak out. I’ve never admitted to anyone besides my roommate Kia that I actually like Aaron.
“It didn’t. I mean, it doesn’t. I don’t even know him.”
Freak stares silently at me for a long moment, then a wide grin spreads across his face.
“But you want to get to know him, right?”
“What are you suggesting?”
“You’re wearing that cute dress and you’re worried about your hair,” he says, as if he’s cleverly pieced together some sort of cozy mystery. “Finally, we’re getting somewhere. So that’s your thing. You want a piece of Aaron?”
I let out a perfectly timed sneeze.
