The edges of his eyes wrinkled as he grinned. He brushed a napkin across his mouth, his pink lips briefly turning crimson from the motion.
“Talking shit about a dish because it’s different, huh?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s a little culturally insensitive, don’t you think?”
“Ha.” I pointed at him across the table. “Actually, the pizza you call Hawaiian has nothing to do with Hawaiian people or culture. A dude in Canada created it. He was Greek, and he was inspired by Chinese dishes.”
Don gave me a sideways glance. “You’re lying.”
I pulled out my phone, typed “Hawaiian pizza” into the browser, and handed him my phone. “Wikipedia is your friend.”
He skimmed the contents of the webpage before frowning. “You think you’re having authentic Hawaiian food, and you’re really just being scammed.” He clucked his tongue.
I laughed at the disappointment in his voice. “You couldn’t honestly believe that was authentic.”
“It’s delicious, that’s all I know,” he said, taking the last bite of his first slice.
I shivered and picked up my first slice.
“Now that,” he pointed at my pizza, “is a travesty.”
I swallowed. “What?”
“Peppers, onions, and mushrooms.”
“What’s wrong with it? I like veggie pizza.”
He snorted. “It’s a waste of ancestral grit.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Our ancestors did not fight their way to the top of the food chain to become vegetarians. You’re disrespecting hundreds of thousands of years of evolution with your dinner.”
I snorted and smothered my laugh. “You are crazy. Something is wrong with you.”
I wiped a tear out of my eye and took another bite of my pizza. He chuckled, and we ended up getting lost in an easy banter. It felt familiar, almost like I was experiencing déjà vu.
“That was good,” I said as we finished our plates and rose from the table. “Maybe you do have good taste in food, despite your penchant for pineapples on pizza.”
“Stick with me, baby and you’ll always be on the winning team,” he said as he held the door of the pizzeria open for me.
I chose to ignore his use of the wordbaby.
“Uh, huh,” he said with a shake of his head. “Ladies on the inside.” Don moved around me so that he walked on my left side, closest to the street.
I found my lips lifting at the corners from his chivalrous gesture. Again, I tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t ignore the way my body responded. A shiver raced down my back as we strolled down the street toward Rescue Four. It took a few beats for me to realize Don’s hand rested at the small of my back.
“You’d be a real catch for someone if it weren’t for your poor choices in pizza toppings,” I quipped, needing to get my mind from straying too far down the wrong path.
Don huffed. “I’m a damn good catch now.” I stared me straight in the eye. “You’re going to like it one day.”
Oddly, I didn’t know whether he was talking about pizza or something else.
“Don’t hold your breath. In fact, I’m going to go home and play a boatload of video games to help me wash away the memory of seeing you eat pineapples on pizza.”
“Bullshit, you play video games.”
I stopped short just outside Rescue Fur and turned to him, my mouth agape. “Please do not tell me that because I’m a woman you don’t think I can play video games.”
He didn’t appear the slightest bit offended by my comment. “Not saying women can’t play. I’m sayingyoudon’t.”
