The guy they were calling Chalupa slid around the largest one and was holding a Sonic the Hedgehog toy he’d won from the claw machine in the waiting area.
Rocky wiped her hands on a towel and raced to the register to greet “the boys.” I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to follow her or not, so I just stood where I was.
It was like watching some reality TV show. Rocky practically sashayed over to the men, and was laughing and touching their arms as she walked them back to a large table. Sure enough, the Chalupa guy grabbed her ass and instead of kneeing him in the balls like I would have, Rocky just giggled.
“It’s pretty disgusting, isn’t it?” Julie said from behind me.
“It’s...different.” I didn’t want to badmouth anyone on my first day.
“Can you take this pie to table 12? Put a scoop of ice cream on it first. I have to take my fifteen.” She handed me a warm plate of apple pie.
“Which table is that?” I asked, looking around.
“The one with the guy who is staring at you like you’re his next meal.” She nodded to the side and, I’m not kidding, time literally stopped.
It was like one of those movies where everything slows down. I could hear Rocky laughing and the clinking of glasses. There was the sizzle of the grill and the smell of the pie in my hand. But the entire universe narrowed down to table 12 and the guy who was staring right at me from across the room.
It was the craziest thing, but I felt like I knew him. Not in the “don’t I know you from somewhere” kind of way. But like “knew him” on a soul level. My mom was super into past lives and shit and I’d always laughed at her for it. Looking at this guy, though, I had to wonder. Why did he seem so familiar?
“Paige? The ice cream is over there.” Julie pointed to the freezer. “You good?”
“What? Oh yeah.” I came back to reality and time moved back to its normal pace again. “Go ahead. Take your break.”
“Okay. Be back in fifteen.”
I was aware of him watching me as I scooped out the ice cream and placed them on the pie. I grabbed the can of whipped cream and headed over to table 12.
The hairs on my skin stood up as his gaze went up and down my body as I walked toward them. It was the strangest feeling—as if I were being drawn into a black hole by some magnetic force.
I got to the table and managed to set the plate of pie down. He was still looking at me with those black eyes, and the girl he was with was looking back and forth between us with a disgusted look on her face. “Ew. Ryder. Stop looking at her like that.”
Ryder cleared his throat and looked away. “The pie’s for her,” he said, motioning to the girl.
“You want whipped cream?” I asked, surprised that my voice sounded normal.
“Yeah. Lots.”
I was looking at Ryder while spraying the whipped cream on the pie. I guess I must have been distracted by those long eyelashes or those full lips that looked like he’d been eating cherries. Or maybe it was the tiny scar under his left eye. Whatever it was, I was obviously not paying attention because the girl said, “Uhhh…that’s good?”
I looked at her plate and burst out laughing. I’d put so much whipped cream on that you couldn’t even see the pie anymore. It was literally just a mound of whipped cream.
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” I said, embarrassed. “It’s my first day. Do you want me to get you another one?”
Ryder spoke and his deep voice took me by surprise. I wondered if he was a singer, because that baritone sound would be incredible in a church choir. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who went to church, though.
“There’s no such thing as too much cream.” As soon as he said that, my pussy felt like it had been zapped by an electrical shock.
“Okay, y’all are gross.” The girl slid out of the booth. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom while you old people finish this flirting thing you’re doing and then I’m gonna come back here and eat my pie.”
As she walked away, Rocky came up behind me. “Is everything okay here?” She spied the plate of whipped cream and leaned over to grab it. Ryder’s eyes never left me.
“We’re fine, Rocky. Leave the pie. She is coming right back.” He practically barked the command at her, and she just sort of slunk away.
“Come on, Paige,” Rocky said over her shoulder. “Let me show you the freezer in the back.”
The heat coming off my body was so intense that a little time in the freezer was a really good idea.
“Nice to meet you, Paige,” Ryder said. “It’s good to have a fresh face around here.”
