“Pretty much. Pick some more food.” He hands me the tablet.
I pick three dishes that look interesting. Auggie has already chosen his, so I hit the order button. I finish the vegetable tempura while we wait for more food to arrive.
“I’ll plan a meal anyway. Let me know if you want to eat with us. It’s cool if you don’t.”
“I do.”
Why would I want to miss out on amazing food and good company? The more I get to know Auggie, the more I like him. It’s easy to understand why Em has fallen for him. Whoever was texting him last night is an idiot for not seeing how great Auggie is.
“More food.” Auggie rubs his hands together. “We should try each other’s dishes.”
“Okay. I’m up for that. Unless there’s raw fish involved. That’s my line in the sand.”
“Noted. No raw fish when I cook for you and Emory.” He uses chopsticks to pick up a prawn and then leans across the table. “Open wide.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. Open wide.”
I do, and he feeds me the prawn. It feels more couply than it has any right to.
“You should bring Em here.”
“I will. I was thinking of taking him bowling this evening. He likes bowling, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, but he’s not very good at it.”
“Being crap at it is half the fun. I have to have the guard rails up.”
“Really?”
“Yup. If I don’t, every single ball will end up in the gutter, so Em will be in good company.”
“You’ll have a great time.” I push my plate of teriyaki beef towards him.
He takes a piece with his chopsticks and eats it. “This is good. I’m adding this to my list of dishes to learn how to cook.”
“You’re going to have a long list by the time we leave here.”
“I’m sure you and Emory will have fun trying them. Eat up, and then we can order more. We have a thirty-dish limit. Each. And I want to reach it.”
I widen my eyes. “No way are we going to be able to eat thirty dishes each.”
“Between us? And they all have to be different.”
I bob my head from side to side. “Yeah, I’m up for that challenge.”
“Great. Game on.”
We talk, laugh, and eat until our table time is up. My chest has a bubbly lightness, and I can’t stop smiling.
Afterwards, we go to a card shop and find a gift box big enough for all Em’s presents. We also get wrapping paper and a card, which we sign.
“Should I take everything back to mine?” Auggie asks as we reach the bus station.
A quick check of the arrivals board tells me we’ll have a ten-minute wait before one of us can catch a bus.
“That would be best. I wouldn’t have anywhere to hide this much stuff.”
