Anna gasps. “Oh! That burger place we love! Doesn’t a greasy burger sound amazing right now?”
“Oh-em-gee… yes,” Miranda groans.
Twenty minutes later—after a quick pit stop to pick up the Oscar—we’re crammed into a red vinyl booth at a classic Hollywood burger joint that looks like it hasn’t changed since the fifties. Neon lights hum in the windows, and the smell of grilled meat and fries is nothing short of divine.
Anna’s Oscar sits in the middle of the table between a basket of fries and a half-empty bottle of ketchup.
“Is it weird that we have a golden trophy sitting on the table?” Jaden asks.
I can’t help but laugh. The pit stop to retrieve the award was definitely sponsored by alcohol.
Anna smirks, popping a fry into her mouth. “She deserves a little people time.”
“She?” I ask.
“Yes, she,” Anna quips.
“Babe,” Jaden chimes in, “the statue is a guy.”
Anna shakes her head. “No, it’s not. It’s androgynous. The gender is open to interpretation, and I say she’s a girl. Right, Miranda?”
Miranda closes her mouth around a french fry. “Oh, um… You know what? You won the award, so I say you can call it whatever you want.”
“But you agree that it could easily be female, just as it could be male?” Anna presses.
“Oh, absolutely,” Miranda answers, and while Anna is a little too tipsy to hear the amusement in Miranda’s voice, I hear it loud and clear.
I nudge Miranda’s side, and she turns to me, smiling.
Miranda leans her head on my shoulder, laughing softly. “So where are you going to keep her?” she asks.
Anna looks to Jaden. “I don’t know. What do you think, babe? The kitchen? Or the table in the front foyer so she can greet our guests?”
Jaden shakes his head with a laugh. “Whatever you want, babe.”
“I’d suggest somewhere safe. You don’t want her to get hurt,” I offer.
Anna bites her lip and nods. “True. We do hang around a lot of rowdy guys. I can see someone knocking her off the table. Yeah, maybe a less trafficked area, like the study, would be best.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Miranda says, taking a sip of her chocolate milkshake. “Plus, she can change locations whenever you want.”
“That’s true,” Anna says in all seriousness, as if our current conversation isn’t trivial.
I glance down at Miranda—her hair slightly mussed, her makeup smudged, her smile loose and genuine—and a pressure builds in my chest. I circle my arm around her shoulders and pull her into my side. She gives me a sweet smile, and all I can think is how badly I want to protect this woman with everything I am.
The girls’ restaurant suggestion is a hit. I’ve eaten many burgers in my life, but this one might be the best. We eat until our bellies are full and the yawns outnumber coherent conversation. I can’t keep a straight face when Anna announces that Lady Oscar is calling it a night.
“Hey,” she says, furrowing her brow and pointing an unsteady finger my way. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not.” I shrug. “I’m laughingwithyou, of course.”
My answer seems to placate her. She snatches the Oscar off the table and scoots out of the booth. Miranda slides her arm through the crook of mine, and we make our way outside.
The girls are a bit more intoxicated than Jaden and I. While I don’t love that Miranda probably drank more than usual to forget about her run-in with her past, I do like the way she’s let her guard down and allows me to take care of her.
Back at the hotel, we share hugs and goodnights in the lobby. Jaden and Anna head upstairs first, her Oscar tucked safely under her arm.
Miranda sways slightly as she turns to me. “That burger might’ve been the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
