My fork clattered onto my plate, and I laughed harder than I had in years. “The look on your face. Jesus, that was priceless.”
“You little shit. How in the hell did you eat those things with a straight face?” Sebastian was still taking sips of his juice, swishing it around to get the grits out of his mouth.
“I’m used to them, don’t you remember? But I was wondering what you’d do when you tasted them. Believe me. It was worth it.”
“That was mean, mate. I’ll have to think of a punishment for that.”
My ass clenched, and I got a surprising chill up my spine. A punishment from this man would be worth it, no matter what it was.
“Oh, you like the idea, don’t you?”
I made a production of pouring the syrup on my pecan waffle while I plastered my most innocent look on my face and answered. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Riiight, Josiah. I don’t believe that for one minute. I’ll let it slide for now.”
“Much appreciated, kind sir.” I checked the weather app on my phone and got a little concerned about how fast the weather was moving east. “We need to finish up and get on the road. This storm is moving faster than I thought.”
“Sure, I’m almost done. We can get on the road whenever you’re ready.”
We split the check, and after paying mine, I ran to the bathroom while Sebastian paid his bill. When we walked out, the temperature had dropped even lower now, and the skies had turned heavy and gray. The faster we could get Sebastian to his destination, the better at this point.
I was just about to get in the car when I tripped on the curb and nearly did a faceplant in the parking lot. I managed to save myself by grabbing the hood of the car, but my shoe wasn’t so lucky. The way I’d fallen had made the entire sole on my shoe come apart, leaving it to flap when I tried to walk to the car.
Great.
“Damn, Josiah, are you okay?” Sebastian came around the hood and put his hand on my shoulder to steady me.
“Yeah, I’m okay, but I need to get another pair of shoes out of the back, these are ruined.”
“You need any help? I can get ’em for you.”
I waved him off. “Nah, It’s fine. I’ll get it. Just get settled, I won’t be a minute.”
Sebastian went to the passenger seat, and I stumbled to the back itto get to my suitcase. I opened it up and rummaged around to get my dress loafers out, but they weren’t there. I took everything out and still they weren’t there. The only other shoes I had were my slippers. But not just any slippers, oh no. These were my pink sequin faux fur-lined moccasins that Presley had given me for Christmas. They were slippers, so I didn’t think anyone but me would ever see them. But,fuck me, I was going to have to wear them in front of Sebastian.
It couldn’t be helped, so I took my ruined shoes off and slipped into the hot pink slippers, then closed the back and got behind the wheel. I was waiting for him to say something and didn’t have long to wait.
“Are you wearing pink sparkly slippers?”
I gritted my teeth together and answered sharply, “Yes.”
“That’s awesome. Where did you get them?”
Wait. What?
“What? You like them?”
“I love ’em! I want a pair. Do you think they come in my size? My feet are kinda big.”
I mumbled under my breath, “Mmm, yeah, I don’t doubt that.” Then a little louder, I answered his question, “They were a gift, but I can ask Presley where he got them.”
“That would be great. I wonder if they have purple.”
This whole conversation seemed weird, but it was nice to be talking to him and not have it be awkward. It was kind of nice. He was nice. As I pulled back onto the highway, that was my last thought before everything started to go south.
“What the hell are you listening to? Can we find some music that’s not this pop shit?”
“This is my road trip playlist, and it’s not all pop. There’s some rock on here, too.”
