“Yes. I thought maybe if you were consciously aware of it, you could do something about it.”
He didn’t want to do anything about it. He was perfectly happy being miserable all the time. The whole situation could have been funny. It could have even been cute, but as she pointed out, he was grumpy, thus it was just irritating. He wasn’t going to take advice, emotional or otherwise, from someone who probably hadn’t experienced anything of substance in her entire sheltered existence.
With a quick shake of his head, he reached for the chocolate sauce, covering his ice cream until he couldn’t see a spot of white.
“That’s a lot of chocolate sauce,” she said.
“You can never have too much chocolate sauce.”
He said it without thinking. Over the years, so many people had commented on the amount of chocolate sauce he and Perry consumed that now it was a standard response. It had been their favorite dessert, their favorite anytime meal, really, and eating it without him was both comforting and excruciating at the same time.
“So I saw you checking out Bella,” Jasmin said, wagging her eyebrows at him.
He thought she’d been too engrossed in her biology lesson to notice, but this really wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with her. Remaining silent, he dug into his ice cream.
“I thought you had a girlfriend, but whatever happens on the road trip stays on the road trip. Amiright? Huh?” She wagged her eyebrows at him again. “Huh? I could be your wing-man. Chat her up for you, ask her if she’s single.”
If he had a girlfriend, he certainly wouldn’t be gawking at another woman. He didn’t know what made her believe he did, but he felt no need to correct her. He did, however, need her to get that stupid idea out of her head. Bella was cute, but that didn’t mean he wanted tochat her up. He was merely appreciating the view.
“I don’t need a wing-man,” he stated firmly.
Without asking, she reached over the table, scooped a dollop of his ice cream and smeared it over her waffle. She had absolutely no social etiquette and he had to bite his tongue to not make a comment about it.
“Oh, wow,” she said, taking a bite. “I see why you like the chocolate sauce so much and it tastes amazing with these waffles.” She reached over again and took a bigger spoonful from his bowl. “This has just become my new favorite thing to eat. I love it!”
Bella came back to the table. “Can I get you guys anything else?”
“No, we’re fine,” Jasmin replied with a wide smile. “Bella, do you have five minutes to chat with us? We’re not from around here and we just want to find out a few things.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Well, firstly, is it safe here?”
Bella shrugged flippantly. “I guess. I mean, it’s a city. There’s crime in every city, but I haven’t had any trouble. I walk home every night after my shift and it’s been fine for me.”
“Oh, so youwalkhome?” Jasmin gave him a smug smile before turning back to Bella. “And you’re a girl, right?”
“You’re a jackass,” Kevin said. He looked up at Bella and noticed the confused expression on her face. “Don’t mind her. She’s just trying to prove a point.”
“What time does your shift end?” Jasmin asked, but it didn’t sound like she was genuinely interested in the answer.
“Midnight.”
“Shame. It sounds like a strenuous job. So, Bella…don’t you think Kevin is super-hot?”
Kevin kicked her shoe under the table to discreetly let her know that he didnotneed a wing-man.
Bella’s cheeks turned pink and he smiled at her apologetically. “You don’t have to answer that.”
“Well, you are…you are pretty hot.”
Another smug smile was thrown in his direction. “See, Kevin? It’s not just me.”
“Two opinions don’t make it a fact,” he pointed out.
The situation was becoming unbearably uncomfortable and the only person who didn’t feel an ounce of embarrassment was Jasmin. She really didn’t see anything wrong with her behavior.
“Are you single?” Jasmin asked and that’s when he decided he’d had enough.
