I smile up at him. “Yes, can I please have the chicken fettuccine Alfredo?”
Ben nods. “That sounds good. I’ll have the same.”
He scribbles it down.
“Hey, can we get some shots?” He turns to me. “Do you like tequila or vodka?”
Shots? On a first date?
Maybe he’s just THAT nervous …
“Um, I’m good with whatever.”
My nerves are spiking now. Maybe this was a mistake. He seemed so sweet during the lake weekend, but I was also somewhat using him to distract myself from obsessing over Sam and embarrassing myself again.
Now that we’re here on a date, I’m questioning my decision. I reach for a breadstick, tearing it in half and stuffing one side into my mouth.
Ben turns to the waiter. “We’ll take two tequila shots with limes.”
The waiter nods and turns to leave. I look around, considering faking an illness to get out of having to do the shot.
What was I thinking?
“So, tell me about your book. You said it was fantasy? Is that likeLord of the Rings?”
I finish chewing and swallow, impressed that he remembers I was reading a book on my e-reader at Sam’s lake house. “It’s more like romantasy. The main plot is a fantasy, but it has a heavy romance plot as well. It’s a five-book series, and I’m finishing up book four. It’s so good.”
“What’s it about? Is there magic?”
Okay, bonus points for asking me about my book. Maybe I need to give him a chance. A man who actually has interest in me is better than one who pretends I don’t exist.
“It’s about this girl who was born into a human world, but later finds out her parents were a high fae and a witch. They casta spell on her to mask her abilities until she turned twenty-five. Then, right before her twenty-fifth birthday?—”
The waiter returns with our shots and limes and sets them on the table.
“Why did they want her to be raised in the human world?” he asks. He doesn’t reach for the shots.
“Because there was a prophecy that their firstborn would be sacrificed to the dragon in the high mountain before her twenty-fifth, but then she gets ripped into the universe she’s actually from by this mercenary who was contracted to deliver her to the fae king. And he’s hot—super hot.”
He laughs, shaking his head as he reaches for the shot. “Man, that actually sounds really good. Okay, let’s cheers to finding out how the hell she’s going to avoid fulfilling the prophecy and becoming a dragon appetizer.”
Liquid courage—that’s all he needs. It’s just one.
I grab for the shot and the lime. He clinks his glass to mine, and I down it before sucking on the lime to mask the bitterness.
“Damn, girl, you take shots like a champ. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me with four older brothers.”
I grin at him before a commotion at the front of the restaurant steals my attention. I turn to see Duke and Sam barreling toward us, both of their faces twisted with rage.
What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks …
I don’t even have time to process what the hell could possibly be wrong before they reach our table. Duke grabs a chair from a nearby empty table and drags it over to our tiny round one and gestures for Sam to sit in it.
My mouth forms an O, words failing me as Sam plops down in it and grabs a breadstick. He grins at me, but it doesn’t make it to his ocean-colored eyes.
“What’s up, Dollface? Sorry we’re late.” He’s clearly pissed, his jaw ticcing and eyes glaring at me before shifting to Ben.
Duke grabs another chair, shoving it between Sam and Ben before he sits and does the exact same. “Ah, my favorite—garlic breadsticks.”
