An amused look passes between Luke and Braidy.
"Who is Manu?" Braidy asks.
"When Toni and I were younger, we used to pretend that our boat was being cleaned by our boat chauffer, Manu. I don't even know if there is such a thing as a boat chauffeur, but that was our lie for why we didn’t have a boat docked here."
"You guys have known each other for a while then?" Luke asks.
Toni laughs. "She's like an addiction."
As we pass by the bar, Gypsy's, Toni persuades us to go inside. It can be pretty rough in here at times, but then again, we are with two of the District's finest. And the food is always good, huge selection too.
When our meals arrive, Luke stares at my plate. "Wow, I've never seen a girl order that much food."
Toni tsks. "My friend, you never mention what a girl orders. How many dates have you been on?"
My eyes narrow at Toni and they inaudibly scream, 'This is not a date!'
Grinning at Luke, I give him my attention. "Eating is like my third favourite pastime." I pause, thinking on it. "Fourth favourite. Dancing. Fireworks. Arcade games. Eating."
"Do you want to hear mine?" Luke asks, focusing his attention on me as Braidy whispers something in Toni's ear and they both chuckle. We twist even further to face each other. Our knees touch, but I don't mind.
I take a sip of red wine and focus on Luke's crooked canine. "Yeah. Shoot."
"Movies, cricket, playing guitar, and sleeping. Although, I'd say sleeping can creep its way up to number one undercertain circumstances." Luke grins at me. "And I think it's great you eat. I love food."
Using my fork to point at his plate, I ask, "Then why did you order a tuna salad?"
He glances at Braidy and then back at me, searching for words. "Trying to be healthy?"
"You don't sound sure." I giggle.
Toni plays footsies with me under the table. "You don’t make friends with healthy."
I laugh and dunk my potato in sour cream. "Toni's allergic to healthy."
"Isn't it, you don’t make friends with salad?" Luke points out.
"Is it?" Toni curls his lips in contemplation. "All these years.Hmm."
I begin to really enjoy the wine and find myself signalling the waitress for another... And another. Luke's crooked canine gets cuter and cuter with every sip. He pushes his blond hair back from his face and finishes his fifth pint before asking for the check.
He goes to pay, but I object. "No. I can pay for myself."
There is this grin playing on his lips now. "Seriously, Cassidy. Let me pay for you."
When he says my name, I think of Max, just for a second. Because Max never says my name. He calls me 'Little One'. And I'm still not sure if that's a term of endearment or if he's being patronising, but I like it anyway.
I shake my head. "No. I don't feel comfortable with that."
His eyes search my face, measuring me up. Perhaps wondering if I'm being serious or testing him, which is so not in my nature to do. "I'm serious," I press. "I work really hard and have my own money."
"Hmm." He nods in agreement. "How about we rockpaper scissors for it? I win, I pay. You win, you can pay for yourself."
I smile. "I love that idea."
We both put our fists in and count, "One. Two. Three!"
My fist flattens into paper,and he throws two fingers out, making scissors.
