My thoughts get interrupted by another round of clapping, and I realize Logan has wrapped up the song. He gives a small wave to the restaurant patrons and staff before he heads back towards me.
“Sorry about that,” he says as he slides into his side of the booth. He immediately takes a sip of his beer. “I always play for the gang when I come here, so I guess they have expectations now. Even when I’m with someone.” He looks at me sheepishly.
I try to forget how mesmerized his piano skills just made me feel and take a big gulp of my drink. It’s just Logan. Of course he’s good at the piano. He was always the best at everything.
But I can see from the way he’s looking at me that he knows something’s wrong. And it doesn’t take him a long time to speak up. “You sure you’re okay?”
I take a deep breath, trying to make it appear normal. “Yeah, yeah! I’m just hungry. And I enjoyed your little show there.” And then, because I’ve just got to ask and I can’t help myself: “How did you know aboutAll of Me?” Realizing how that sounded out loud, I immediately add, “The song, I mean. Not, like all of ‘me’ me.” I gesture to my body to drive the point home, then internally cringe at the way I’m acting.Shut up, Avery.
Logan goes red again and starts chewing the inside of his cheek. Even after all this time apart, he still has the same little quirks and habits. It’s the same thing as when you notice a father and son side-by-side who move in an eerily similar pattern and have nearly identical mannerisms.
“Yeah, I was wondering if I was going to get away with that,” he replies, just as Judith comes swooping in with what looks like the most delicious shrimp pesto pasta I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“Holy …” I take it all in, staring at the plate with hunger. But then I remember not to get distracted and look back at Logan, who has the same plate set in front of him. “And nope, you’re not getting away with it. Even food won’t distract me from the obvious fact that you somehow know my favourite song.”
He chuckles and grabs his fork to dig in. “It’s funny. You still stare at food the exact same way you used to.”
I point at him with my fork, feigning annoyance. “Don’t you change the subject, sir!”
“Okay, okay.” He takes a bite and slowly chews before continuing. He’s doing it on purpose; he obviously finds this hilarious. “So, when I got the idea to take you here, I went digging a bit on Instagram and saw you mention this was your favourite song.”
“Yeah. I did. In a post from, like, three years ago.” I shoot him a coy smile.
“Yup. I know.” He shrugs and grabs another bite. “But I was determined to figure it out.”
I try not to let myself feel warm and fuzzy at the fact that he likely spent close to an hour, if not more, trying to find my favourite song just so he could perform it in front of me later. There’s so much to appreciate about this man. To distract myself, I finally grab a bite of the scrumptious-looking meal right in front of me.
My eyes go wide. “Oh. My. God.” I look down at my bowl, then back at Logan. “This has got to be the best shrimp dish I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” He smiles with pride. “Pretty much everything here is good, but this one tops it. And the worst thing is, tourists miss out. This place isn’t by the water, and it doesn’t look like much from the outside, and from what the staff here has told me, tourists who do come hardly ever try the pasta. They go for the steaks and ribs.”
We keep chatting as we’re each enjoying this amazing meal at the same time. The conversation comes easy, like breathing, and for this vignette of a moment, I feel how I felt when Logan played piano earlier.
Weightless. At peace. Like everything is going to be okay.
Before I know it, we’ve both finished our meal, Judith has whisked our plates away, and we’ve each got a check in front of us. But Logan frowns, then grabs Judith’s wrist before she can leave.
“What’s up, honey?” she asks, not at all jolted by Logan grabbing her. He really must be a regular.
“Can we actually get just one check, please?” I try to interject, but he raises his hand to interrupt me. “Don’t even try. I invited you, so obviously I’m paying. Also, you don’t need any more anxiety about extra bills to pay, so this is happening, and don’t you dare try to fight me on this one.”
I stay quiet and squeeze my lips together. He’s got a point. I’m all for equality and splitting the bill. But I’m not the type of person who’ll throw a hissy fit if you try to pay the bill for me, either.
I just hate how much this makes it seem even more like a date.
Because it’s clearlynota date.
“Thank you,” I reply. Then I squint my eyes at him. “But I’ll get you back. Somehow. When I land my next contract or something.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”
We finish up and get ready to leave. But I’m not ready for the evening to end. Evidently, neither is Logan, because as soon as we’re both in his car he shoots me an intriguing look. “Wanna see something cool?”
I can’t help but notice how close our faces are in this car. The air feels taut, like someone’s holding an elastic around our two bodies and it’s about to snap and pull us closer. I blink several times and try to get my breath in order. “Depends what it is, because it sounds like you’re planning to take me to your murder spot near the woods or something.”
He laughs, and his laughter infects me. “Nah, I’d never show you my murder spot. I wouldn’t want you stealing it and getting us both caught with your sloppy amateur work.”
My hand shoots to my chest as I feign indignation. “I’m nothing if not a pure professional! How dare you question my skills?”
