“Yeah, and I remember you crying when you didn’t get it,” Tegan teased.
“We were five, Tegan Marie,” he said, slamming his hands down on the table.
“Tegan Marie?” I asked, amusement in my voice. Another tidbit about her I’d file away, hoarding them like I was a dragon and Tegan was the gold.
“Mhm,” Declan said. “Tegan Marie Rollins.”
“It’s a family name,” Tegan insisted. “What’s your middle name?” she asked me.
Oh man. I set myself up for that one.
“Eros. My dad’s side of the family is really into Greek mythology.”
“Atlas Eros Oberon,” Tegan said. I liked the way my name sounded rolling off her tongue. “I like it.”
Declan nodded. “Very Greek god–like.”
“Mmm. The god of love,” Selene said. She stared at me and Tegan, a smile spreading over her face. “Fitting.”
I’d never really found it fitting. Certainly not after a miserable fourteen-year relationship, but maybe the tides were turning.
“All right, what’s everyone eating?” Declan asked. He pulled a notepad and a pen out of his pocket and set them on the table. “Your usual?” he asked Selene and Tegan.
“Yep,” they answered in unison.
He scribbled their orders down on his notepad from memory. They must eat a lot of meals here together. It was comforting to see how close the three of them were. It meant that friendships were important to Tegan, and I hoped she’d be open to meeting my friends after this.
“Can you pass Atlas a menu, Tegs?” Declan asked.
“Oh yeah.” Tegan reached behind the condiment caddy, passing me a sticky laminated menu. Alongmenu.
I looked the list of dishes up and down, front to back. Strawberry milkshakes. Beer-battered onion rings.Bacon double cheeseburgers.
Everything sounded so good.
But—I needed to stick to my meal plan.
“Um, could I just get two grilled chicken breasts with a side of brown rice?” I said, with every bit of willpower I could muster.
Declan reared back, wrinkling his nose. “You sure about that?”
“The food here is really good,” Selene reassured me, like it might make me change my mind.
Tegan looked at me knowingly, but didn’t say a word.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’m sure.”
“Okay, then,” Dec said. He slipped out of the booth and disappeared inside the kitchen, returning a second later. “Carl is back there tonight. He’ll have our food out next.”
“Dec! It’s packed in here tonight,” Selene said, glancing at the bustling diner around us.
He shrugged. “So?”
“Shouldn’t you take care of the paying customers first?” she asked.
He waved her off, noticeably unbothered. “They’re fine. It’s not like they’re going to take their business elsewhere.”
Selene rolled her eyes, then shifted her attention to me and Tegan. She put her elbows on the table, leaning in to ask, “So what did you two get up to today?”
