“I have photos from my last trips to Coldstream,” Peter said, oblivious to our exchange.
And this was when the longest ten minutes of my life commenced. I didn’t know there were so many angles you could take a photo of your bike. I chugged my wine and signaled for another glass. I’d need it to get through the rest of this date.
It was a sure bet that I’d not be going on another one. When the waitress came back with my wine and the dessert, I nearly groaned in relief. But I had better manners than that, and instead I only let out a little sigh.
Sebastian chuckled next to me, and I elbowed him when I turned around. He grunted but didn’t comment.
Peter pushed the lemon pie to the middle of the table, cutting a piece off with his fork. I crinkled my nose at the smell. I just felt like lemon should stick to what it was good at, like lemonade.
Sebastian pushed his plate in front of me with one hand, his attention on his phone. Peter didn’t notice I wasn’t eating the tart, too engrossed in scarfing it down himself.
Never one to pass on anything to do with chocolate, I stuck my fork—or rather Sebastian’s fork—into the cake and took a huge chunk out of it. As soon as the sweet taste of heaven hit my mouth, I groaned. The velvety cake melted on my tongue, and my mouth experienced chocolate overload.
I chanced a look at Sebastian to see if he would demand the return of his cake, but he was still engrossed in his phone.
I finished the treat in a few minutes, wishing there was more. I vowed to make a trip to Sweet Dreams soon for their chocolate cupcakes.
“Did you like the lemon pie?” Peter asked, not realizing he’d finished the whole piece off by himself.
“It was great,” I said, licking the remnants of chocolate off my fork.
We’d finished dinner, and I was busy chugging wine when Peter turned back to Sebastian. He’d been trying to engage him in conversation all night, but since my chaperone only gave one-word answers, all his endeavors so far had failed.
“You gonna follow us home to my place?” Peter asked.
My head snapped around. “Your place?”
“Unless you want to go to yours,” he said. “But my house is kid free at the moment.”
Is he delusional?
“That’s okay. I’d rather just go home. I’m really tired,” I said.
I got up and opened my bag, pulling out what I guessed would cover mine and Sebastian’s bill. I put the money on the table.
“Hopefully this will be enough for dinner,” I said, hoping future run-ins at preschool wouldn’t be awkward.
Sebastian picked my money up and handed it back to me. I automatically took it and watched him get out a stack of bills and throw them on the table.
Peter stared at us with a frown. But at least he was smart enough not to say anything. Sebastian put his hand on my lower back, and we walked out of the restaurant in silence.
Once I burst through the doors, I took a deep inhale. Sebastian dropped his hand and turned in my direction.
I put up a hand, not in the mood to talk about what just happened. “Not a word. I just want to go home.”
For once he didn’t argue and instead nodded before we got on his bike and rode home.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I didn’t bite him, I only squeezed him with my teeth,” Luca said, his little face scrunched up.
“We don’t bite other people,” I explained, watching his expressive eyes. He wasn’t sorry at all, and I didn’t know how to make him understand that what he did was wrong.
“But Karl said you’re a stippster. And I said you’re not. And then he pushed me. He’s stupid.”
“Don’t call him stupid. And what’s a stippster?”
Luca looked at me earnestly and folded his hands on his lap. He was sitting next to me on the front step of our house. Lena was playing with her dolls on the porch, giving us a rare moment to talk.
