“A salad? Really?”
I nodded. “I like salad. A lot. And fruit.”
Clay made a face, and I smiled for the first time in a while. I got it. I’d heard from Charlie about how Silver didn’t care much for fruits and vegetables. He ate them, but they weren’t his favorite. My absolutely favorite food was fruit. Any and all fruit. Fresh fruit was a real treat, and I didn’t have it often, but I tried to grab a few cans every week if I could swing it.
“All right, a sweet tea for you,” Sally said as she set the drink and then a straw down in front of me. “And a coffee and water for the grump.” She gave Clay a look. “Don’t argue with me either. I saw you scowling at the sweetie here.” Sally looked back at me. “Don’t let him be too grumpy with ya. He and his brothers are all sweethearts, and I know they can all be grouchy at times.”
I sighed. “I asked about the grilled cheese.”
“It’s good,” Sally said. “Not as good as others. Kind of plain. If you’re wanting a sandwich, I really recommend one of the paninis. Or even the cheesesteaks.” She flipped the menu over for me and pointed to them on the back. “My favorite is the bacon triple cheese. All sandwiches come with a cup of soup. Today’s soups are vegetable beef, chicken noodle, or tomato. They also come with a large order of french fries, coleslaw, and a pickle.”
My stomach growled loudly enough for everyone to hear. That all sounded so good.
“He’ll have that. His stomach is saying yes to that.”
He wasn’t wrong. It was. And the meal was only thirteen dollars, but I’d already spent six earlier. I was arguing with myself because I was spending funds that, yeah, technically I had, but I really needed new tires on my car. And it was probably going to need brakes before tires because every so often, they had started squeaking.
“Good choice. And for you?”
“I would love the corned beef. I want to add an order of onion rings, as well as cheese sticks.”
“Got it. I’ll have this all out for you in just a bit.” Sally walked off, leaving me with Clay before I could really say anything.
“If you didn’t already know, I eat a lot. Part of it’s because I’m a shifter, part because of the type. I shift often, and my gorilla burns a lot of energy, and I need to replace it.”
I nodded. “Yeah, so I’m a little red panda. I can shift every so often, but I don’t have a private room. I share it with Mark, and although he doesn’t mind sharing with a shifter, he’s a lion shifter, and my panda doesn’t feel the most comfortable around his lion. I don’t think he’d actually harm me, but try telling that to my panda.”
“Do you not have anywhere else you can shift?”
I shook my head. “Only in my bedroom. I have to do it when I know my roommates aren’t home because Jake and Chris really can’t be trusted. They’re the ones who have signed me up for dating apps on their phones and then started conversations with others that have led to showing up at my jobs. Most of the time, it’s easy enough to explain things, but there have been a few times that some people don’t take it well at all.” I could not only see Clay’s displeasure, but I could actually scent it, which was saying something since we were in a diner with tons of different food scents. “You’re upset.”
Clay took several deep breaths. “Yes, but not at you in any way. Know that, all right?”
I nodded. I desperately wanted to pull out my phone and message Charlie, but it would be rude. I didn’t get a chance to do anything else because Sally came back with a tray loaded with food, and my eyes widened as she set plate after plate of food in front of us.
“You didn’t specify what soup you wanted, sweetie.”
I could only stare at her. “Umm…surprise me?” I didn’t care one way or another. My stomach was growling, and I couldn’t resist.
“You got it,” Sally said before walking off.
“Any of the soups are amazing, so you can’t go wrong with whatever she brings you.” I nodded and looked over at what Clay had. It was obviously the vegetable beef soup. Sally brought back a cup of chicken noodle, and I smiled up at her.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Let me know if the two of you need anything else.”
Clay pushed the onion rings and cheese sticks closer to the middle of the table. “These are for sharing. You’re welcome to eat some, all, or none.”
I smiled and took an onion ring. It had been a while since I’d had them. “Thanks,” I told him. I kept telling myself he was a much larger shifter, and he ate a lot more than I did.
We ate in silence for a bit, and I felt bad for it. I was enjoying the food immensely, and I could understand why Clay and his brothers came here so often. I would certainly work it into my budget, because there were so many other things that I had wanted to try. Once I’d eaten over half of my food and had considerably slowed down, Clay finally started asking questions that I figured were coming.
“Not to be pushy,” he started, “but it sounds like your living situation isn’t the greatest.”
I shrugged. “It’s not great, but it could be worse. I’m saving for a different place, but I know I’m going to need some expensive car maintenance before winter, which will probably eat a lot of my savings.”
Clay held up a finger. “We’ll address the car situation later. First, I’m more worried about the assholes you live with.”
