I drop my eyes to the menu. I haven’t needed to look at it for years, but it’s the perfect distraction as I mumble, “We’re doing this together. If you can’t drink, then neither will I.”
She stares at me, her mouth opening and closing, but no words come out.
“What?” I ask. “I’m not actually an asshole.”
She shakes her head. “I never said you were.”
“Really? I’m pretty sure you have at some point.”
Her smile starts slow, but it quickly grows.
Damn, she’s pretty. When she smiles, it makes her eyes twinkle with happiness. It’s the kind I always strive to feel but can never quite reach.
I mean, maybe I would have felt it if I didn’t fuck up our final game. Maybe if I’d had a chance to lift that cup …
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m guessing it won’t be the last time either.”
“Whoa.”
She laughs. The sound is so light it makes my shoulders relax.
There is something about being in her company that just makes me feel better.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” she demands.
“I might be an asshole, but I’m not stupid. You’re right.”
“Of course, I’m always right.”
Our drinks arrive a few seconds later, and when Diego asks Bea what she’d like to eat, I realize that I haven’t given her a chance to even glance at the menu.
“Uh…” She hesitates, quickly scanning the page in front of her. But no sooner has she started than she stops and looks up at me. “What should I order?”
“Whatever you want. It’s all amazing.”
She nods, but she doesn’t look back down.
“You choose,” she says, pushing the menu away. “I trust you.”
Her words hit me like a puck to the chest.
She…trusts me?
Why?
This is the third time I’ve met her, and all I’ve done so far is fuck up her life and disappoint her.
“Are you sure?” I ask. I know it’s only food, but it feels like a big deal.
“I wouldn’t say it if I weren’t.”
I nod before drumming my fingers against the tabletop and rattling off an order that is way too much for the two of us, but I can’t help it. My need to please her is too strong.
Diego takes it all in his stride, although I don’t miss the couple of side glances he shoots my way.
Yeah, I get it. I don’t bring women here. Hell, I don’t bring women anywhere other than a hotel room. I’m more than aware that this is way, way out of my comfort zone. But as weird as it is, sitting across from Bea feels…right.
She’s barely more than a stranger despite the fact that she literally has some of my DNA inside her, but I’m more relaxed right now than I have been in quite some time.
