“Just tired.” I say, wishing I could tell him the truth right now. But I want to tell Andrew first, before anyone else finds out. That just seems like the right thing to do. “Plus napping is awesome.”
“That is a fact,” he says, still looking over the menu. I’ve already decided on a greasy cheeseburger with fries and gravy. Good old-fashioned diner food. “I like to get up early, but I also like to stay up late. The only way to do both is to nap. You probably still have time for a quick nap after this, if we eat fast. You could probably get in a good hour and a half to two hours.”
“I like that you think an hour and a half is a quick nap. I never understood these people who think twenty minutes is a nap. How do you even fall asleep that fast? And who feels rested after such a short time? Sounds like nonsense to me.”
“Right?” Ryder puts his menu down as the server arrives with his coffee. She places a napkin down and then puts his cup on it, but off to the side a little. “You ready?” he asks me.
Ryder and I both place our orders, and he lifts his coffee cup to take a sip. He makes a face before reaching over for the cream and sugar, adding one of each to his cup. I get a closer look at the napkin when he does, and I see the server has written her name and phone number on it. Guess that’s why she put the cup off to the side. Right as I’m debating whether to call Ryder’s attention to it or not, he notices it, too. He smirks and scrunches his eyebrows a little before grabbing the napkin, using it to wipe up the condensation from my milkshake, and then crumpling it up into the little creamer container he used for his coffee.
“That was pretty rude of her,” he says to me when he notices I’ve watched the entire thing. “She doesn’t know that we’re friends and not on a date. Pretty insensitive of her if you ask me.”
That’s so thoughtful. Andrew was once given someone’s phone number, and he put it into his pocket because he ‘didn’t want to hurt her feelings’. Even after hours of arguing, I still could never convince him that my feelings should be more important than a stranger’s.
“I can’t really blame her,” I say. “Have you seen you? I’d be tempted to shoot my shot too.” My face heats at the admission. I just hope the heat doesn’t correspond to visible redness.
“Oh, really?” Ryder’s voice drops dangerously low, taking on a sensual tone not entirely appropriate for a family diner. “You like what you see?”
Flirting; that’s what this is. I’m having someone else’s baby. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I can’t seem to make myself stop. Ryder has been all I’ve ever wanted for so long that even this baby isn’t easily driving those feelings away. A little flirting is pretty harmless, really. Nothing bad can come from it, right?
“Well, I can’t deny that I’m interested in seeing the results of your waxing experiment.” I deflect with a laugh.
He groans, running a hand over his face. “Ugh, it was the worst. I don’t understand how some women do that all the time. I thought I was going to die when the waxer got to the ‘good bits’. That’s the last time I use my body like that to get laughs.”
“You did that to get laughs?” Well it worked, because I’m laughing at him again now. “Does it look funny? Did you get a design or something?” I’m picturing him naked with a little, pink, heart-shaped patch of pubic hair just above his dick and it’s simultaneously disturbing and kind of hot, so my laughs are tinged with a hint of hysteria.
“Haha, very funny,” he deadpans. “I called ahead and had us all booked into the same room. The hilarity was from Becca and Alex witnessing my pain, not from getting myself vajazzled. No wait, that’s for vaginas. What’s it called for a penis? Pejazzled? Peenjazzled? Dickjazzled? Jazzledicked? Whatever.” He waves his hands like he’s trying refocus. “That’s not the point. The point is, I did not get designs or rhinestones anywhere near my junk.”
“Stop, stop! I can’t take it anymore.” I gasp through laughs, hands on my belly again, and tears streaming down my face. “I can’t breathe.”
I’m still laughing a few minutes later when the server brings our food out. My cheeseburger and fries look amazing, but Ryder’s talk of peenjazzling has me too distracted to eat just yet. I take a few more minutes to calm down enough to take the first bite. It’s the best burger I’ve ever had. I can tell it’s homemade.
“This is delicious.” Ryder points at his own burger. It looks to be a bacon chili cheeseburger, and it is making a gigantic mess of his face. “We need some more napkins.”
“Should’ve saved that chick’s phone number napkin, you could have used it to wipe your face.” I say while passing him my napkin.
“Is that a hint of jealousy I detect?” Ryder says as he wipes his mouth. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”
Poor guy looks a little broken hearted. Maybe it’s just as hard for him to be here as it is for me.
“Yeah, it is.” His head pops up at my confession, his eyes searching mine for answers.
“Denise?”
“I have no right to feel jealous, but I do all the same.”
“This situation is complicated for both of us. I am glad that you asked me to join you for dinner, though. I enjoy spending time with you away from everyone else.”
“I enjoy spending time with you, too, Ryder. I feel like I can relax when I’m with you. It’s not often that I get to relax.” I admit. “Plus, when you’re off doing something else I find I’m often needed to come and get you out of some kind of trouble.” Teasing him a little breaks the tension and we both laugh.
“I’m sorry about that. I promise to find better things to do with my time from now on.”
We sit quietly for a few more minutes, each of us finishing as much of our meals as we can. If there’s one thing Maggie’s Diner does right, it’s portion sizes. Everything is on scale with the milkshake, with each meal giving us enough food to feed two or three people. I excuse myself to the restroom and when I get back to our table, I see Ryder has already paid the bill.
“You didn’t have to buy my dinner Ryder, but thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for inviting me,” he says as we leave the diner and walk to our cars. We both hesitate in front of our vehicles, Ryder with his hands in his pockets and me playing with my keys. “See you at the party then?”
“Yeah, see you later,” I say, walking around to my door and getting into my car. Ryder does the same, giving me a wave before he starts his car and drives off.
I suddenly just really don’t want him to go.
Fuck it. I can pretend that I deserve him for one day, can’t I?
