I yawned, then took a seat across from him. “Too good. Didn’t mean to sleep that long.”
“You needed it.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face and yawned. “Geez, I need to wake up.”
“Why? If you’re still tired, you should go back to sleep. I can’t imagine you get much rest in your building.”
It would be easy to say yes. Too easy. Axel had the justification ready to go. “You could stay. Think of it as a vacation.”
“I can’t do that. It will be too hard to leave.” His eyes held mine, words ready to escape his lips. So I cut him off. “Want to go get dinner at the Silver Stream? My treat.” He raised a brow. “Before you object, I want to take you to dinner.”
Axel slipped into an easy smile. “Can we walk? It’s nice outside.”
“Absolutely. It’s only eight blocks.”
I redressed and gathered my things. No studying tonight. We walked, the sun setting behind Manhattan, as the lights on the bridge illuminated the water and everything below. As we walked along, side by side, our hands brushed. When we needed to change our path along the sidewalk, Axel’s hand found my back to steer me in front of him. Every touch was brand new, a spark that lit up a tiny dark place inside me that had never seen light. My heart was powered by a string of lights, one bulb illuminating at a time. I felt like a teenager on a first date, but heartbroken at the same time, knowing the end would be coming.
Crossing the street to the diner, we took our seats in the same booth we’d sat in the first time. I was surprised by the new server. “Is Edith here?”
“No. She’s off today. I’m Jason. I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” He slid the menus in front of us. “Do you know what you want, or do you need a minute?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? I thought I knew what I wanted, but every day I spent with Axel made me question everything.
“I know what I want,” Axel said, keeping his eyes on me. His foot touched mine under the table when he shifted his long legs. “Do you know what you want, Luca?”
Oh shit. Food Luca. Not forever and happily ever afters.They aren’t for you.“Yep. Whatever you want.”
Axel smirked like we had some inside joke. And maybe we did. I’d been opening up to him like he was a human truth serum, and it only partially terrified me. I was feeling some kind of way, and it was sure to blow up in my face. I chalked it up to him being bored and feeling sorry for me, which I hated. But he took such pleasure in doing it. I couldn’t take that away from him. I reminded myself, yet again, that it was all temporary.
“Well then,” Jason mused, “my mind-reading is offline tonight. Would one of you care to share it with me so I can put the order in?”
I laughed at his ballsy response, then motioned for Axel. “Your turn to order. I did it last time.” I expected him to growl at the quick-witted waiter and give him that death glare he’d given Richard. The one I was sure he used on the ice. But he surprised me. “Liver and onions for two.”
Our waiter didn’t agree with his choice. “Uh, gross,” Jason muttered. He propped his hand on his hip and looked down at Axel. “Can I give you a suggestion?” he asked but didn’t wait for Axel to agree. “Maybe you’re new at this,” he gestured between us, “or just new to around here. You order that, and you aren’t getting laid tonight, buddy. You should spring for the steak at the very least.”
My eyes widened at the implication as Axel turned his attention to Jason. I held my breath, ready to intervene if he went off the deep end. “While that is smashing advice, sorry to disappoint you, but we’re just friends. So please bring us burgers and fries, with two sides of salad.”
His declaration brought my stupid thoughts down to earth. It was best I remembered that.
“Shame,” Jason said as he walked away.
I tapped Axel’s foot under the table. “You made him think we were on a date, then ripped the rug right out from under all his good advice.”
He tipped his head to the side as he picked up his glass. “But you asked me out and offered to pay. Isn’t that a date?”
My face heated. “I don’t know. I’ve never been on one. I wanted to pay you back for all the things you do for me. It feels like our friendship is really out of balance.”
“Why is that?”
I pulled out napkins from the holder and set them in front of him, then took them for myself. “I have nothing to give back.”
“You’re wrong.”
I scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
He tapped his foot along mine under the table. “You give me your time. And you give me perspective when you share things about your life.”
“I wish you felt comfortable enough to share things about your life.”
