He greets me with a small nod. “Hey, Davies.”
“You good?” I ask, packing a lot of meaning into two short words.
“Good enough.” With a dry smile, he turns toward my sister. “Hey, Soph. How are you?”
She gives him a small wave, her cheeks flushing pink. “Hi, Jake.”
The owner of the restaurant lights up as we approach the host stand. It has nothing to do with me or Jake or athletic prowess. No, this is all Sophie. She may be shy, but with her sweet demeanor, she easily wins over even the most hard-hearted people, and once she’s in, she’s in for life.
“Sophie! My girl.” Adina rushes over, wiping her hands on her apron, and pulls my sister into a hug that nearly lifts her off her feet.
“Hi, Adina,” she says, breathless. “How are you?”
“It’s been too long since you came to see us,” the older woman chides, cupping Sophie’s face. “Are you eating enough? You look thin. And your brother is eating too much. Too big.”
“I’m eating fine,” she promises, her eyes lit up.
I bite back a smile. This is the same conversation they have every time we come in.
Her husband Benjamin emerges from the kitchen, grinning. “There she is! Our favorite customer.” He looks at me and then Jake, his expression morphing. He looks serious now, but the twinkle in his eye gives him away. “Sophie. You bring a special man friend?”
My sister’s cheeks redden and she shakes her head. “Oh, he’s not?—”
“And a very handsome man, too.” Adina gives Jake an appraising once-over. “Well done.”
“Jake’s not my, um, special man friend,” Sophie squeaks out, face redder than a fire engine. “He’s Cameron’s teammate.”
Adina’s look of interest sours to annoyance, her lips flattening. “Oh. Are your eyes bad?” she asks Jake. “Your ears?”
He glances at me, frowning in confusion. “Uh… no?”
“Then you must be a fool,” she says. “You have a lovely young woman right here and you don’t pursue her?”
The idea of any of my friends paying attention to my sister pisses me off, but Jake? He may be perfect on paper, but he goes through women like a sick kid goes through tissues.
Before I can make it abundantly clear that if Jake so much as touched my sister, the Bobcats would be short a right-winger due to his sudden, mysterious death, Benjamin waves us towarda corner booth. “Come, sit. I’ll bring you the special. I’ve been testing out a gluten-free pita recipe I want you to try, Cameron.”
We settle into our seats while Adina brings over fresh pita, vegetables, and hummus, “on the house,” like she always does.
“I forgot to ask,” Jake says as he digs into the toasted almond and garlic hummus. “How did your date with Kennedy go?”
I briefly consider sending his GPS coordinates directly to his dad. He could’ve asked me about dinner with Kennedy during any of the twenty fucking times we’ve seen each other since the non-date, but nope. He asks in front of Sophie, so I can’t retaliate.
I shoot him a menacing glare. “It wasn’t an actual date, asshole.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Smirking, he tears off a piece of pita. “Dinner and drinks at a nice restaurant with a pretty woman? Sounds suspiciously like a date.”
“It was for a charity auction,” I say through gritted teeth, actively ignoring the part where he calls her pretty.
Jake clucks. “The charity auction date that you practically begged her to bid on.”
“I will end you,” I mutter, slowly reaching for the blunt knife that will do absolutely nothing.
Sophie props her chin on her hand, studying me with far too much interest. “Kennedy said she had fun.”
I straighten. “She told you she had fun?” The words are out before I can stop them.
“Oh my God, you care what she thought.” She breaks into a grin. “That’s so sweet.”
