“What’s your problem?” Justin brushed him off, clearly irritated. “I don’t want to talk to you. Why are you sitting next to me?”
“Because you’re so easy to talk to.”
I would have laughed if I wasn’t so horrified. “Stop it,” I mouthed.
Noah smiled even bigger. His smile wasn’t like Justin’s. Not perfect and symmetrical, but crinkly and adorable, and it lit up his whole face and made his eyes twinkle and his dimples pop out.
It took me a few seconds to remember I didn’t like him anymore and he was horrible. I narrowed my eyes at him before returning to my salad. Salad had never broken my heart. Salad didn’t think it was funny to sabotage other guys who had tried to flirt with me. At least, I was pretty sure Justin had been flirting with me, and trying a bit too hard, now that I thought about it. I sighed and stabbed a chunk of lettuce with my fork. I didn’t get guys at all.
Chapter 27 – Noah
Throwing Justin off his game was officially my new favorite pastime, but it came with side effects, like catching the attention of other evil people sitting at this ridiculously long table. Carin had been watching me for a while now, and I’d been doing my best not to look at Jenny or Justin or anything but my food ever since.
Which was probably a good thing, considering Justin had tried more than once to bump my elbow the moment I started bringing my fork to my mouth. This was not the way I’d imagined tonight going. I wasn’t following Dan’s plan, or Sadie’s plan, or even my plan. As usual, my impulsive side had grabbed the reins and decided to just wing it.
After everyone was finished eating and dessert was imminent, Robert reached into the middle of the table and picked up the question jar he’d been teasing us about since the salad course. “I thought I’d put a twist on the game tonight. After you read the question, I’d like for you to pick who you would like to answer it. But be careful, because after they answer, the jar passes to them.”
He handed the jar to Gina and she reached in nervously and pulled out a slip. “If you needed a partner in crime, who would you choose?” She handed the slip of paper to Robert, who of course said his darling fiancée would always be his partner in crime. They kissed, and we all politely clapped.
Okay, maybe Dan and Sadie just didn’t like this game because it had feelings and mushiness in it. That was a form of embarrassment I could handle.
Kim got up to take plates, and I jumped up to follow. I was just a body here. I might as well make myself useful. Since Kim had our side of the table covered, I moved to the other side and put my waiter experience to use, taking dishes from the left as discreetly as possible, and dodging Curly with my feet. The dog was doing her best to discreetly beg for scraps from the guests without getting caught by Gina. The jar had passed to Sadie and Dan’s aunt and uncle, and everyone was laughing about their secret fantasies, which had people oohing and aahing, but also ewwwing.
When I reached Carin’s chair, I waited until her head was facing away from me to grab her plate, but she must have sensed my presence with her dark forces because she turned and smiled up at me. “Would you be so kind as to grab me another Diet Coke from the kitchen?” She shook her empty glass at me for emphasis.
Of course, that was the moment there was a lull in the conversation. I felt the stares of everyone else.
“My hands are a little full, Carin. Why don’t you ask your date to get it?” I turned with the stack of plates and strode into the kitchen, knowing full well her request had been a trap. If I said yes, she got me to be her servant boy again. If I said no, she made me look bitter. Either way, she won.
But I wasn’t in a battle with her, so why had I taken the bait so easily? What was I so afraid of? I grabbed a Diet Coke from the fancy ice bin on the counter and almost ran into Miles with it on the way back. “Here, man. Sorry.”
He grabbed it from me without a word and returned to Carin, who gushed over his thoughtfulness while shooting daggers at me with her eyes.
“That was smooth,” Justin said with a laugh when I sat down.
I ignored him, because the question jar had been turned over to Jenny, along with the question,If you had to take a road trip with four people at this table, who would you take, and why?
“This should be easy, carpooler.” Gina said with a laugh.
Jenny blushed. “Well, I’d take Dan and Kim, because I’ve never gotten to spend time with Kim before and she’s wonderful. And Dan would bring the snacks.”
That earned her a couple of chuckles.
“Sadie would have to come along. She’d take shotgun of course.”
Jenny paused, looking uncomfortable. “And I guess I’d take Curly because she’s the cutest dog I’ve ever seen.” She quickly pulled out a new slip of paper and read it, clearly not wanting to draw attention to the fact that she’d left me out.
It was the worst kind of painful, because her answer hadn’t been about revenge. It had been the truth delivered as kindly as possible. The best gift I could give her in return was to make sure no one saw how much her answer hurt. She wouldn’t want the negative attention that would bring. So when Gina looked at me with concern, I only smiled benignly.
Jenny gave the next question to Dan:Tell us something true about yourself you should never reveal on a first date.Kim got a case of the giggles before he even opened his mouth.
“Just one thing, right?” he joked. “Okay, okay. I’ve got it. I get up to fart at night so I don’t accidentally give Kim a Dutch oven.”
Kim leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “Which I appreciate. But I don’t think you should mention your wife on your first date either.” She pulled out a slip from the jar and held it up for him to read.
“Tell us about one of your weaknesses.”Dan looked thoughtful, and then his eyes turned to me. “I think Noah should answer this.”
I thought for long enough people were starting to get uncomfortable, and Justin murmured to Jenny that my weakness was thinking I didn’t have any. But that was so far from the truth. I had so many, and so many things I needed to say. This question felt like a gift from Dan. A way to tell Jenny everything I’d been feeling at a time when she didn’t want to listen to me. But I also had to be careful about how I said them.
