She pushes the plastic to the side and meets my eyes. “I’ll have what you’re having, please.” Her voice is soft, but not in the same way the waitress’ was. She’s not trying to sound breathy and sweet, she’s just trying to be quiet.
I take her menu from her hand so she can’t keep hiding behind it and hold it up to the girl, who’s trying to work up the courage to be more obvious while flirting with my brother, even though he has a girl sitting right next to him. The waitress fumbles for just a second, then takes the menu, seeming to remember there’s a reason she’s here. “Let me grab your drink orders.”
“We’re ready to order,” I tell her so she can’t slip away before we finish.
“Oh, okay.” She rearranges the menus again as she tries to get her pen from her apron, her face turning red as she finally just sets the plastic-coated paper on the table behind us.
“For you?” She blinks several times while looking at me.
“We’ll both have the country fried steak, with hash browns and wheat toast. What would you like to drink?” I direct my question to Waylynn.
“Water with lemon, please.” She makes eye contact with the waitress as she speaks.
“I’ll have the same. Oswald?”
“I’ll have a water, no lemon, and the hot turkey sandwich, double the meat and gravy.”
The waitress finishes writing our orders down, then smiles at Oz. “I’ll get this right in and be back with your drinks.”
“I played ball with her brother,” Oz tells us the moment she walks away from the table, explaining what is already obvious.
“A lot of people know you from football, but you haven’t mentioned it much.” Waylynn’s shoulders come up high near her ears, as if she’s pushing against the bench seat with her hands.
“I guess.” Oz shrugs. “But that’s all they really know about me.”
“Water, no lemon.” The waitress places Oswald’s drink down in front of him first. “Two with lemon.” Waylynn’s glass gets left in the center of the table, so Oz moves it closer to her while the waitress passes out the straws in the same order. “It shouldn’t be too long, we’re not very busy.”
“Great, thanks.” Oz gives her a placating smile, then turns his attention back toward the table. She stands there for just a second longer than she should before striding away. I watch her walk over to another waitress near the front of the restaurant and say something before looking back in our direction. She’s still all smiles for now, and I want to keep it that way while she has access to our food.
“You do that too?” Oz wrinkles up his nose while Waylynn squeezes her lemon into her water, then drops the tiny sliver into her glass.
“It’s good, and good for you,” she tells him while taking a sip.
I can’t help but say, “Told you.”
“Now he’s gloating.” Oz waves his hand toward me, which makes Waylynn look in my direction at the exact moment she licks the water from her lips. I know it’s not meant to be seductive, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t.
If I want her this badly when I haven’t even touched her, then how bad is it going to be when I have? She’s going to consume me.
There’s a significant pause, like she can feel the tension between us just as much as I can, and her eyes lower to the table. “Eyes up, Waylynn.” She hesitates for just a second, then peers up at me from under her lashes. The wordsgood girlform in my mind, and I just manage to keep the thoughts from slipping past my lips. I have no idea what her reaction would be, but I know I’m not prepared for it—not here, not now.
Oz throws his arm over her shoulders and pulls her back against his chest a little. “Don’t be afraid to tell him he’s being too bossy,” he says softly near her ear.
Her eyes stay trained on mine, but she settles deeper into his embrace. The stiffness of her shoulders relaxes as the tension in her body wanes. “I like to know I have your attention,” I confess.
“You do,” Waylynn replies, and I’ll be damned if the simple response, spoken with conviction, doesn’t give me an ego boost.
The waitress returns to the table with a platter of cheese sticks surrounding a large side of ranch. When she sets them on the table, we all look at her. “We didn’t order any appetizers,” Oz tells her with his arm still curled around Waylynn.
“Oh, I know. I just remember you used to really like them.” She wrings her hands in her apron.
“Thanks?” Oswald says, then looks over at me like I’m going to be of some help.
“Yeah, it’s no big deal at all. Your food should be up soon.” She backs away slowly as if she’s waiting for something else.
Oz leans over the table, pulling Waylynn with him, and whispers, “Do you think these are safe to eat?”
“I don’t think she roofied the cheese sticks,” I deadpan, then grab one off the plate to eat it. Oz looks over at Waylynn, who’s still tucked into his side, and gives a lazy shrug before grabbing one himself and dunking it in the ranch.
