He shook his head slightly. “Sorry about that.What’sup?”
Lacey barely suppressed the growl that threatened to come out. Instead, she plastered on a fake smile. “We’reup.”
“Uh, oh. Right.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll take two slices of Hawaiianpizza.”
Gross. Fruit did not belong on pizza. It was a travesty that Trevor liked Hawaiian, but one she could overlook if he would just freaking lookather.
The girl behind the counter used a wooden paddle to put the three slices they ordered into the large brick oven. The pizza would spend a few minutes there as Trevor and Lacey shuffled through the rest of the line. By the time they got to the register and paid, their piping hot pizza would be readyforthem.
Thankfully, Trevor had the good sense to pull out his wallet when they got to the register to pay for their meals, but the silence between them was uncomfortable, and didn’t ease even when they sat down at one of the tables covered in a red and white checkeredtablecloth.
Lacey took small bites of her pizza slice, careful not to get grease on her face. Trevor seemed disinterested, so Lacey watched the line that stayed consistently the same length as new customers continued to stream in. She recognized a couple of people here and there from FSC, and hoped they didn’tspother.
What would she say?Oh, hey so-and-so, how are you doing? I’d like you to meet my date who can’t stop paying attention to anythingbutme.
Lacey took a couple more small bites, but when she couldn’t take it anymore, she slapped her hand against the table. “What is so damn interesting about that door? Are you expectingsomeone?”
Trevor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “No,” he answered quickly. “I’m just…” He paused and took one more look around the dining area before fixing her with an earnest stare. “It won’t happenagain.”
Lacey stared at him for a moment trying to figure out what was going on, but when he flashed his megawatt smile at her, she knew she’d already forgiven him. She was letting her overactive imagination get the best of her. Trevor had asked her out on this date. Of course he wasn’t expecting someone else. Maybe he was the type of person who got easily distracted in large crowds. Lacey couldn’t fault himforthat.
“So, tell me more about yourself. What brought you down to Florida from…what was it?Idaho?”
Lacey’s face broke out into a smile for the first time that evening as she thought of all the times Morgan teased her about the two states being the same. “Iowa,” shecorrected.
“Okay.” Trevor waved a hand. “What brought you down to FloridafromIowa?”
“Honestly?” He nodded. “The beach. I picked a spot in the middle of the state and started looking for colleges. Florida Southern seemed to be the perfect fit. It’s just a couple of hours from bothcoasts.”
He leaned back in hischair. “Huh.”
Oh, crap. She wasn’t ready to go back to monosyllabic interactions. Lacey hurried to think of something interesting to say, her eyes shifting back and forth across the dining room until she noticed someone staring directlyather.
Conrad.
She hated the way her breath caught as their eyes met. Even across the crowded restaurant, Lacey could see the line that formed between his brows. The penetrating gaze going from her to Trevor, and back again. The intensity was too much, so she broke eye contact first, noting he was sitting with someone. His buddy turned his head just at the right moment for Lacey to see what kind of person Conrad atedinnerwith.
DeclanAdams.
The guy who was making life a living nightmare for Morgan. No wonder her roommate had written what she had on the back of Conrad’s picture. He was bad news if he was hanging out withDeclan.
But soon, her thoughts were shifting again. Why were the two of them staring at her? She’d casually mentioned she was the Date Maker’s roommate when Conrad had bumped into her at the Polk Theater. That was before she realized he was most likely an unsatisfiedcustomer.
Were they spying on her? Did they think she would give up information about her best friend? Her blood boiled at the idea of those two guys using her to get toMorgan.
“What are you looking at?” Trevor asked, interrupting her thoughts. Of course it was when Lacey’s eyes strayed for more than two seconds that her date finally noticed her. Trevor turned in his seat to investigate what she was looking at. He quickly turned back around, a scowl on his face. “What is hedoinghere?”
“Who,Declan?”
His voice was clipped as he leaned over the table. “The guy from the movie theater. The one who bumped into you. Did he talktoyou?”
“Uh…”
“Did the dude with dark hair talktoyou?”
Lacey didn’t point out that they both had dark hair, but knew they had only bumped into one of those guys the othernight.
“Oh, Conrad?” she asked. Her eyes wandered back to the table at which Declan andConradsat.
