Page 50 of Playing with the Heartbreaker

Rhoads looks to me.

“Oh, I memorized this menu a long time ago. I’m set. I’ll do my usual, Peggy, thanks.”

“Make that two,” Rhoads says.

Peggy points at Rhoads. “You, my friend, are a brave soul.”

“What does that mean?” He laughs.

“You’ll see,” I say, as Peggy heads to the back to put in our order. She owns the place, but she still waitresses one night a week.

Just to stay sharp, she says. I think she just likes talking to people. And collecting gossip. Internally, I groan at what’s going to be going around town tomorrow about me and Rhoads.

“Do you want this back?” I tug on the leather jacket sleeves.

Rhoads shakes his head. “Keep it until you’re warm.”

“It’s nice.” I snuggle into it. Would it be wrong to pretend to always be cold so I can keep it forever? “Where’d you get it?”

“It’s Jenson’s, actually. I’m just borrowing it for a while. Keeping it safe for him.” Rhoads grabs the container of sugar packets and rearranges them, sorting by type.

For the first time, I notice the letters “JD” embroidered on the shoulder.

“You guys must have been friends a long time. For him to trust you with such a warm jacket.” I zip it up to my chin.

“Since we were babies. Our moms met at a play group, and we’ve been friends ever since. His house is four down from mine. I don’t think I have any formative childhood memories that don’t involve him.” Is it the fluorescent lighting, or is his smile a little less bright than usual?

“He must go to Cardinal Ridge, then. Oh, I think I remember him from freshman year. But I haven’t seen him around lately.” Though there are lots of kids in our school, since we get everyone who lives in the country part of town. We’re the only high school for miles. So, it wouldn’t be unheard of to miss a few. It is weird I haven’t seen the two of them together, though, before or after school, even if their schedules don’t line up.

Rhoads breathes in. “It’s kind of…complicated.”

“Uh oh. Did you guys have a fight or something? Sorry, I don’t mean to pry.”

“Not really a fight. Something happened a few weeks ago that changed things. We still hang out every week. But it’s not quite the same as it used to be.”

I offer an encouraging smile and touch his wrist. “Best friends always come back. Whatever happened, you’ll get through it together. Plus, you have his jacket. He’s not about to let this treasure go without a fight.”

Rhoads nods, his expression more serious than I anticipate. “Honestly, that’s kind of what I’m counting on.”

Peggy arrives with a huge tray of food. Rhoads’s shoulders lower as she sets down the plates in front of us and tells us to enjoy. He’s visibly relieved to not be talking about Jenson anymore, so I let it lie.

“Are you kidding me?” He gestures to the two heaping plates in front of him. “There’s no way this is food for one person.”

“Is that a challenge?” I hold my fork up, then make a big show of cutting off a large bite of hash browns and shoving it in my mouth.

“Oh, one thing you should know about me, Baker, is that I love a challenge.” His intense stare lights all my nerve endings on fire.

We dig in, talking about more lighthearted topics. When we both decide we’ve had enough, our plates look very similar. Neither of us has cleared them.

“Solid effort on both our parts,” Rhoads says. “Can you really eat all that by yourself?”

“I have done so exactly zero times. But it’s going to happen one day.” I laugh.

“I like that.”

“What? My delusion?”

“Your laugh.”