Page 26
He shrugged, looking back at the road. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
It was a low blow, and he knew it. Her silence was telling enough as the light turned green and he made the turn onto Main Street.
She turned back to the checklist. “Yeah, maybe I don’t if you’re willing to eat salad.”
“I didn’t say that!” He huffed. “We’ll grill enough chicken so I can upgrade my sandwiches. Or make quesadillas.”
He didn’t need to look at her to know that she was smirking underneath that mask. He may not be eating salads, but they both knew she’d won.
Archer pulled into the busy parking lot of Hector’s Food Mart. Shoppers grabbed carts and made their way into the store. Some of them wore masks. Some of them didn’t.
He grimaced as he cut the ignition. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“We have to eat, Arch.”
Arch. His stomach clenched.
She handed him a slip of paper. “Here’s your list, I’ve got a different one so we can move quickly.”
“Okay, but—”
Tea hopped out of his truck. “Loser has to buy dinner!”
“Wait, what?!”
She was already gone, jogging toward the store. She turned back at him, her long red waves moving with the wind, and she flipped him off.
Heat flared in his chest. He jumped out of the truck. “Oh you are so done!”
She picked up her pace. He ran after her, but her long legs were too quick. When he got to the automatic sliding door, the rush of cool air chilling his skin, he couldn’t find her at all.
He unwrinkled the list in his fist and read his items. Chicken thighs. Olive oil. Italian seasoning. Canned tuna. Bread. Ice cream. Booze.
His list was way too easy. She had to handle the produce, which would take much longer.
Archer snatched a basket as a cart whizzed by him.
It was Tea, her cart already packed with fruit and vegetables. “I would like Smile Pizza for dinner, please!”
He got moving, his heart already racing. “No way. A ghost kitchen opened up nearby, and I want their tacos!”
Three hours later, he ordered Smile Pizza for delivery.
“So, are we going to open up that carton of Blue Bunny? Or do you have some kind of lunch in mind that involves ice cream?”
Tea nibbled on her leftover crust, her knees tucked close to her chest as they sat on the porch outside of his cabin overlooking the lake. “It’s for whenever. A freezer without ice cream is so sad.”
“You don’t even know what’s in my freezer.”
“Corn, expired frozen pizza, and a bottle of vodka.”
“Never mind, you know what’s in my freezer,” he grumbled.
She smirked, then took a sip of her pale ale. Archer completely lost track of timing as he distracted himself with all of the microbrew options at the store, leaving him with no chance of winning their race. He picked out beer to go with pizza and accepted his fate.
He stuffed the rest of his crust in his mouth and chewed, watching the way Tea kept her eyes on the sailboats out on the lake, the water a golden peach color from the sun that’d begun to set.
That should be you out there, he wanted to say.
