AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wow, I was awesome,” she tells me as sits down on the bench. I sit next to her, and she bends over and gets to work unlacing her skates. “I was incredible. Your position on the Rovers is in danger, in fact.”
“Well, according to Dick Oliver it is, anyway.” I pull off my skates quickly while she’s still struggling to remove hers. Then I go fetch our stuff from the locker.
She pulls the skates off and hands them to me. Next, she takes off every single piece of protective gear, throwing each one at my head. I parry them easily.
“Watch the face,” I tell her. “My face is my fortune.” I pat my hair. “That and my shining locks.”
She grins at me. “Well, at least, unlike Mason, it’s not your dick. Him and those underwear commercials... sometimes it’s very hard to look him in the eye.”
“Trust me, I know. Those billboards are pretty nuts.” Then I realize what I just said and burst out laughing. “I made a funny.”
“Pretty nuts,” she crows delightedly. “I’ll have to ask Rowan if that’s an accurate description.
Are we laughing together? Are we having fun? What is that warm glow I’m feeling—the same glow I felt when we went out to dinner and the nightclub?
“By the way,” she says, as we walk back out to the limo, “All of our dates are supposed to be in public places with paparazzi alerted beforehand. I’m not sure if this one actually counted.”
“Oh, we’re not done yet. Next stop, Danny’s Diner,” I inform her.
“I’m actually starving. Skating works up a real appetite.”
One thing I have to admit that I like about Ruby is that she has a healthy appetite. There’s nothing less fun than having dinner with a girl who orders one lettuce leaf and then stares hungrily at my food throughout the whole meal.
Oh, and Ruby actually likes diners. I love diners. My parents always used to take us to diners, and it was one of the few places where the whole family got together and I felt seen.
A lot of my dates in the past have expected me to wine and dine them at the fanciest restaurants in town. When I’ve taken them to my favorite diners, they’ve pouted, complained, and been rude to the staff. That’s always a first and last date for me.
Ruby would never do that.
Okay, so that’s two things I like about her. Healthy appetite. Likes diners. Is always nice to wait staff.
Three things.
I need to stop thinking like that, I scold myself.
We arrive at the diner ten minutes later. Several reporters are waiting for us, snapping our picture. “Ruby, is it true love?” one of them shouts at her.
“It’s something, all right,” she calls back, smiling just how her sister taught her.
The diner is crowded, but there’s one empty booth. She sits down. I sit next to her. She scowls at me.
“Sit on your own side, buster. You are violating my personal space bubble.”
“My date. My rules. I just want to sit here and smell your beautiful perfume.” I lean in and sniff her hair.
“That. Is. Creepy.” She slides up against the corner.
“Paxton Saul?” A waitress cries out in delight. She grabs a menu, writes something on it, and slides it over to me.
She doesn’t give one to Ruby. Ruby holds up her hand and waves at the waitress. “Hi! It’s me. The invisible woman.”
The waitress doesn’t acknowledge Ruby’s presence.
“We can share,” I tell Ruby. We look down at the menu. The waitress has written down her phone number on it.
“Oh, shall I call you, then?” Ruby asks her.
The waitress gives her a dirty look.
