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“I’d rather not.”
He winks at me before taking a seat at the desk across from mine and before I can stop him, he leans across, snatching my phone right up from my desk. “Come on, man,” I groan, attempting to grab it back from him and failing miserably. His eyes scan the latest message I sent to Savanna. Thankfully the image she sent is hidden by all our previous messages, and he looks at me with a frown. “What?” I snap.
He shrugs. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
I run a hand through my hair and sigh. “I don’t know. All I know is that I can’t get enough of her and all I want is to be around her. She’s hellbent on this being a physical thing, but I’m determined to break her walls down.”
Gage nods. “And if she doesn’t want that?”
I’m not going to get into our moments together. There’s something about her gaze every single time we are around each other that tells me she’s battling the feelings that I’m accepting with open arms, and that’s the only reason I’m fighting so hard to get her to let down her guard. I snatch my phone from his hands and ignore his question, glancing at the text thread to see if she’s responded and feeling a twinge of sadness that she hasn’t.
The rest of the morning goes by just like that until my phone finally pings with a new text message and I smile at Savanna’s name popping up on the screen.
Sav: Food sounds good.
Another ping follows.
Sav: This is not a date.
I smirk and let a scoff escape. We’ll see about that.
Gage is leaning back in his chair when I stand, more than ready to get this lunch started, and I give him a small wave as I walk toward the exit. “See you in an hour.”
He stares at me, not bothering to make any other comments, and looks back down at his phone. Gage might be my best friend, but I know there’s always been a part of him who was upset with how things went between Savanna and me. There was a brief time when he would tell me how stupid I was to let her go the way I did and how I should’ve gone with her like I had planned, but he ultimately understood why I didn’t and let it go.
Until now, apparently.
I’ve learned from my mistakes though and if I can keep Savanna here with me, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I push through the large doors, not bothering to give Amanda a second glance on my way out even though I’m sure that’s what she hoped for, and I take in a breath of fresh air.
The cafe is crowded when I walk inside which is why I always order online and pick-up my food. Everyone watches as I walk ahead of them and I quickly grab the take-out bag waiting for me on the shelf up front.
When I get into the truck, I find the small basket I have stashed in the back and wipe it off with a rag laying on the front floor board. It’s not the best, but as good as it’s going to get if I want to meet her in time. I remove our food from the bag and deposit it neatly into the basket, then head toward the park where Savanna should be.
This time when I pull up, she’s already sitting on a bench, smiling at a little kid holding an ice cream cone in front of her. A young guy stands next to the boy, his mouth moving with whatever words he’s saying, and Savanna nods in agreement. My blood heats, wondering what the hell they’re talking about that has her smiling, and I take a moment to study them.
His body is angled entirely too close to her for my liking, but she doesn’t seem to be acknowledging it. Her bright smile is focused on the guy’s son which only makes me wonder what it would’ve been like to start a family with her. She and I had always planned to have kids by now, at least that was the plan when we made them as teenagers, and the idea of her holding a little girl’s hand who looks exactly like her makes me smile.
That smile drops though as soon as the dad places a hand on her shoulder, then Savanna is shaking her head with a polite smile. Is it crazy that I can tell the difference between her smiles? She’s got one that lights up a room, those are her genuine smiles, and another that’s tight, which is the one she’s using right now. This one she uses as a way to send someone away without being a complete ass about it.
It should make me feel better that she’s not giving in to the guy’s smiles, but all I can think about is the hand that’s still resting on her arm. I clutch the basket in my hand and walk toward the woman of my dreams, clearing my throat when I reach them. The guy’s head snaps to me and his eyes widen. “Officer Travis, didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Yeah, I’m here for lunch.” I look over at Savanna and smile at her. “Ready, baby?”
She blinks in surprise, then a smile takes over her face and a gleam shines in her eyes. “Absolutely.” Her eyes fall onto the little boy and she holds a hand out to him. “It was nice to meet you, Lucas. Try that other ice cream flavor I told you about.”
A string of emotions flow through me as the boy shakes her hand, nodding enthusiastically at the prospect of being introduced to a new ice cream flavor, and I chuckle. “You’re really going to put him through that monstrosity?”
She shrugs. “You’ve never lived if you haven’t tried it.”
If there’s one thing Savanna loved most about this place it was Rae’s Ice Cream Parlor where she created the most insane concoction of ice cream I’ve ever seen. She’d get two scoops of rocky road, another two scoops of butter pecan, and top it off with a scoop each of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.
I’m not sure that dad knows what he’s getting himself into if she recommended it to his son. That’s not my problem to deal with though.
When she stands and crosses her arms over her chest, my eyes cut to the neck of her t-shirt before coming back up to her eyes. “Where are we going anyway?” She asks.
I’m sure she wants to question what my interruption with the hot dad was about. I’m not blind, I know when a guy is attractive and I’m not going to deny it.
“By the lake. I thought we could enjoy our food by the water and watch the ducks.”
