AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rhett opened the door for me, and we walked into the narrow shop, the smell of baked bread and fresh sauce making my mouth water. People stood at the tall bar that ran the length of the small room, and we stepped up to the window case that displayed pizza.
“What will you have?” the worker asked.
Rhett looked to me.
I didn’t even need to read the chalkboard menu. I pointed to one of the large, sliced pizzas. “I’ll take that margherita.”
“Good choice.” Rhett rattled off eight more slices and requested they be individually boxed.
The kid behind the counter looked up, and his eyes widened when he figured out who was ordering. “Anything else?” he croaked.
“That will be all.”
The worker seemed to shake his surprise and rang up the order while the girl beside him boxed up the slices.
“Man, can I get a selfie?” he asked, handing Rhett back his card.
“Sure.”
The girl jumped into the frame too, and Rhett leaned over the counter to smile into the guy’s phone. I took a handful of napkins, and we carried our nine boxes of pizza slices back to the car.
Rhett opened the door, then offered a slice each to Jax and the driver.
“Thanks, boss.”
I opened mine and inhaled. Mmm. “Who are the other slices for?”
Rhett stacked them on the floor by his feet and didn’t say anything.
Well, okay. That was weird. I understood that men ate a lot sometimes, but his faking not having a reason to order them wasn’t exactly believable. I lifted the pizza to my mouth and sank my teeth into the warm mozzarella, basil, and sauce. “I hate to admit that you were right, but this is the best pizza I’ve ever had,” I said around a mouthful.
“It’s good, right?” he replied.
“So good.” And the slice was bigger than my face. It was the most satisfying middle-of-the-night food that I would undoubtedly regret in an hour when I was trying to fall asleep.
“I’m glad you like it.”
The driver balled up his napkin, setting the trash on the middle console. “Now onto the—”
“Yes,” Rhett said, cutting him off.
“Hotel?” I asked.
Rhett wiped his mouth and hesitated. “No, not yet. I wanted to do one other thing first. Is that okay?”
I lifted my slice to take another bite. “You just fed me. You can stop wherever you’d like.”
We drove through Soho back up toward downtown. It was crazy how alive the city was at night. The streets were bright with headlights and neon signs and loud from angry, honking taxi drivers, and the people buzzed with energy.
The car pulled over after a while of driving, and I leaned back in my seat. I could fall asleep right now. My stomach was full, and the air-conditioned vehicle felt so good.
Rhett shrugged out of his jacket, making him look less formal but even better somehow. “Will you come with me? I have one more thing to do before we go back to the hotel.”
“Sure.”
He took the five remaining pizza boxes and helped me onto the sidewalk again. This time he didn’t release my hand, and I was half-convinced my fingers were made to interlock with his by how perfectly they seamed together.
Jax followed behind us at a discreet distance. We walked along the block, Rhett’s hand warm in mine. The streets were quieter over here, lights shining down from empty office buildings. When we reached a man sitting in a doorway, wide awake, Rhett released my hand to take the pizza box off the top and offered it to him. He took it hesitantly.
