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“I was thinking of the chicken salad,” I said.
“Get what you really want, Sang,” Victor said coolly without looking up from the menu.
“How do you know that’s not what she wants?” Nathan asked, closing his menu and dropping it on the table.
“She’s conveniently picked the lowest priced item on the menu that isn’t an appetizer.” He lifted his head. The fire in his eyes seemed amused as he faced me. “Sang?”
I blushed and scanned the menu. “Tortelloni?”
“Better,” he said. He folded his menu, placing it on the table.
The waiter came back with our drinks. The smoothies were served in big green glasses with strawberry wedges around the brim. Nathan’s had two. Mine had six. Nathan’s eyes narrowed on my glass but he said nothing.
“Have things been decided?” Cody asked. He looked intently at my face. I was confused and felt a finger fluttering up to my lip.
“We’ll start with the zucchini fritte,” Victor said. “I’ll have the veal marsala. She’ll have the tortellini.” He paused, gazing at the others across the table.
Nathan and Gabriel put in their orders but Cody kept glancing at me. “Anything else?” he asked, seemingly to the table in general but his gaze never left mine.
“That’s it,” Victor said.
Cody’s smile teased his lips, an almost smirk. “Call on me if you need anything. I’ll get these right out.”
The air pressure around the table seemed to lift when he left.
“I don’t like our waiter,” Gabriel said.
The others mumbled their confirmation.
“Did he do something wrong?” I asked, not completely understanding their displeasure.
None of them seemed to want to answer so I focused on the strawberry smoothie. I picked up one of the strawberries from the brim and took a bite.
Gabriel stretched in his seat. “Mmm... long morning,” he said. “We got a lot done, though. And Sang’s got a new wardrobe.” He wriggled his eyebrows at me. “Enough room in your closet?”
“I don’t know how I’m going to get it all up to my room.” I absentmindedly rubbed at the hem of Kota’s shirt at my neck. “And I’m worried. I mean, what if Danielle comes back? And my parents might wonder...”
“We’re taking care of that,” Nathan said. He snagged one of the strawberries off of my glass and popped it into his mouth. He’d already eaten his.
“How?”
He glanced at Victor. Victor only shrugged. Nathan turned back to me with a smile. “Don’t worry so much.”
“Besides,” Gabriel said, “Danielle won’t be able to get her ass in your clothes now that you’ve got shit that fits. I saw her in your skirt. I’m surprised she didn’t rip it.”
“I don’t understand why she wanted my things, anyway,” I said. “They weren’t exactly expensive or new.”
“She was trying to get attention by wearing what you wear,” Victor said. His fingers slipped against the condensation on his drink. “A lot of the girls are doing that.”
“Doing what?” I blushed.
“They’re all wearing nicer things. I’ve seen the girls starting to wear skirts.” Victor’s eyes lifted to settle on my face. “Apparently you’re a trendsetter.”
“Yeah well,” Gabriel said, sitting back and hanging an elbow over the back edge of the booth. His foot slid next to mine again, this time staying next to my foot. “They’re about to get their minds blown. She’s got a whole new look now.”
“I don’t know, guys. I don’t want to stand out.”
They all laughed.
“You’re wearing skirts to school in the first place,” Gabriel said. “You started it.”
I shrugged. “It was what everyone wore at my old school.”
From under the table, Victor found my hand. His fingers interlocked mine, his thumb smoothed over my skin. I tried to feel calm about it but it set my heart speeding along. “What were they like? The kids at your old school? What did they wear?”
“The clothes were a little nicer than what kids wear here, I suppose,” I said quietly. “They were a lot calmer. Quieter. There wasn’t as much fighting. The girls wore skirts and blouses most of the time. During the winter they might trade for nicer jeans.”
His eyebrow rose and his thumb stopped. “Were you that different from them?”
“Who?”
“The other kids.”
“Their clothes were nicer. Newer.”
“You didn’t look like a monster in yours, so I don’t understand. And they still didn’t talk to you?”
I shrugged, feeling cornered. “They weren’t mean to me. They just never said anything to me. After a while, I settled into a routine. I was usually reading at my own table. It wasn’t as crowded at my old school so I could find space for myself.”
Gabriel smirked. “I think Kota was right. They were probably blown away by you and didn’t know how to approach you.”
Heat radiated my face again.
Nathan cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he said, his blue eyes on me. “Do we want to go help the guys when we get back or are we doing something else?”
“Else,” Gabriel said. “We’re going to get roped into working at the diner soon enough. Might as well take the time off while we can get away with it.”
“Want to swim, Sang?” Nathan asked.
I brightened, nodding. I was grateful he was interrupting the others and redirecting the attention. “Sure.”
“We’ll tell the guys when we get back that Sang wanted to swim so we have to stay behind.”
When we had eaten the appetizer and the meals were delivered, Cody took special care to place the boys’ plates first.
When he got to mine, he stopped halfway as if he was feeling awkward about reaching over everyone else. His eyes fell on me. I caught something in what he wanted and without thinking, I reached out to help, taking the plate from him. His rough hands traced over mine as he let go.
“Thank you,” I said to be polite, even though I was confused. Why was he touching me?
He flashed an amused grin. “Need anything else?” he asked, though his eyes were on me alone.
“No,” Victor said shortly.
Cody shot him a glare. He bowed his head at us and left the table.
As we ate, the conversation turned to school. They started talking about the teachers, the homework we had and expectations about upcoming tests. It wasn’t long before I was feeling full and finally had to push my plate away.
“Left room for dessert?” Victor asked me.
I shook my head, covering my stomach with my hand and rubbing. “It’s too much.”
“They’ve got a nice tiramisu here.”
I slid over in the booth until I was leaning my shoulder against his. “What’s tiramisu?”
He smiled, amused. “You’ll see.”
“I like the strawberry cheesecake,” Nathan said, pushing his empty plate away.
“I want chocolate,” Gabriel said. He speared some pasta from my plate and ate it. “There’s a chocolate cake thing here, right?”
Cody came back and took our plates. This time Nathan ordered the strawberry cheesecake, chocolate cake and the tiramisu for the table.
“And bring four spoons,” he said.
Cody’s eyes once again landed on me. “Would you like anything else, sweetheart?”
I flinched, not understanding why he kept asking me. “I’m fine.”
He flashed another smile my way and turned from us, carrying the dishes back to the kitchen.
“What the hell is he doing?” Gabriel said. “It’s like he’s waiting for us to punch him or something.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He hasn’t stopped flirting with you since we got here,” he said.
My mouth popped open and my hand fluttered to the base of my throat. “I thought he was just being nice.”
“He’s being an ass,” Victor said.
I sighed, swallowed, and sat back again with my arms around my stomach. I didn’t understand flirting at all.
