Page 192 of Nobody's Girl

I swallow the horrible stuff, then wipe the grease from my lips. “No, it’s not. It’s quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever tasted,” I say as I take the cap off my bottle of water and try my best to get the nasty taste and greasy film out of my mouth.

What I would give for a toothbrush right now!

Alyssa laughs and takes another bite. I so badly want to take this burger—if you can call it that. I doubt there’s any real meat to the thing—and toss it in the trash.

She swallows and wipes her mouth. “You have to be joking. These are the best burgers in town. Come on, try another bite, Eden.”

“If you truly believe that, then we must educate that pallet of yours,” I say, then tweak her cute little nose.

She scrunches it up, making her even more adorable. “And just how might you go about doing that?”

Another bite she takes, making my stomach hurt at the sight. Only the best foods should pass through that delicious mouth.

“I’ll take you to the finest restaurants this planet has to offer.”

A smirk forms on her sweet lips and I wish I could kiss it off.

“Only if I agree to that, and I am quite taken, if you will recall. A friendship is one thing and traveling around to eat is quite another. Kyle will not cotton to the idea of me and you traipsing all over just so my pallet can be refined.”

There it is again, the stab in my heart every time she says his name.

“What that boy doesn’t know won’t hurt him, princess. I have a jet. Let me take you to one tonight. I know the perfect place to start your education.”

With a gleam in her eye, her smirk turns into a full-blown smile. “You have a jet?”

She’s interested now. I might be able to talk her into it.

“I do. We could be there in about an hour. What do you say?”

“Dad would never allow it,” she says, but she’s still smiling.

She’s finished the awful burger and drained her glass, so I guess she’s done eating. “Let’s get out of here and go ask him,” I say as I stand and pull her to come with me. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I hold her close.

“He’ll never agree to that, Eden. But you can ask, I suppose.”

A beam of dust-filled light comes in as the door opens. A gangly boy with a light brown mop of messy hair walks in. He turns back and gives a thumbs up, then closes the door. The boy heads straight to us, his eyes on my mate.

“Sup, girl?” he drawls.

“Hey, Cody,” Alyssa says, as she wiggles in my grasp a bit. “This is, Eden. Our parents are friends and he’s visiting for the week.”

His eyebrows go up and he gestures to the hold I have on her. “And just what is this about, Al?”

“Didn’t you hear about my accident?”

He frowns and answers, “Yeah, and you don’t look like you got hit by no truck.”

She giggles. “That’s because I didn’t, silly. I stopped, then fell and hit my head. I get dizzy pretty easily, so Eden has been kind enough to help me get around, or I’d be stuck in bed.”

“Convenient, isn’t it?” His eyes move over my entire body, sizing me up.

I perceive him as no threat. He doesn’t ruffle my feathers even a tiny bit.

“We were just on our way out,” I say as I propel my mate forward, away from him.

He stands in place and watches us leave. I drop a hundred in front of the red-head and proceed to the door. I can feel his eyes burning a hole in my back.

“Don’t you want your change?” the waitress calls out.