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This was not off to a good start.
I pulled out her chair so she could sit down, then took my seat again.
“So, Dylan, do you come here often?” she asked with the raise of an eyebrow as she picked up the limited menu that was in place for tonight.
I ran my tongue over my lips. “Really? We’re going to keep this up?”
“Keep what up? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her eyes glittered over the top of the menu, and there was a moment where I thought she was grinning, but she quickly whipped the card up so I couldn’t see for sure.
“Often enough,” I said, playing along, using my own menu to hide my amusement. “What about you? Are you local?”
“Born and raised,” she said brightly. “Now that you say it, you do look familiar.”
“Ah. That’ll be because you tipped my hot cup of tea down the sink this morning, sweetheart.”
Laughter exploded out of her, and she clapped her hand over her mouth to quiet it. I wished she wouldn’t—her over-the-top laugh was one of the best things about her—but I understood why she did.
God forbid she let Kinsley and Holley see we were having fun.
“Oh, this is freaking ridiculous,” she said, setting down the menu. “What are we even doing?”
“Hey, you started it,” I pointed out.
“I was trying to be a good friend and play along with those two whores who I know did this deliberately.”
“Really? This was deliberate? If you want to see deliberate, check out Tori and Colton.”
We both looked across the bar. Tori had a face like thunder, and Colt’s expression wasn’t much brighter. They were both sitting as far back in their seats as they could, and Tori had her arms folded across her chest.
“Kinsley’s gonna get an earful tomorrow,” Saylor muttered. “Off three of us.”
Laughing, I picked up the menu again. “What do you think I should eat?”
“I’d recommend food as a starting point.” She mirrored my action. “I’m getting wine for my starter, lasagna for my main, and the hot chocolate fudge cake for dessert.”
“Wine for your starter?”
“Have you seen these?” She raised her eyebrows. “They’re gross, Dylan. One is goat’s cheese, another is blue cheese, and the third is prawns. What happened to a good old tomato soup?”
“Do you normally eat soup on a date?”
“I don’t normally eat a lot on dates,” she admitted.
To my surprise.
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me you order salads because you don’t want anyone to see you eating.”
She shot me a withering look. “Don’t be stupid,” she said right as someone came to take our orders. We placed them, including drinks, and when the woman had gone, she continued. “You’ve seen me inhale an entire pizza. I just… I hate dating. With a passion. The whole act of dates and going out and pretending like you care…” She shrugged a shoulder. “That’s why I was so apprehensive about tonight. I didn’t want to have to make small talk with someone I don’t know.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have online dating profiles?”
“Yeah, but that’s different. I can talk to them before. I kinda… know them… before we sit down together.”
“It’s not different to normal dating. Not really.”
“Well, no, but if I were sitting here with, say…” She looked around. “That guy there. At table five. I have never seen him in my life,” she said firmly. “I would be hating every second because I’d be worrying if he liked me or if he found me attractive or if I’d said the right thing.”
“Wait—is the great Saylor Green… insecure?”
“I swear to God, I will stab my heel in your balls.”
I laughed as our drinks were brought over. She couldn’t pick up and drink from her wine glass fast enough, and that only made me laugh more.
“What are you laughing at? I’m a real comedian, but I know I’m not that funny.”
I shook my head, still smiling, and met her eyes. “I wanted to do this probably even less than you did, Saylor. I am not ready to date yet, and I’m only here because Colton talked me into it.”
She snorted. “You and me both. Kind of. Not Colton, but the two jerks I call my best friends.”
“Anyway, if I have to do this, I’m kind of glad you’re my date.”
“Aw, stop it. You’ll make me blush.” She held her glass up.
“Like you did when I kissed your hand?” With a wink, I clinked my beer bottle against her glass.
She glared at me. “Why you gotta ruin it, huh?”
“Because seeing you blush is such a rare thing, I feel like it needs referring to.”
“Well, it doesn’t. And I wasn’t blushing. It’s just hot in here.”
“You don’t look hot.”
“I don’t look hot?” Her eyebrows shot up.
This was a trap. “I’m not falling into this trap. You know what I mean.”
