“That’d be great. Other than my soccer teammates, I’ve met all of one person my age, and that’s you.”
“You play soccer? That’s cool. It’s super popular here. Our football team pretty much s-u-c-k-s.” She spells out the word, glancing down at her siblings and I smile as she continues. “But the soccer team has been really good the last few years.”
I scratch the back of my head. “Yeah, everyone on the team seems really good. And they’re…” My voice trails off as I try to sum them up in one word. “Civil.”
Evie laughs and nods. “You don’t need to explain. I know them all well.”
My lips twist into a cringe. “You poor thing.” With a quick look over her shoulder to my table, I see my food’s been delivered. “I’ve got some cobbler waiting for me, with a heaping scoop of ice cream on top. And I’m totally eating it before I eat my burger.” Ollie and Maddie give a simultaneous little gasp and stare up at me with wide eyes.
“You’ll love it. Here.” Evie slips her phone from her back pocket and passes it over to me after unlocking it. “Put your number in and I’ll text you in the next couple of days so we can get together.”
I type in my number and text myself from her phone so I’ve got hers since her hands are full at the moment. Once my phone dings I hand her phone back over.
“Did we just become best friends?” Evie jokes. “The exchanging of phone numbers is a sacred activity and must not be entered into lightly.”
I slowly nod, wiping all expression from my face. “We so did. I save you from an epic trash disaster, you promise me baked goods, we exchange numbers. It’s like the most serious BFF oath among all oaths.”
“I promise you baked goods?” Her brow wrinkles adorably.
“Yep, just did.”
“Ahh, I see. So it begins.” The corners of her eyes crinkle.
“Ehhhveeee,” the little package of curly pigtails and round pink cheeks tugs on her sister’s shirt, saying her name on a quiet whine. “Ice cream.”
With an apologetic glance at me, Evie pulls Ollie off her leg. “All right kiddos, it’s time to go. It was great to meet you Dacen. I’m really excited to hang out soon!”
“Same here. I’ll see ya later.”
With a quick wave, Evie, Maddie, and Ollie head up to the front and out the door. I feel like jumping up and pumping my fist in the air. Finally, a friend. And with a couple of weeks of summer left before school starts, I’m even more hopeful with this turn of events.
Making my way back to the booth, I slide onto the bench and lean over my tray to inhale deeply. The peach cobbler smells amazing. Grabbing my spoon, I dive in and shovel a huge bite into my mouth without ceremony. My eyes roll back and I groan as the sweetness of the brown sugar and peaches, the warmth of the cinnamon, and the cool creaminess of the slightly melted vanilla ice cream hit my palette. So. Good. Opal is my new hero. I scarf down the rest of the dessert and then reach for the plate with my burger and fries.
I pick up my phone and scroll through Instagram as I take another bite. Like your average teenager, I’m quickly absorbed in my feed, focused on one of my favorite men’s clothing stores. After a couple of minutes a tingly feeling skates up my spine to the base of my skull and I absentmindedly reach behind my head and graze my fingers over my neck.
“You’re in our spot.”
The low, rumbling voice is very close and I startle at the sound, yet a jolt of familiarity courses through my body as the tone reverberates in my mind. Not wanting to appear ruffled, I keep scrolling through my feed. After a few seconds of silence it’s apparent they’re not going to walk away, so I incline my head in their direction. Four extremely attractive guys my age are staring at me. Well, I should say, three of them are glaring at me and one gives me an amused look. Of course, I know two of them, Ryne and Tyler. The other two I’ve never seen before.
Ryne, the hottest member of any group he stands in as far as I’m concerned, looks at me like my mere presence disgusts him. Who pissed in his cereal? His dark tousled hair, piercing blue-grey eyes, and sun-kissed skin mesh perfectly with the sharp lines of his cheekbones and the strong set of his jaw. It’s unfortunate then that he looks like he wants to eat me up, and not in any sort of a good way.
“Excuse me?” I finally speak, keeping my voice monotone and disinterested.
“This is our table. Move.” Ryne’s gruff command absolutely does not shoot sparklers off inside my stomach.
Of course, it has to be him barking shit out, the hottest ones are often the biggest assholes. Although from the looks of it, the two guys I’ve never met also appear to fit into the asshole box. And because I’m known for occasionally being somewhat sarcastic, my response comes before I have a chance to filter it. I make a show of peering at the side edge of the table, then lift my tray and search underneath it.
“Funny, I don’t see your name anywhere on the table, Ryne.”
One of his friends, a dark-eyed, messy-haired Adonis with a jawline sharp enough to slice me in half makes a step toward me as if he’s about to do something. Ryne throws his arm up and blocks him from moving closer. Adonis’s nostrils flare but he holds still. What a good dog, listening to his master. The thought makes me smirk and I get a death glare in return. Such an ugly vibe coming from a face perfect enough to be commemorated in marble. A shadow falls over the table as Ryne braces his fists on top and leans down close.
“Now.”
The threatening tone is pretty hard to miss. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, well there’s more than one thing I can’t stand, but right now I can’t stand Ryne thinking he can boss me around like he’s hot shit or something. He is hot but he doesn’t have command of all things and I’m not going to bend to his will.
“Nah, I’m good. I’m still eating and there are like ten other open tables available, soooooo…” I shrug and turn back to my phone.
Ryne stares out the window and then back to me, glancing down at my bag on the table. With a smirk, he cocks his head toward the window. “That silver Land Rover out there yours?”
