Chapter Nine
My palms felt itchyin the back of the car, a symptom of an anxiety I hadn’t felt for some time now.Perhaps it was the taciturn mood of the driver rubbing off on both of us, but Kai was quiet next to me, too.I stared out the window at the evening streets, wondering against my better judgment about what my ex might be doing now.
I didn’t know what I’d expected from the restaurant Kai had suggested.It hadn’t even crossed my mind to ask what sort of food they served, which seemed a little odd now that I thought about it.Mid-week, I decided, it couldn’t be too busy.That made me feel a little less nervous.
From the outside, it had that weathered-wood look that was popular.The sort of design which you suspect was intended to express “we threw this together because we were too busy concentrating on our good, honest recipes.”As Kai pushed open the door, it triggered a series of beaming, welcoming smiles from about three servers and a girl behind the register.I fought the urge to grimace, then wondered if I was always going to be an antisocial pessimist now.
There was, at least, minimal fuss in getting us to a table.The place was a little over half full, a mixture of families and couples.I let my eyes drift across chalkboards on the wall filled with today’s specials.It seemed like New American had discovered farm-to-table, and set up shop somewhere between the two.
When I looked back, it was to find Kai staring at me, frowning slightly.
“You hate it,” he accused, mildly.
I found myself shaking my head, automatically.“Not at all,” I protested, “just, y’know...taking it all in.”
His expression suggested deep skepticism.“Look, I get the decor is a bit hokey and played-out, but the food is good.”
I held up my hands, placatory.“Seriously, I’m not judging,” I lied.“I was literally just checking out the specials.”
I suspected he didn’t believe me still, but he settled on sighing with exaggerated melodrama and looking down the single-page menu we’d been left with.“If you really didn’t want to go out,” he observed, head still lowered, “you could’ve said.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment.My first reaction was to point out that I had said, but I knew that I hadn’t, actually.Not really; not in so many words.I’d done my usual vague demurral, to see if that would be enough to get me out of something without having to be so blunt as to say “no” outright.And now I was sitting here being so passive-aggressive that someone who, frankly, hardly knew me at all could read it clearly.
Man, I pissed myself off sometimes.
“I’m sorry,” I said, then, instead of protesting.“I think I’m just out of the habit of, well, going out.I didn’t mean to be rude.”
Kai glanced up at me, a small smile twisting the corner of his mouth.“It’s okay.If you’re embarrassed, we don’t have to tell anybody that it’s a date.”
I gaped at him.“I...I mean, I didn’t...You never...”My stuttering was only ended by his laugh.
“Tate, calm down,” he said, through chuckles, “I’m teasing you.”
The gape became a glare.“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you.”
It had been a comment, not a question, and Kai responded as such - by basically ignoring it.“I’m trying not to be offended that the thought of going on a date with me would be so terrible.”
Any response I could’ve given - and, frankly, I wasn’t sure what I could say to that - was interrupted by the server.Kai clearly knew what he wanted, and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision that the woman suggested was her favorite thing on the menu.I resisted the urge to ask whether she said that about every selection, deciding it would probably not help my argument that I wasn’t entirely antisocial.
By the time she’d taken our drink orders, had left, and then someone else had poured us water, Kai was looking at me with a knowing expression on his face.
“If every moment of this is killing you, we really can just leave,” he offered.
“We’ve just ordered,” I pointed out, frowning.
Kai shrugged.“So, we can leave anyway.”
Shaking my head, I took a sip of water.“Don’t be ridiculous, we couldn’t do that.”
He sat back, arms folded, looking satisfied.“Ah, so you do have limits; you’re not a total social monster after all.”
It felt like I’d spent at least fifty percent of our time here glaring at him.I was beginning to worry I’d have a permanent wrinkle in the middle of my forehead before we got the check.
