Page 17 of Calling a Cease-Fire

The waitress came and took our orders, and I did, in fact, skip the pickles. Because, gross. Then I leaned back, folded my arms across my chest, and waited for the teasing to start.

But it never came. Instead, Zack spent the next five minutes teasing Adam about the weird foods he liked to eat. And he did like some weird foods. I mean, come on. Cheddar cheese on apple pie? Who did that?

Finally, Zack stole a glance over at me and I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to get it over with, so I decided I would open the door instead. “Thank you for driving me home last night.”

He gave me a brief nod. “You’re welcome.” He held my gaze, nothing but sincerity in it, and I bit the inside of my cheek.

Why was he holding back? It was kind of pissing me off. I didn’t deserve his kindness after the way I’d acted.

And then it dawned on me. Maybe this was his plan—make me squirm. It was like he knew his silence was making me uncomfortable, and I was playing right into it. Nope. Not gonna happen. Time to take back control of the situation.

Lyla cleared her throat. “Yeah, that was really nice of him.”

“Totally,” I purred. “Although he did think he was going to get laid.”

Zack laughed, leaning back and crossing his arms. “Oh, Raven. That was never going to happen.”

“Really?” I raised a brow, taunting him. “Because I recall you being very interested.”

The corner of his lips lifted into a slight smirk. God, I hated it. It dripped with arrogance, and the stupid little dimples that appeared annoyed me.

Lyla sighed, looking across at Adam. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

I could hear the discouragement in her voice, and I internally scolded myself. Why did I let Zack bring out the worst in me?

“I’m sorry. And I appreciate you inviting me.” I bumped her shoulder and turned back to look at Zack. “Look, I’m sorry for the way I acted last night.” His eyes widened like that was the last thing he expected me to say. Join the club, buddy. “Can we just forget it happened and move on?”

He studied me with a hardness I wasn’t used to seeing from him. And for much longer than I would have liked. I almost expected him to say no. Like my idea irritated him.

“Sure thing,” he finally said with an air of disappointment.

Lovely. It was almost as if he was pouting. What did he want from me? To admit I actually wanted to have sex with him. That I needed to feel something other than sadness. That his touch, just his proximity, made me feel alive. Made me forget about the pain. And I was desperate for more of that feeling.

The awkward silence was unbearable. Considering he rarely shut up, this was usually what I wanted. Now? It was torture. I wanted to scream, but that wasn’t going to help, and I had no clue what else to do. I apologized. Wasn’t that enough?

Although, sometimes actions were stronger than words.

I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone. With a semi-forced smile, I slid it across the table to him.

He looked from the phone up to my face and raised a brow.

“Call it a temporary ceasefire.” I tapped the phone. “Put your number in.”

He smiled like a kid on Christmas morning, and for some godforsaken reason, my stomach flipped. Maybe the alcohol did something to my brain last night, because I actually found it kind of cute. Damn dimples and all.

Maybe this was how he pulled people in. He was annoying until he wore you down. Until you had no choice but to not hate him.

“Once I have dates for the bachelor/bachelorette party,” I added, “I’ll text you, and we can see if The Dock can accommodate us.”

“You know you might regret this, right?” His smile morphed into a troublesome grin as he snatched the phone up and began inputting his number.

“Yes.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m aware.”

He slid the phone back across the table to me. “If The Dock can’t do it, we could consider looking at The Lodge.”

I sat up straight. His family-owned mountain resort would be perfect. Everyone could spend the night and not have to worry about getting home. Which was a huge plus considering our small town didn’t have reliable rideshare options. Then again, it might be harder to plan an overnight with everyone. So many of us worked shifts, the chances everyone could get the same time off was pretty slim. But if The Dock couldn’t do it, it could be a really good second option.

“I love that idea.” And I really did, which was also a little frustrating.