Page 33 of Learning to Love

The same flirty hostess from the other night seats us. Oh joy, and our waitress is a snarky flirt. I know he's hot but damn. Jake has his arm around me and kisses my forehead as she approaches the table. She rolls her eyes at me, making me laugh, which she doesn't appreciate. She takes our drink order and then speeds off. She's unquestionably annoyed. "I swear! Jake, if she spits in my water!"

He grins. "You want me to go flirt with her or something then."

I scowl at him while taking his arm off my shoulder. I pick up my knife. "Do you want to get cut?"

He laughs. "With a butter knife? Good luck. I'm prime A beef baby. It would take at least a good steak knife to cut through this muscle."

Oh no, sir! He doesn't know about me yet. "I've watched the First 48 my whole life. I know things."

Everyone at the table laughs. Jake is trying to keep a straight face. He holds his hands up in defeat. "Yes, ma'am, I'll behave from here on out."

He's so cute. "You better."

He kisses me. While Jaxon yells, "get a room!"

"Dani, what are you going to order?" Toby asks while mulling over his menu. With all the flirting, I forgot how hard it is for him to make a choice.

I shake my head. We may be here all night. "Pancakes. Of course!"

He rolls his eyes. "You order that every time. They have a variety of other choices."

I shrug. "Variety is vastly overrated."

Karen speaks up. "Variety is the spice of life."

Toby gives her a smoldering look. I almost laugh. Toby might be smitten. Okay, Karen! She might be his perfect match. "Toby, whatcha thinking?"

He shrugs, and I feel the need to explain to the table our terrible dilemma. "Toby has taken over an hour to decide what to eat before. Y'all have no idea what we're in for."

Toby looks affronted, and everyone at the table grumbles under their breath. "Really, Dani?"

I smile mischievously back at him. He flips me off, and I laugh. "I'm not wrong."

Jake looks at Toby. "Have you tried the pancakes?"

"Nope. I'm not a basic bitch."

We all laugh at his assessment. Really?! Jaxon puts down his menu. "You just directly called almost everyone at this table a basic bitch man. That's cold. Ice cold."

Axel can't help himself. "Alright...Alright...Alright. I ain't got no problems being a basic bitch. These pancakes are everything."

I laugh. Axel's toasted. My phone pings and it's Jake.

If your cousin doesn't hurry, I will body slam him!

I giggle.

Why are you in such a hurry?

I can't wait to lay you down.

I put my phone down and put my face in my hands. I'm blushing so bad from his reply. He’s laughing and if I had one more limb, I'd pinch him.

The waitress comes back to take our orders. The football players pressure Toby into getting the pancakes. Everyone is starving, and we don't have time for his mess. Poor Toby. I'd feel bad for him if these pancakes weren't so deliciously good. I also get my usual but decide to add scrambled eggs as another side tonight. It's been a minute since I've had eggs.

All our phones go off at once. I peer down at my phone, and my heart drops. A picture has been posted of us dancing earlier tonight. And another one is posted below it. Someone captured my "Nobody cares, Janet" moment. A new article of the EF Insta accompanies the pictures.

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