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Pike nodded. “Oh yeah. I could tell that her father was trying to hold himself back all night from saying shit. Her mom had no problem making all these snide remarks, though, asking me things like my plans for the future—I put on this sort of army accent that a lot of the guys picked up on our tour? And I was talking about how I liked to go dirt racing in my car and wanted to bring Amber, and that oh it was totally safe, I only knew of two people who’d died that way.”
“Oh my God!” As if Pike would ever be that reckless about his car or about someone that he loved. “And they bought it!? But they knew you before, they can’t possibly be that stupid!”
“Apparently they are! Or they just thought the army made me stupider than I’d been before, who fucking knows. I was trying so hard not to laugh the entire time. Amber was clearly having the time of her life. I spilled wine all over her mom’s lap, too, that was a bit tricky to pull off but I managed it and I was so damn triumphant, you should’ve heard the shriek she gave!”
“Please tell me she was wearing white.”
“Nope, dark green, but it still stained. And it got on her nice white tablecloth and the cream carpet.”
I was laughing so hard imagining it that I was wiping tears from my eyes. “I wish you’d recorded that.” I would give good money to see a snobby woman like that get her carpet, her fine linen tablecloth, and her fancy dress ruined by red wine. As if she couldn’t afford to go out and get it all replaced right away.
Pike grinned at me, this soft look in his eyes like making me laugh was the greatest thing he’d ever accomplished. I used to love it when I could make him laugh, back when I was in high school and pining for him. It was kind of nice to see the tables turned, to know that he was feeling the way that I had back then.
“Did you get kicked out?” I asked.
“Nah, I tried my best, though. I thought for sure at one point after I started doing these crappy imitations of their friends at the country club that they would, but I think they were too polite to go that far.”
“Too bad for them, they had to keep dealing with you.”
Pike pouted in mock outrage. “Hey, I’m a delight to be around.”
“I don’t know, are you?” I pretended to think about it for a moment.
Pike reached across the bar and poked me in the shoulder. “You think I’m charming, don’t even try to deny it.”
“I do not.”
“You literally said so, that first night at the kegger. You said I was the most charming guy you ever met.”
“I never said that!” Fuck, did I say that?
Pike grinned. “You didn’t say it, but your blush is telling me you sure were thinking it.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
“No, no, that’s your job.”
I burst out laughing and Pike looked so damn pleased with himself, like he’d won the lottery. “Okay,” I conceded, “fine, I thought you were charming.”
“You thought?”
“I still think you’re charming, oh my God, if I’d known you were such a narcissist I never would’ve decided to date you.”
“Too late. All sales are final.” Pike winked at me, and fuck, he really was charming, with his low, intimate tone of voice and the way he was looking at me like I was the best thing he’d ever seen. I wanted him to look at me, and only me, that way. I felt so selfish for thinking like that, but I also couldn’t stop myself.
And now I was starting to hope that maybe I really was the only person he looked at that way.
“Sounds like your mission was accomplished,” I told him.
“Oh, yeah, they’ll be begging Amber to marry…” Pike’s voice deepened and got posh. “Chad the Third.”
I laughed. “Good, because you can stop being Amber’s fake boyfriend.”
“The only boyfriend I’m interested in being is yours.” Pike leaned in, brushing his lips against mine, and I felt my face heating up. I tilted my face up and let him kiss me properly, feeling a thrill race down my spine. God, when things were good, they were amazing. I hoped they could stay that way.
“Y’know,” Pike said, leaning in more to whisper in my ear. “I was thinking… you get off your shift soon. You could come back to my place and we could spend some time together.”
It was hard to find time when my parents were almost always home and we had such different schedules and didn’t want anyone else to know that we were dating just yet. I’d felt like the diner the other day was perhaps a little risky, but it was just lunch during the daytime, it could’ve been just friends hanging out together. Especially since Amber stopped by to say hello (ugh).
