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I broke into a smile. “Well, if I shouldn’t be expecting anything, should I know now?”
He took my hand and we started walking. “What do you feel like eating?” he asked with a wry smile.
I shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
“Well, we have the usual on offer.”
With a smile, I answered, “How about burgers atLacey’s? It’s almost warm enough to sit outside.” I paused as a thought hit me. “Oh! What about pizza?”
He chuckled. “Let’s start withLacey’sand see what you feel like when you sit down?”
Our hands swung. “Sounds good.”
We walked along in silence. I wasn’t sure if it was companionable or not. I mean,Ifelt okay… But, then I started worrying about how he was feeling. Did he think I was feeling awkward? Was he feeling awkward? Did he expect me to talk? Should we be talking? Should I stop swinging his hand? Should I let go? Was I supposed to be walking closer to him? What should I be talking about?
I wracked my brain for things to talk about. But the harder I thought, the further any potential topics seemed to get from reach.
I was pulled out of my crazy mind when I felt a tug on my hand.
“Lacey’syeah?” Mason asked, looking a little confused.
I blinked and looked around, realising I’d been about to walk straight pastLacey’s.
“Uh, yeah,” I chuckled self-consciously. “Yes,” I tried again with a little more confidence.
“Outside?” he checked as a waitress came over and I nodded.
“Table for two?” she asked and I recognised her as a girl a year or two below us at school.
“Yes, thanks. Outside, please,” Mason answered.
She smiled at him the way everyone seemed to smile at Mason. She flicked her hair and batted her eyes a little. But, Mason just put his arm around my shoulder and looked into my eyes.
“Milkshake or soft drink?” he asked me.
“Coke, I think,” I answered, my eyes sliding to the waitress.
The waitress gave me a look that clearly told me I’d won that round before giving me the perfect hospitality smile. “This way, please.”
Mason and I followed her to a table under a heater that made it quite pleasant out actually. She passed us menus as we sat and took our drink orders before leaving us to decide what to eat.
“So, have you decided between the burger and pizza?” Mason asked.
I looked up at him and pulled my head out of my arse.
The guy looked at me like Tormund looks at Brienne – or, so I was told – and I was sitting there like a complete dick. I was worrying over every little thing, second-guessing myself, looking for issues left, right and centre.
I took a deep breath, told myself to just relax, and gave him a smile that I was actually pretty pleased with.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “On one hand, it’s a burger. On the other, it’s pizza.”
Mason laughed, his eyes dancing. “I see the dilemma. The question is, can you eat a whole pizza?”
I felt myself relaxing; food was something I could talk about easily and forever. “Well, Ican. The real question isshouldI? Especially with popcorn and a choc top making an appearance later.”
His mouth dropped open in jest. “Popcorn and a choc top? What makes you think there’ll be popcornanda choc top?”
I leant over towards him. “The fact that I am quite capable of paying for those sorts of things myself.”
