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15
Shelby
The next morning, I couldn’t stop smiling as Paul and I walked hand in hand to breakfast at our favorite diner down the street. We’d been going there together since the beginning, and showing up now while we were experiencing a new kind of beginning made me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy.
“Thank you,” I said with a bashful grin as Paul held the door for me.
“Morning, you two,” Lisa, our favorite server, called as she filled a white ceramic cup from the pot of coffee in her hand. “Have a seat, I’ll be right there.”
We thanked her and made our way to our usual booth. It had to be a good sign that the booth was free today. Paul held out his hand to let me pass, and I slipped into the booth, then he hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning up at him.
His lips quirked into a half-smile and he looked around for a second, then settled onto the bench across from me. “Nothing.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What? Tell me.”
He pursed his lips for a second, then chuckled nervously, keeping his voice low. “I was thinking about sitting next to you. You know, because we’re a thing now, and I liked the idea of being close enough to touch you.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, confused as to why he was sitting across from me if he’d felt that way. I tilted my head as he took my hand in his and rested them on the table between us.
“But then I thought about how sitting next to you meant I wouldn’t be able to look at you. And I really like looking at you.”
I opened my mouth to respond to that ridiculously swoony line, but then Lisa appeared next to the table and gave us a warm smile before her gaze zeroed in on our joined hands. “How’s it going, kids?”
“Good,” we both said, then we made faces at each other and pulled our hands back.
Lisa looked between us with a quirked brow. “Something going on here?”
Oh, crap. We hadn’t talked about this. Were we planning to tell people about us right away? From the way my girlfriends made it seem, anyone who knew us thought we were going to wind up together eventually. So would it really be that shocking for any of them to find out they were right?
On the other hand, Paul’s proposal video was still making the rounds online. It had only been like ten days since that crazy night, and the chatter had only slightly died down at this point. Maybe it would be better if we tried to keep this new thing between us under wraps. At least for a little while.
“What? Like what?” I asked, batting my eyes at her with an innocent expression.
Lisa hummed and turned to Paul, trying for a different angle. “How you doing, Paul? Hanging in there?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“Keeping yourself busy, so you don’t spend all your time moping?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure, Lisa,” he answered, tapping the side of my foot with his.
“Well, good. Now, enough chatter, I gotta get back to work. What are you two having this morning?” she asked, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe she’d gotten so distracted, while pouring coffee into Paul’s mug. She knew I didn’t touch the stuff, so she’d bring me a water at some point.
“I’ll have a scrambled egg, two slices of bacon, and toast, please,” I told her, fully aware that my selection was off the kids’ menu. But I couldn’t help it. Eating small portion sizes had been my life for as long as I could remember. First, when I was concerned about having a dancer’s body, and now because eating a big meal could pretty much wreck me for the rest of the day, energy-wise.
“I’ll have the steak and eggs, please,” Paul said.
“And a Coke?” Lisa asked, knowing it was his thing. Paul always drank his coffee before his food came but liked a cold drink while he was eating hot food.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You got it,” Lisa said with a wink, then turned to go. Before she’d even taken a step, however, she turned back around with a curious expression. “Paul, is it true Roxy slapped you for using the wrong song? That’s what I heard.”
Paul and I both burst out laughing at that, and I covered my face with my hands. Small towns had their charms, sure, but they also had a propensity for gossip that was nothing but trouble in the end.
“No,” Paul answered with a good-natured eye roll. “She actually really loved the song. She just didn’t love the reason it was playing, if you know what I mean.”
