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“I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“My daughter is a senior, Carrie-Anne Trombley.” She smiled warmly. “She mentioned she had a friend that worked here.”
Me and Carrie-Anne Trombley, friends? I didn’t have the heart to burst her mom’s bubble.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, trying not to frown. “We have a few classes together. She’s not with—”
“Oh, she’s at the game.”
“She is?” I hadn’t taken her for a football fan. In fact, she seemed to hate the football team with a passion. Especially Bryan.
But then, I had seen the way she looked at him sometimes.
“She didn’t tell you?” The woman seemed genuinely surprised. Weird. “Her cousin Jude is a huge fan just like our Carrie. He attends Temple University now, but came back to take her to the game.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, glancing over to the service counter. “I need to—”
“Oh, of course.”
“Enjoy your food.” Hurrying over to the counter, I pretended to busy myself.
“What was all that about?” Cindy asked quietly over my shoulder.
“Her daughter is in my class,” I said. “She thinks we’re friends.”
“And you’re not?”
“We’ve barely ever spoken.”
“Maybe her daughter wants to be your friend?” Cindy gave me one of her trademark smirks.
“Yeah, maybe.” There was still something about it that rang weird to me, but it wasn’t like I’d ever tried to get to know Carrie-Anne. It was easy to judge without knowing the facts.
The doorbell jangled as a group of guys walked in. My eyes immediately went to the guy upfront. Sean.
Crap.
I’d managed to avoid him all week too, after he’d cornered me earlier in the week to apologize for what happened at the game. Sean wasn’t a bad guy; he just didn’t like being rejected. Male pride was a strange thing. But I didn’t have the energy to get pissy about it, so we’d talked, and I’d accepted his apology. But I’d turned down his offer to take me out and make it up to me.
His eyes lit up when he found me across the diner.
“Uh oh, girl,” Cindy snickered, “I know that look.”
“He’s… a friend.”
“Aren’t they always.” She patted my shoulder as she disappeared to take care of one of her tables, leaving me to deal with Sean and his rabble of friends.
I grabbed four menus and made my way over to them. “Welcome to Cindy’s. Are you dining with us today?”
“Yeah, Sean’s real hungry. Isn’t that right, Farrow?”
“Don’t be an asshole, Richie,” Sean shot me an apologetic look. “We’re eating.” His eyes dipped down my body and back up, a small grin curving his lips. Damn, his smile, it got me every time.
It’s how I’d ended up tangled up with him in the first place.
“Right this way.” I forced myself to take a deep breath as I led Sean and his friends over to a booth by the window. Waiting until they were all seated, I passed around the menus. “Can I get you some drinks?”
“We’ll take four Cokes,” Sean said, not giving his friend time to answer first.
