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“This,” I start, pulling my hand from his and clasping them gently in my lap beneath the table, “is why we’re too different. Because places like this don’t faze you. The elegance. The extravagance. Whereas, a place like this makes me feel like I don’t belong. A fraud for even walking through the doors. Because it would take me all summer to make enough to pay for dinner.”
My words cause Micah to cringe as he leans back in his seat.
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Lex. Honestly.” His words are filled with hesitation. I can see him searching for the right ones, picking apart every thought that comes to his mind. Unsure what to say or how to say it. “I just—”
“You don’t need to impress me, Micah. And if you wanted to, money wouldn’t be the way to go.”
Letting out a long sigh, he averts his eyes to the table as the waiter approaches. He introduces himself, reading off the specials, ignoring the thick tension surrounding us. When he asks what we would like to drink, Micah looks at me with hope in his eyes.
Maybe we’re not as different as I think we are. All he wanted was to take me to dinner. To spend time alone with me. He might have chosen the wrong restaurant, but he put in the effort. This is the only way he knows how to impress someone. And I don’t want him to think this will change the way I’m starting to feel about him.
“I’ll take a water, please,” I say, making the split-second decision to stay.
Micah orders a water as well and the waiter walks away, leaving us in our tension-filled bubble. Unsure how to proceed, and not wanting to talk about our differences anymore, I pull the list from my purse and slide it across the table to him.
“You said you wanted to discuss number five?” I ask as he scans the list again.
“One, three, four, five, and six. Then I have a few things I’d like to add,” he states, looking up at me before adding, “If that’s okay with you.”
“Shall we start at the top then?” Pulling a pen from my purse, I motion for him to hand me the list. Once I have it again, I look to him for direction. “What’s wrong with number one?”
“Twice won’t be enough. Can we amend it to three times a week?”
I make the adjustment, the blue ink of my pen standing out against the black ink of the one I used earlier. It’ll be clear what modifications Micah wanted to make.
The waiter returns with our waters, and we rush to order so we can get back to our discussion. I scan the menu for the cheapest item only to find no prices listed. That tells me exactly how expensive this place really is. I opt for a grilled chicken salad hoping the price of chicken hasn’t suddenly skyrocketed. Or that they’re not charging twenty bucks for a pile of lettuce these days.
“Number three?” I ask once we’re alone again.
“If we’re eating in, I’d like it to be at my place so we can have a little privacy.”
I can agree to that. There’s a reason I opted for a laptop instead of a desktop computer. The mobility means I can work or study anywhere I want. The coffee shop. Cafeteria. Or, in this case, Micah’s apartment.
“Deal. Number four?”
I really hope he doesn’t have a big complaint about this one. I’m not a fan of public displays of affection and it’s carefully tied into number seven.
“PDA isn’t something I’m a fan of, so I’m good with this, but I still want to be able to hold your hand or wrap my arm around your shoulder. How about instead of sayingno public displays of affectionit saysno kissing in public?”
“I like that.”
“And for number six…” His voice trails off.
My eyes linger on the rule I wrote this afternoon.
6. No gifts or spending money on me.
“Obviously tonight doesn’t count, but can we put a cap on the amount? Like, no more than twenty dollars? Because I am going to want to buy you dinner, or coffee, or show up at your dorm with popcorn and a movie. I get you don’t care about money, but my mama raised me to take care of a woman. To pay for her meal and open the car door for her. I can’t promise I won’t spend money on you because I know I will, and if you tell me I can’t, it’ll make me want to spend even more.”
The thought of Micah spending money on me makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to become accustomed to nights like tonight, places like this. This isn’t the world I live in. Yet, I find myself making another concession because of the way he’s looking at me. Because of the pleading in his gaze. And because his beautiful hazel eyes send a shock to my core every time they meet mine.
6. No gift more than $20.
“What’s your issue with number five?” I ask. “I really don’t want anyone to know yet. I’m not ashamed of you, or this, us, but I just can’t make you any promises and if this doesn’t work out—”
“I get it, Lex, but I think Piper and Declan should know. They’re bound to find out anyway. We live with them. Don’t you think it would be better for us to be upfront with them than to try and sneak around like we’re doing something wrong, keep it from them, and then they find out at the wrong moment?”
It would be easier if I didn’t have to lie to Piper. And I know she wouldn’t say anything if I asked her not to.
“Will Declan keep it to himself? Will he tell Kendall?”
“He owes me a favor and I’m calling it in. He won’t say a word,” he says with confidence, the deep timbre of his voice sending a shiver rolling up my spine.
