Page 25 of Endless

“Oh yeah. Been there late before. Good pizza. And I asked you if you could sing because I like your voice. Sounds nice. Thought maybe you sang.”

Silence followed. Okay, the girl didn’t know how to take a compliment.

“We’re here.”

As soon as she said that, the smell of grease and cheese overwhelmed me. My mouth started watering. “Hurry.”

Giggling, she opened the door and we smacked into a wall of sounds, people talking, laughing, and phones ringing.

Exactly like I remembered.

“I see a booth,” Lizzie said and hurried forward.

Good, because I was tired all of a sudden. The front of my foot clipped something, maybe the doorframe, but I caught myself, holding onto her elbow.

“Okay. Stopping. Here.”

With a few quick pushes and tugs I plopped myself down in a rickety booth.

“Hands off the table,” she said.

I lifted them, listening. The familiar swiping sound followed. But this time I heard it more clearly, despite the ruckus around me. And her scent was more intense, like she was close. I reached out, and surprisingly, my fingers found her chin.

She was close to me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Wiping the table a little.” She cleared her throat, and clanking followed. And then, she was whispering something.

“Are you counting?”

“Hey there. What can I get you two?” a nasally voice asked.

“Two of the biggest Pepsis you can find and a large Hawaiian pizza, deep dish crust and some of that cinnamon bread. I forget what it’s called,” I said without facing her.

“A man who knows what he likes…” Her voice trailed off.

“Counting.”

“No. Of course I wasn’t…um…counting.”

“So busted. It’s the anxiety thing, isn’t it? Does it help?”

“Damon, no.”

“Come on. Tell me.” I reached over the table for her, but my hand landed on the tabletop. “My aim off or did you pull away?”

More than likely my aim was off, but her pulling away would have stung, too. Hated not being able to see.

Hated it.

I flopped my hand, palm up, and squinted my eyes at her.

“Yeah. Okay. I was counting. You happy?”

Exactly the opposite, actually. She sounded pissed, which simply wouldn’t do. I didn’t do pissed. “What’s the big deal? So you count to calm yourself down.” I shrugged. I was more curious what got her riled up. Didn’t seem like a good time to bring it up, though. Especially since I’d tried before and was shot down.

Crashed and burned.

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