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"Just a water, please," I answered quietly. Her fake grin dropped, and she strode away, obviously annoyed I hadn't ordered anything that would reflect on her tip money.
"Sure you don't want a glass of wine or something like that?" Connor asked, his gaze sitting heavily on my face.
I brushed away the flicker of unease curling across my chest. Connor had never given me anything to worry about. He was a pretty good-looking guy, with his caramel colored hair and dark brown eyes, but I'd never been interested, and he'd never attempted to flirt with me.
I glanced away, staring out at the dimly lit bar like I was actually interested in it. "I'm good. Work starts early, tomorrow."
His eyes flashed in disappointment, but he nodded. “It’s been a ridiculous semester, hasn't it? I swear I get anxiety just entering the classroom."
I smiled and nodded, relaxing a little. I could talk about school and be normal for a little while.
The waitress sat our drinks down. "Have you decided what you want to eat, or do you need a little more time?"
I opened my mouth to tell her we weren’t actually ordering anything, but Connor spoke before I could. "A few more minutes, please," he said, casting her a smug grin.
As she walked away, I checked the group text on my phone to see if anyone else had said they were here. The chat was completely silent, unfortunately.
"I heard this place is really great. You should look over the menu. You gotta be hungry. It'll be my treat."
Oh.
"Do you think we should wait for the others, at least?"
It was terrible of me, but I was probably going to take up his offer of a free meal. I was starving, and sick of Ramen packets. And everything on the menu looked amazing.
Guilt slid over me, a memory of my mother floating through my mind. Of what she'd done to get things from men.
Of how they’d left her.
I pushed the memories out of my head. It wasn't like that. This was just my friend offering to pay for a meal. It didn't mean anything.
It didn’t mean I was like her.
The waitress came back, and I asked for the burger.
"Do you like steak? You should get it."
A blush hit my cheeks. The steak was the most expensive thing on the menu.
"You really should get the steak. It's the best thing here," the waitress offered unhelpfully.
I closed the menu and slid it forward. "All right, I'll have that."
She walked away, satisfied with the upsell, and Connor and I engaged in a little bit of small talk about other classes we were taking. The conversation was probably the longest I'd ever had with him, and through it all, he stared at me so interestedly.
It was weirding me out.
"Should we call the others?" I asked. I glanced down at my phone and realized that the two other girls in the group were forty-five minutes late.
Connor pulled his phone out. "Oh, they both texted. I guess they were driving together but they couldn't make it. Bummer," he said, not actually sounding bummed at all as he slid the phone back into his pocket. "But that's okay. We can still work on the project.” He slid his hand forward and grabbed mine. "And I've been wanting to get to know you better."
Fuck, this was a date. He’d conned me into a fucking date.
My stomach chose that moment to rumble. And fuck, I was going to stay here because I really wanted that steak.
"Excuse me for a minute, I need to use the restroom," I told him, sliding out of the bench seat, and heading towards them before he could say anything else.
My phone buzzed just then, and I pulled it out, blindly hoping that maybe it was one of the girls in the study group saying she was making it after all.
