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“He’s not my boyfriend,” I reply.
Candy rolls her eyes while Shirley laughs in the background. “He’ssoyour boyfriend.”
“Sweetie, sooner or later, that boy will be yourhusband,” Shirley gushes. “You two need to do some growing up.” A grin takes over her wrinkled face. “You wait and see.”
“Shirley, I’m beginning to think you’re crazy,” I remark, shaking my head.
“Not crazy, honey, just wise.” She squeezes my shoulder.
I push my notepad into my apron, drag my hair into a ponytail, and rub at my tired eyes.
“Good morning, Lina babe,” Rex greets as soon as I come into his view. He’s wearing a black baseball hat that covers his bedhead and a loose gray sweatshirt. “I’m a little offended you told them I wasn’t your boyfriend.”
Thankfully, since the diner only opened an hour ago, nearly all the booths are empty, and no one is hearing this boyfriend talk. Rex is sprawled out in his booth, his closed laptop on the other side of the table. An elderly couple—Candy’s grandparents—are situated in a booth in her section, and a few police officers are immersed in conversation at the counter.
“What?” I ask when I reach him. “How’d you hear that?”
“I not only like this booth because it’s in your section, but I can also hearallthe kitchen talk. You ladies are loud as hell when you gossip about me.” He arches a brow. “It seems to be your favorite subject back there. Wait until they find out I was granted the role of being your boyfriend over the weekend and we have still yet to break up.”
“Oh God, get over yourself,” I grumble.
I’m clueless on how to tell my parents we broke up. We should’ve thought about this following us home when we started the stupid charade. No matter what, when I tell my parents we broke up, they’ll blame it on Rex. Even if I say it was my decision, there will be no changing their mind. They’ve seen Rex as a bad influence all these years and me as their innocent little princess—except for the whole dropping out of school. My innocence status dropped a few notches after that.
He stretches his legs out and smiles. “Have I mentioned how much I love you in that uniform?”
“Yes,” I say with a groan. “Every day I serve you.”
Our uniforms stay with the ’50s theme—red-and-white-striped dress with a white apron and white shoes. We all sport them with the exception of Shirley, who’s retired from the outfit and wears a tee sporting the diner’s logo. Last week, we jokingly started a petition to change our uniforms, and she said she’d consider the change.
“I’ll have my usual, my hot candy cane-striped waitress.” He doesn’t even bother to open his menu. “And a coffee.”
I leave to start his order, and when I return to his booth, his laptop is open in front of him. I drop a handful of sugar packets onto the table before setting his coffee down. Rex has a sweet tooth—hence why he loves my cookies.
“Aunt Lina!”
I glance back to see my nephew, Henry, barreling my way, and I nearly stumble back when he hugs my legs, peeking up at me with a bright smile. A Superman cape is tied around his neck, and his sneakers light up with every move he makes.
“We came to see you for breakfast!” he beams. “Grammy said I can get smiley-face pancakes!”
I bend to squeeze him into a hug and see my sister coming our way with my two-year-old niece, Addy, on her hip.
Tricia’s gaze pings from me to Rex in the booth, her eyes widening in interest. “Oh, hey, your boyfriend came to see you this morning. How cute.”
I can’t tell if her comment is a compliment or a dig. My sister is a hard person to read and isn’t a Rex fan. He hooked up with one of her friends in high school and then never called her back after the sixteen voicemails said friend left. She needs to get over it. She’s married with children now.
Tricia and I weren’t close growing up. My parents were strict with every move I made but not with Tricia. She had more freedom and could get away with mediocre grades, and my parents accepted her choice not to attend college. After I moved into her loft, our relationship has improved, but we’re definitely not best friends. She’s also taken on the hobby of finding me a man to marry.
Trailing Tricia is my mother, the expression on her face even more unreadable than Tricia’s tone.
“Did you say boyfriend?” Candy squeals, rushing our way. She is nearly jumping up and down when she reaches us. “Carolina keeps denying it!”
“Oh, they’re together all right,” Tricia confirms. “They made it official over the weekend at our cousin’s wedding.”
My eyes flash to Rex’s in ahelp melook.
“Isn’t that right?” my sister adds skeptically, her gaze pointed at Rex as if this is a test.
“That’s right,” Rex answers, shutting his laptop and sliding it away from him. “We’ve been keeping it on the down-low for this very reason—to stop people from gossiping and making a big deal about it. It’s new, and no matter what, we’ll always be best friends first.”
