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This is what we wanted, right? Publicity. Proof. Exposure. So why does it still feel so strange? He’s going to post that picture somewhere and then the world will know. I have a pink-haired, pierced, and tattoo-covered girlfriend. It feels like the one thing I’ve been taught to avoid since childhood and I didn’t even realize it. All the while, my mother was trying to set me up with quote, unquote “good Christian girls,” but what she was really accomplishing was teaching me to never look twice at a girl like Sage.
And now I’m intentionally breaking that rule.
Sage and I stand in awkward silence for a moment before I realize I’m still holding her affectionately. My hands drop away as she takes a step back.
“Can we go now?” she whispers, turning her gaze away from mine. Judging by the frigid chill in her voice, the unexpected photographer killed her buzz.
“Yes,” I reply flatly.
My hand moves to her lower back as I guide her to our table to say our goodbyes. She’s tense under my touch. As we reach my family, I make the announcement that we’re leaving, and I notice the smug look of victory on my father’s face. I hate the idea that he thinks he’s won somehow.
I want to yank him up by his collar and tell him that this is only the beginning. I’d like to spit in his face and remind him what a royal piece of shit he is, but I can’t do that here.
Instead, I kiss my mother on the cheek and wave goodbye to my brothers as I escort my date to the exit.
* * *
“I’m starving,” she mumbles in the passenger seat. As I pull the car out onto the main road, I glance over at her and feel my stomach growling like she summoned it.
“Didn’t you eat the chicken?” I ask.
She shrugs. “The chicken was fine, but that rice tasted like rotten dirt.” She twists her face up in disgust and I bite back a laugh.
“That was truffle risotto,” I reply.
“I thought truffles were chocolate.”
“Truffle is a dessert, but truffles are an exotic mushroom that, yes, taste a little like rotten dirt.”
“Rich people are weird,” she replies, scrolling through her phone. With another laugh, I glance sideways at her, noticing that she’s typing the charity name into the search bar.
“Looking for that picture already? It’s a little early.”
“I know. I just want to see if we’re in any pics yet.”
She’s still scrolling as I come up to the intersection leading to her apartment. There aren’t any good restaurants in this part of town. It’s mostly businesses and clubs. So I make a right instead.
“You like burgers?” My voice is low, almost like I don’t want her to hear me.
“Huh?” she asks, looking up.
“I know a good burger joint over here.”
At the mere thought of greasy ground beef covered in cheese, my stomach starts to growl louder this time, and Sage giggles next to me.
“You’re taking me out for burgers?” she asks as if it’s so hard to believe.
“Iam going to grab some food. You mentioned you were hungry. Would you like to go with me or not?” My voice is a little too loud as I snap at her, but she only reacts with a tight-lipped smile and humor in her eyes.
“Yes, please.”
With an audible huff, I pull into the run-down parking lot of the place Caleb introduced me to a few years ago. It’s clearly popular because the inside is packed to the brim with people. After finding a place to park, I hop out and make my way toward Sage’s side to open her door, but she’s already climbing out before I get there.
We walk together to the window, where we place our order for two cheeseburgers, an order of onion rings, and two chocolate shakes. Sage is bouncing eagerly on her toes as we wait in silence for the food to come out. And when they call our number, she lets out a growly hum, inhaling the scent of fried onions wafting from the paper bag.
Instead of trying to fight for a table inside, we walk out to the car and place our food on the trunk.
“Go ahead,” I say, patting the surface. “Have a seat.”
