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Smiling, Danica links her arm with mine and we head down her front steps. I couldn’t get a spot right in front of her house, but it’s a short walk down the block and the sidewalk is clear of ice and snow. It’s a brisk thirty-six degrees tonight and I don’t mind that she presses in close. I open the passenger door to my truck and hold her hand as she steps from the running board into the cab.
After closing the door, I walk around the rear of my truck, stepping off the curb and halting momentarily. I inhale deeply. Fuck, I’m wound up. It comes out in an explosive rush from my lungs and I give myself a pep talk.
You’re on a date, asshole. You asked her, she said yes. She could have said no. Bain says there’s no bro code. Quit worrying, dipshit, and enjoy yourself.
“Yeah… enjoy myself,” I mutter as I jog around to the driver’s side and climb in. Danica smiles and I smile back, noting my palms are still sweaty as I start the truck and put it in Drive.
“I’m nervous,” she blurts.
My head snaps her way as I shift back into Park. “You’re nervous?”
She nods with a sheepish duck of her head.
The knot in the center of my chest loosens as I let out a bark of laughter. “Fuck… so am I. It helps to know you feel the same.”
Danica laughs. “It’s natural, right?”
“God, I hope so.” She snickers and the tension melts away. Our eyes lock across the cab of my truck, her face lit from the glow of the streetlamp. “Let’s promise to enjoy the night with no worries.”
She smirks. “You mean, forget all about our past traumas and the complicated nature of how we know each other? Maybe pretend we just met?”
I beam a smile. “Yeah… just like that.”
The trip to the restaurant only takes fifteen minutes and we have no problem filling the time with casual talk. “Where’s Travis tonight?”
“At his buddy Jordan’s house. I’m sure they’re immersed deep into the Xbox as apparently, Jordan got the new hockey video game.”
“Is he one of Travis’s teammates?”
“Yeah… but they also go to school together.”
I glance her way, drinking in her beauty for a second. “Do I need to get you home by a certain time to get him?”
She turns her head to me. “No. He’s going to stay overnight. Jordan’s mom, Tamara, has become a good friend. Travis does overnights there and Jordan stays at our place often. But I’ll pick him up in the morning and take both boys to school.”
I’m hesitant to ask my next question, but the curiosity will distract me all night so I get it out of the way. “Does Travis know you’re going out with me tonight?”
“No,” she huffs out with a nervous laugh. “I told him I was going out with a friend, which is true. Had he asked mewhoI was going out with, I would have told him, but he wasn’t curious enough to press me.”
“Have you been on a date since Mitch died?”
She shakes her head. “What about you? What’s your dating life like?”
I shoot her a glance, turning my attention back to the road. “Nothing serious.”
Meaningless sex, sneaking out of a woman’s apartment in the morning before she wakes up, trying to dodge claws sinking into me.
The restaurant looks a little sketchy as it’s in a strip mall, but the ratings are high and when I called to make the reservation, they were very helpful in accommodating me with an out-of-the-way table.
When we’re seated in adjacent chairs at a square table near the back, the waiter provides us with a menu. I lean toward Danica so we can peruse it together, but when the waiter returns, we still haven’t decided.
“If I may make suggestions?” he offers. “Ethiopian food is best when it’s shared. Put your forks away and use the injera—it’s a flatbread—to pinch pieces of the food. I would suggest the Doro Wot and the Zilzil Tibs. They’re our most popular dishes.”
Danica and I drop our gazes to the menu again to read the description of the food. I look up at the waiter. “Okay… we’ll try that. And what beverage do you suggest?”
“I’ll bring you some t’ej to try. It’s a fermented honey mead made with gesho leaves. A little sweet but pairs perfectly with the spicy food.”
“Awesome. And water, please.”
