AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are we getting then, boys?” she asked.
“I thought we were gentlemen?” Sawyer asked, not able to help himself.
“You’ve been demoted.”
“I’ll have the tater-tot casserole and coleslaw,” Luke said, not even looking at the menu.
“Usual to drink?” Josie asked, scrawling it out on her paper.
“Please and thank you.”
“What about you, Mr. Famous Football Star?” Josie said to Sawyer with a sly grin. It seemed she couldn’t help herself either, the coolness between them almost visibly fading. Maybe she’d just had a bad afternoon…
“What’s the best thing here?” he asked, which is what he usually asked waiters whenever he tried a new restaurant. Though this was certainly different to the five-star venues he was used to having dinner at.
“Beet burger,” said Josie without hesitation. “And you’ll want the coleslaw with it too. And cause I’m feeling generous, I’ll even bring you cheesy garlic bread.”
“You’re a saint,” said Luke sarcastically, and Josie poked her tongue out at him. Literally poked her tongue out at him.
“You can have the same drink as him too,” Josie said to Sawyer, writing herself a note. “Because that means I can just bring out a pitcher and you boys can pour your own drinks.”
She stabbed a full stop onto the order and spun away.
“Thank you, Josie,” Luke called in a sing-song voice, receiving a backhanded wave for his efforts.
“What’s a beet burger?” Sawyer asked, thinking maybe he should have just read the menu and chosen the safest-looking thing.
“Burger with beets on it,” said Luke, not all that helpfully, as Josie returned in record time, dumping a pitcher of soda down on their table and disappearing off to her next task.
Their conversation was stilted and awkward. Sawyer figured there wasn’t going to be much that could fix that overnight. But it was still a victory that they were both here, sittingdown, having a meal together. The noise of the diner, the hum of conversation and the clatter of cutlery, and the nondescript country music playing over the speakers, made it easier between them as well. They could sit quietly and sip their drinks rather than force words out of their mouths for the sake of it.
It wasn’t a long wait till their dinner arrived, Josie carrying the plates with expert precision and placing them down on the table with barely a rattle.
“Casserole and coleslaw for you,” she said to Luke. “And a beet burger and more coleslaw for you. Cheesy garlic bread to share, and you’re lucky that I didn’t take a bite out of it myself. Enjoy, boys.”
She was off again in the blink of an eye, with no time to stick around and talk.
Sawyer peered at the food curiously as Luke tucked in without hesitation. Sawyer’s burger did indeed have beets on it, purple discs dripping their juices down and mingling with the beef patty, lettuce and onion. Even Luke’s tater-tot casserole looked mildly exotic, with what seemed to be basil and pork scratchings mixed on top of the crisp outer layer. Not willing to find out what Luke and Josie’s reaction would be if he declined to even try the beet burger, he picked it up and took a bite.
“Oh my God,” Sawyer said around his mouthful of food, not really caring right now if his mom was looking on from the afterlife and scolding his table manners. It was the best burger he’d ever had. Tangy and rich, the caramelized onions almost creamy, the beet juice the best thing of all, weirdly, but so good he licked his fingers to not let any drop of it go to waste.
“It’s good, huh?” said Luke, barely finishing his own bite of casserole. “Here, try some of this too.”
He scooped a forkful of his dinner onto Sawyer’s plate. Stunned by the sudden generosity, Sawyer scooped up the casserole onto his fork and tried it. It was just as amazing as the burger, and it was indeed pork scratchings and basil that he’d seen. And the garlic bread covered in melted cheese? Sawyer could have been buried alive in the stuff and have nothing to complain about.
Sawyer had enough money to last a lifetime and not a whole lot of ways to spend it on a regular basis, but one thing he’d always done was go out to restaurants whenever and wherever he could. He loved looking up the best places in any city he’d end up in and trying food from all the chefs who were revered in the culinary world. All of it was delicious, of course, but this… this made himhappy.
When he tried the coleslaw, biting into the sweet, crunchy mix that had what tasted like just a hint of lime, he nearly had an out-of-body experience.
“Put some of the coleslaw on the burger,” said Luke, watching Sawyer with an amused expression. “You’ll thank me for it.”
Sawyer did as he was told, scooping some of it onto a bite of burger and eating it in a glassy-eyed daze.
“Thank you,” he said, mouth still full.
“You’re welcome.”
They finished the rest of the meal without talking, but now it was a comfortable silence as they enjoyed their food, savoring every bite, not a cold and harsh silence like trying to step through aminefield. Both their plates were clean at the end of the meal, not a single morsel going to waste, not when it tasted that good.
