Chapter 21
REID RATHE
“Aren’t you worried that Dustin will come visit Ivy or something?” Avery asks as we park my car at the diner.
The diner is busy tonight, which isn’t surprising.
It’s not far from campus, and it’s common for college kids to come after a long day of classes and studying.
Dustin, Jacob, and I used to come here a lot when we were hungover and needed something greasy like burgers or bacon or bacon on burgers.
We haven’t been here for a while though.
None of us gets so wasted that we have terrible hangovers anymore. None that requires grease, anyway.
“There’s always that risk,” I say with a laugh. She’s so worried that she’s biting on her nails while staring wide-eyed at the bright diner windows that splash light across the parking lot.
“Maybe we shouldn’t tempt fate. We’ve only been dating for a week, and—”
I grab her hands and pull them from her mouth, kissing the back of her knuckles. “Our entire relationship is a risk.”
“Yes! And we shouldn’t chance it with a public date.”
I twist my lips to the side, trying to think of how I can soothe her worries. “How about this: We go, we eat, we talk, and if Dustin shows up, we’ll just tell him we’re friends getting to know each other.”
“And if he catches us kissing?”
Amusement crosses my face. “If it’ll make you feel better, I won’t even hold your hand.”
She thinks about it for a moment before nodding. “Okay.”
“Come on, let’s get a booth.” We get out of the car, and immediately I’m assaulted with the scent of bacon and syrup. The diner is famous for its pancakes, so I’m not surprised that it reaches all the way to the parking lot.
I place my hand at the small of her back and guide her into the diner.
Once we’re inside, we’re immediately seated by a bored-looking hostess who probably wishes she was anywhere but at work.
Sitting across from each other, we take the offered menus from the hostess, even though I’m pretty sure that neither one of us needs it.
She leaves, and I set my menu down. “Do you know what you’re getting?”
She nods and slides her menu to the edge of the table. I set mine on top, and we place our elbows on the table and smile when Ivy slides up to us, a pad and pen in her hands.
A look of surprise crosses her face. “You’re here? Both of you?”
I nod. “We wanted pancakes.”
“Is this…” Ivy’s gaze shoots back and forth between the two of us. “A date?”
Avery blushes but says, “It might be.”
She glances around as if Dustin might pop out at any moment. “Isn’t this kinda—I don’t know—bold of you two?”
I raise my eyebrows at her. “Is Dustin coming tonight?” She shakes her head. “Then we’re fine.”
Blowing out a breath, she raises her pad of paper and poises her pen. “Your funeral. What are you two having?”
We order our pancakes, both with whipped cream topping, and two waters, and she shakes her head at us, mumbling to herself as she heads toward the kitchen.
I turn my attention back to Avery. The blush still sits on her cheeks, and I want more than anything to reach across the table and press my lips to the stained red of her skin.
Instead, I start a conversation, hoping it takes her mind off of getting caught.
The last thing I want is for her to feel uncomfortable with me.
“Did your professors talk about a summer internship yet?”
“Yeah,” she says, tucking a hair behind her ear.
“I’m all nerves about it. I haven’t worked since high school, and that was at a grocery store.
I have no idea what I’ll be like in a hospital setting, let alone where it might be.
I can’t afford to spend a summer in another city just for an internship. ”
“Maybe you’ll get a paid internship.”
“Yeah, maybe. Have you thought about where you’re going to apply?”
I shrug a little. “I have a few places I wouldn’t mind interning at. My mother certainly has her opinions on the matter.”
At the mention of my mom, she leans a little into the table. Ivy sets our drinks in front of us, but that doesn’t steer Avery from her question. “What do your parents do anyway?”
“They own a real estate company.” Her eyebrows start to wiggle, and I try to hold in my laugh. “What are you doing?”
She frowns. “Trying to raise one eyebrow like Ivy. Did it work?”
I chuckle. “No. Not at all.”
Waving a hand in front of her, she grumbles, “Whatever.” She straightens her shoulders and sits up higher. “They must have a big company to afford everything they have.”
I like that she didn’t imply that it was my money too.
It means I was right about her. She’s not after what I’ll inherit, and that warms a place in my chest. “Yeah, it’s quite large.
They were disappointed when I told them I was going to school for anesthesiology.
They wanted me to learn the family business. ”
“Why didn’t you want to?”
I pick up my drink and take a sip as I think of the answer. “I wasn’t interested in what they do. And I wanted to make my own way in the world. I told them as much as well.”
“And how’d that go?”
“Well, my mom wasn’t happy, that’s for sure.”
She puckers her lips. “Your mom sounds controlling.”
I nod slowly and set my drink back down. “She is, but she has her reasons. She only wants what’s best for me, and after my last breakup, she’s even more uptight about letting me do my own thing.”
“Hmm,” she hums before wetting her bottom lip. “What happened with your last girlfriend?”
My eyebrows rise. I never thought she’d ask about a past relationship.
For a minute there, I watched her fight with herself over doing so.
“It was a toxic relationship. She was pretty on the outside, but I quickly learned that looks weren’t everything.
She was ugly on the inside. She spent a lot of time getting close to my parents, but my mother saw right through her.
She knew she was after their money, especially when she started talking about marriage. ”
“Oh,” is her only answer. She glances down at her hands cupping her drink. And I don’t know if it was perfect timing or bad timing because Ivy comes with our pancakes and sets them in front of us, along with a tiny pitcher of syrup.
“Need anything else, guys?” she asks, hands on her hips. We both shake our heads. “Well, enjoy.”
She walks away without another word, and I watch her go, but when I look back at Avery, she’s staring a little too hard.
“What?” I ask tentatively as I begin to dig into my food.
“You know I don’t care about your family’s money, right?”
I pause with the fork halfway to my mouth. “Of course I know that.”
“Good,” she says, breathing a sigh of relief.
“I know you’re a genuine person. And I know that you don’t really like that my family has a lot of money. You’re good, baby girl.”
At the nickname, she smiles a little and starts to cut up her pancakes. “Let’s talk about something else.”
And we do. We spend the next hour talking about random things from our childhoods, just getting to know one another on a deeper level. And when it’s time to go home, I pay the check and kiss her at the apartment building’s entrance before we part ways for the night.