Chapter 10
Tessa
“You hungry, Slate?” Zane calls back from the front.
“Starving.”
“We’ll find something on the way,” Zane says and turns to Evie.
“I’m on it,” she says. “All right. Taco Bell, Subway, Sonic, Waffle House, Bojangles, Chick- fil-A, Shake Shack.”
“What do you want?” Slater asks me.
“I’m not the one that just played a game.” He’s still watching and waiting. “I’d choose Subway or Chick-fil-A; you can get something kind of healthy-ish there. That way you don’t throw up back here after eating something like Taco Bell.”
He smirks. “Not a fan, I take it.”
“Oh, I love Taco Bell; I just wouldn’t want it after a big game with all that running.”
“The way you said that sounded like you hated it. So which part do you hate—the big game or the running.”
“Oh, definitely the running; I love watching the game. I just wouldn’t want to play.”
“You don’t ever run?” he asks curiously.
It’s my turn to lift an eyebrow. “Does it look like I’m a runner?” He opens his mouth to respond, but I put up a hand. “Please don’t answer that. That was a rhetorical question. Besides, why would I run when we have things like cars to get us from one place to another.”
He smirks. “You know, some people run to exercise or just for fun.”
“Yes, I know. We live in a world of crazies, but I don’t have to be one.”
He laughs low in his chest, and I can feel it through my entire body. “So, you’re saying I’m crazy?”
I shrug. “Your words.”
“Have you ever tried it? Maybe you’d like it?”
I give him a look. “Have I tried running? Seriously? I had to run all the time in P. E.; that’s how I know I hate it.
Think back to your high school days. Do you remember the girls that you passed when you were running laps in P.
E.? The ones that looked like they were going to keel over and pass out at any moment? That was me. Always me.”
“How do you know I passed other runners? Maybe I was a slow runner in high school?”
“And maybe I’m the Easter bunny,” I say without skipping a beat.
Quint turns around. “You are?”
Slater chuckles again. “Okay. So, you don't like running. What do you like?”
I don’t have to think about that one. “Sports, eating, watching movies, snacks, popcorn, history, coffee,” I pause. “I think that’s about it. Oh, and those red and yellow licorice.”
“You do realize most of those things were food, right?”
I nod confidently. “I do, and I stand by my answer one hundred percent.”
He shakes his head, but there’s a grin on his face. My heart beats faster at the sight of that grin; I think it’s the first time I’ve seen it. “What are red and yellow licorice?” he surprises me by asking.
“You don’t know what they are?” I ask in mock horror.
“Should I?”
“Yes. Everyone should know about them,” I respond.
“So, what are they?”
“They’re red and yellow licorice.”
He blinks. “You literally just repeated yourself.”
“Well, that’s what they are. They’re red and yellow licorice.”
“They have a sour filling on the insides,” Evie says from the front seat.
I pull up a picture of them from Google. “These.” I show him my phone.
“Twizzlers are nasty,” he says in response.
“Yes,” I agree. “The red ones are, but these aren’t.”
“But there are red ones in the pack,” he so helpfully points out.
“Yes, but they’re not the same as other red licorice. They’re different.” I wave him off. “You just have to try them.”
“I’m not really into sour stuff.”
I blink. “Oh, well then we cannot be friends.”
He cocks his head to the side. “Being into sour stuff is what makes us compatible or not?”
I nod emphatically. “Yes.”
“What kind of sour stuff are we talking?”
“Oh.” I rub my hands together. “Sour patch kids, Sour Skittles, Sweethearts at all the seasons, Air Head Bites, Sour Trolli gummies. Oh, they have these new sour patch chews that are so good.”
He leans towards me and ducks his head. “Smile.”
“What?” I ask in confusion.
“Smile,” he says again.
“Why?”
“I need to check that you still have all your teeth.” I hit him lightly on the arm, and he smirks.
I give him a big toothy smile. “I have all my teeth.”
“I’m just messing with you,” he says quietly.
I realize we’ve stopped, and I look out the window. “Oh. We’re here.”
“You were too busy flirting to realize we arrived,” Evie says as she opens her door.
I feel my face heat. “We were not flirting.”
Quint laughs out loud, and I frown at him. He and Reid open the sliding doors and climb out, leaving just Slater and I in the van. “We weren’t flirting.” I tell Slater.
He meets my eyes and gives me a devilish smile. “Oh, we were definitely flirting.” Then he pulls himself forward and through the narrow walkway between the two middle seats. He climbs out, and I work to find my wallet.
“You coming?” he asks, poking his head back in the van.
“I’m just trying to find my wallet.”
“You won’t need it.”
I huff. “I’m not letting Zane pay for it.”
“Not what I had in mind,” he says. I finally find my wallet and breathe a sigh of relief.
“I found it.”
“Good. Can we get going then? I’m starving.”
“Just go without me,” I tell him as I slide through the middle row to get to the front. He scowls at me.
“I’m not going in without you. Come on.” He reaches out a hand. I’m not sure if it’s to help me out or if he’s simply reaching for something on the seat. I climb out and stretch.
“Come on, Shortcake. Let’s go.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Shortcake? That’s worse.”
“Shortstack?”
“Ugh, that’s the worst of all of them.”
“Okay. Then Shorty it is, since you like that one the best.” He holds the door open for me.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t like you.”
He shrugs. “Can’t say the feeling is mutual.” Before I can overthink that, he puts his hand at the small of my back and ushers me forward. I’m so shocked by his touch that I completely forget about his words. We stop behind the others and look up at the board. “What are you hungry for?” he asks.
I take a breath. “Probably chicken tenders. What are you hungry for?”
“I’m not sure yet. I need some good carbs after my game.”
I look up at him. “Well, this is a terrible place for you then unless you’re going to eat a bunch of fries, which I highly doubt.
” The look on his face tells me what he thinks of that.
“We should go somewhere else where it’s easier for you to eat.
” I start forward, ready to tell Zane we need to go somewhere else, but a hand on my elbow stops me.
“It’s fine, Shorty. I’m good here; I know how to make it work. You ready to order?” I realize that Zane and the others have already placed their orders and moved on. I step forward next.
“Hi,” I say brightly to the guy taking my order.
He looks up and smiles. “What can I get for you?”
“Can I get the four count chicken tenders meal with fries and a Diet Coke, please?”
“Sure. What kind of sauce for your tenders?”
“Barbecue please.”
“Anything else?”
“No, that’s all; thank you.”
I wait a moment. “That will be eleven dollars and seventy-two cents.” I pull my card out of my wallet, but Slater steps up beside me and starts ordering.
“Thirty grilled nuggets, a yogurt parfait with granola, a chicken sandwich, and a chicken wrap.”
“Did you leave any food for anybody else in here?” I ask him. He smirks at me and pulls out his wallet. I try to reach around him, but he moves, blocking me and cutting off my access to the the machine. Once he pays, he turns to me and hands me my drink cup. “I believe this is yours.”
I don’t take it because I’m busy looking in my wallet for cash. I hand him the twenty I tried to give Zane. “Here.”
He doesn’t move to take it. “I’m not taking your money, Tessa.”
I huff. “Why not?”
He pushes my drink towards me. “Just let me pay for it.”
I scowl at him but finally cave. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” We move to the end of the counter and then walk over to where everybody else is sitting. I drop off my drink and go get napkins and ketchups. Once I drop all that off, I turn to Slater.
“I’m going to get our food.”
He stands up behind me, and I hear him tell the group he’s running to the bathroom. When I get up to the counter, I stand just off to the side, so I don’t block anybody. The same guy that took our order notices me and walks over. “It should just be a few minutes.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you all just come from a game?” he asks, glancing down at my shirt.
I laugh. “How can you tell?”
He grins. “A lucky guess. Are you all from around here?”
“No, we’re actually from Florida. We were in town for a game. We’re from FMU.”
His eyes light up. “Yeah? I have a cousin that goes there. I’ve never been there. What’s it like?”
“Well, the sports program is the best in the country,” I tell him without skipping a beat.
He grins. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
“Any particular sport?” he asks, still smiling.
“All of them.” He laughs, and I grin. I suddenly feel a presence behind me.
I turn around and see Slater right behind me.
He doesn’t look down at me; he stares at the kid that was just talking to me.
His face isn’t nearly as nice as it was when he was talking to me just a few minutes ago.
I tap him lightly on the arm. “Hey.” He glances down at me. “You good?”
He nods, but his expression is closed off. “I’ll get the food,” he says.
I raise my eyebrows at him. I glance back at the guy I was talking to, but he’s over getting our food now.
“What’s the deal with you?” I ask. He’s still not looking at me; he’s staring at the guy getting our food.
“Slater.” He finally looks down at me. “Are you okay?” I ask in concern. “Did something happen?”
He rolls his neck, cracking it. “I’m good.”
I study him a moment. “You’re hangry,” I finally decide. “You can sit; I’ll bring the food over as soon as it’s ready.”
He glances down at me, and his face seems to relax. “I’ll wait with you.”
“I was just telling him that our college has the best sports teams.”
He smirks, looking more at ease now. “Were you?”
“I was. He said he’s got a cousin that goes there or something. I was going to tell him that we have an up and coming player who’s already well-known and is going to be famous one day.”
He frowns as he watches the guy prep our food. “Who?”
I shake my head. “False humility does not become you, Slater Thorne. I was talking about you.”
He looks down at me then and smiles a gentle smile. “Maybe.”
“Oh, there’s no maybe about it, Slater. You are headed for great things.”
He’s suddenly really intense. “Will you be there?”
“To watch? Oh yeah! I plan on attending as many college games as I can this year and next before you graduate.”