Why did being around him do this to me? It’s like every time he was near, I turned into this total spaz.
He waved. “Hey.”
My irritation quickly faded as my mouth broke into a smile. It was just a reflex to the sight of him–one I was beginning to realize I didn’t mind so much after all.
“You heading to class?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m done for the day. I’m actually on my way to lunch. What about you?”
“Same. You, uh…want to grab a bite to eat?”
“Yeah, sure.” I fought the urge to chew on my lower lip and instead pressed my books against my chest, thinking for sure he heard my pounding heart. It seemed to be the only thing I heard. “Where do you want to go?”
We started walking and he ran his fingers through his hair. It almost seemed to happen in slow motion, like a shampoo commercial. The only thing missing was the waterfall…and his shirt was still on.
I had to look away in order to keep my thoughts coherent. I focused on two squirrels frolicking on a tree. They took turns chasing each other around the trunk, up into the branches.
“There’s a diner in town that has pretty good burgers,” he said. “Does that sound okay?”
I exhaled, not realizing I’d been holding my breath. “Yeah, that’s fine.” I dug my phone out of my pocket to text Beth that I wasn’t coming. I told her I was at the library instead. There was no way I was telling her the truth. She’d have a field day with it.
We started down the walkway, towards the student parking lot. “All right,” he said. “I’ll drive.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Fifteen minutes later, Thomas pulled into the parking lot of a long, rectangular, brown-bricked building. The diner had huge windows on the front and sides, taking up the majority of its walls. Almost the entire restaurant was visible through the windows.
When we got inside, Thomas pulled a menu from the empty hostess podium and led me to a booth. We sat in the corner, as far away from the other customers as possible.
I only had a brief second to look over the menu before our waitress came over. She smiled at Thomas and barely acknowledged me with just a glance.
“Hey, Thomas.” Her voice came out breathy–clearly her attempt to be sexy.
She was pretty young–in her early twenties–and her long (obviously bottle) blond hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was skinny, with blue eyes and heavy eye makeup. The top buttons of her white shirt were undone, causing her cleavage to peek out. Her name tag read “Amber.”
I hated her immediately, with every ounce of my being.
“Hi,” Thomas said. He gave her a quick, polite smile and returned his attention to the menu.
“I haven’t seen you around lately,” she said. “How come?” She glanced at me as she said it, trying (but ultimately failing) to keep the look of disdain off her face.
He didn’t even look up from his menu. “Been busy.”
Amber’s face twitched. “So are you guys ready to order?”
Thomas set his menu down to look at me. “After you.”
I glanced at Amber, handing her my menu. “I’ll have a plain bacon cheeseburger, with fries and a water.”
She reluctantly took it, as if touching my menu would give her cooties. “What about you, sweetie?” She returned her attention to Thomas, attempting to turn on the charm again.
He handed Amber his menu. “I’ll have a triple cheeseburger, a side of cheese fries, and a chocolate shake.”
My eyes widened. Jesus, how much food did he need? Thomas was a big guy and all, but damn…
“I’ll have that out to you in just a few minutes,” she said, specifically to Thomas.
“Thank you,” he replied.
I kept my mouth shut until we were alone. “So…”
I wanted to ask him–I was dying to, in fact–but I tried my best not to. I didn’t think I really wanted to know, it was just my morbid sense of curiosity. Besides, it was really none of my business. None at all. Nope, I definitely didn’t want to know.
Eh, what the hell. “Is she a friend?” I tried to make it sound casual as I twirled a lock of hair around my finger, like I couldn’t have cared less.
Thomas smiled, as if he’d anticipated my question. “I wouldn’t exactly say that.”
My fingertip started to go numb as my hair tightened around my finger. My stomach felt like it dropped to my knees.
Right. Of course she wasn’t a friend. She was just someone he occasionally had sex with. He probably had about ten more girls he “wouldn’t exactly” call a friend.
My jaw clenched at the thought, but it didn’t matter. None of that mattered. We were just friends, and friends didn’t get jealous over the stupid, blond, skanky Ambers of the world.