I lift my head, feigning confidence with a smug grin. “Deal.”
SHIT. I AM FUCKING STARVING.
Beth is sitting across from me, working on taco number nine, and looking like she’s nowhere near stopping. Where her food is going, I have no idea. Maybe to those plump tits that are teasing the hell out of me beneath that dress, causing my erection to be a permanent fixture beneath the table. I’ve almost excused myself twice to go get some fucking relief in the men’s room, but honestly, I didn’t want to miss a moment of this challenge. I’ve never seen a woman tackle this much food before, and look this good doing it.
I, on the other hand, have given up at a half-finished sixth with a hand to my stomach and a wince tightening my brow every few minutes. I need to play this up, otherwise she’ll never believe I could only handle five and a half tacos. My man-hood is on the line here. I actually wish I did have the stomach ache I’m faking. Maybe then my mouth wouldn’t still be watering at the sight left on my platter.
Think of the prize. Remember what’s at stake.
Beth wipes her napkin across her mouth and drops it down on the table. “Finished already, rookie?” she asks, victory lifting her voice to a cocky pitch. Her finger points to the food in front of me. “I see a whole lot of tacos left over there. I thought you said there was no way in hell I was going to beat you?”
I force my eyes to close tightly as I let my head hit the back of the booth. “Stomach cramp. I think there was something in my guacamole.”
“Or you just can’t run with the big dogs. And that’s fine. I won’t tell anybody.” A soft laugh rings out from her direction. “Or, I’ll tell everybody.”
I open my eyes, glaring at her as the smile on her face calls out to something inside of me. Something that would do more than I’m willing to admit just to see her face light up like that.
“Give up?” she asks, looking down at my platter, then back up at me.
I answer her by sliding my food away from me, and she begins to wiggle in her seat, bopping her head back and forth as her eyes close and her mouth quietly utters the phrase “oh yeah, oh yeah” over and over.
Damn. That’s cute as hell.
“Would you like a to-go box?”
I look up at our waitress who has arrived at the table.
Beth dissolves against the booth, halting her victory dance and shaking her head quickly as she acknowledges the woman with a nervous grin.
“No thank you,” she tells her, clearly embarrassed for getting caught basking in her win.
I pick up my platter and hand it over to the waitress. “I’m good. We’ll just take the check.”
If I had gotten anything but tacos, I’d consider taking it with us and devouring it in my truck after I drop Beth off. But I don’t do cold or reheated Mexican food, and it’s been decided already. I’m stopping for burgers.
“Finished gloating?” I tease, getting Beth’s attention off her lap.
“For now.” She smiles, drops her elbow to the table, and rests her chin on her hand. “We need to come up with our history together. How we met, how long we’ve been dating, all the relationship stuff. I’m pretty sure those are questions that could definitely be asked on Saturday.”
“Okay.”
“And since I said we’re in love, I think we should at least be going on a few months together. Like two or three, which would put us at meeting . . .”
Two or three?
“Wait a minute.” I hold my hand up, halting her insane line of thinking. “You’ve fallen in love with someone that fast before?”
That’s not possible. Besides the only two people on the planet who are the giant freak exception to that rule, Ben and Mia, no one falls in love that fast. It took me almost a year to realize I loved Molly.
She slowly drops her hand down to her lap, joining her other one. “I’ve never fallen in love with anyone. But I think you can fall in love that fast. I think sometimes it can happen almost instantly. Like as soon as you see someone. You immediately feel this pull toward that other person.”
“Yeah, you want to have sex with them. That’s what that pull is. Or in my case, it’s usually a firm squeeze, and then a pull.”
I grin.
She rolls her eyes.
“No,” she says through a shake of her head. “Sex obviously does play a part in it. But you can also have feelings for somebody right away that you don’t understand. Maybe at the time you think it’s just a desire to sleep with them, but then weeks, or months later, you think back and it’s like, wow. That’s what that was. That’s why I needed to be with them.” She drops her eyes to the table. “That’s what I would want,” she says through a much softer voice. “Love should be unpredictable. I want it to hit me and like, knock me on my ass. And I don’t want it to take me years to realize that’s what I was feeling. I think two to three months is plenty of time, if not sooner.” She blinks up at me. “But I’m not an expert on this. You probably have more experience on this subject than I do. So, you decide. How long would it take you to fall in love with me?”