Page 126 of Holding On

"It is," he says, laughing. "And I'm living the dream."

I smile. "Great. Well, your Chicken Shack girlfriend has to go. I'll call you later, okay?"

He kisses me. "Have a good day. I'll miss you tonight."

"I'll miss you too." I kiss him back, then leave before I end up late for work.

Max sings as I come into the kitchen. "My girl, Becca. Can't stop that smile. Goes on and on for at least a mile."

I laugh. "I wasn't smiling."

He walks past me to get a dishtowel. "You've been smiling ever since you started dating what's-his-name." Max rolls his eyes. He doesn't like Ethan, or more specifically, he doesn't like that I'm dating him. When it comes to guys, Max is just as overprotective as Mike.

"I'd be smiling too if I were dating Ethan Baxter," Tina says as she ties her apron.

Max huffs. "Just because he has muscles and can toss a ball around?"

"He has more than just muscles." Tina winks at me. "A lot more. Isn't that right, Becca?"

I feel my face heating up. "Enough about Ethan. Let's get to work." I grab an apron from the stack.

As I walk to the time clock to punch in, I feel Tina watching me. When I turn around, she's standing next to Max and they're both staring at me.

"What?"

"You're smiling even more than normal," Tina says. "Is it because of Ethan?"

"I don't get why you like that guy," Max says. "I bet he can't even cook."

"He can't," I say, adjusting my apron.

"See?" Max crosses his chubby arms over his round belly. "Cooking's a lost art. A girl would be lucky to find a guy who can cook."

Tina leans over and kisses his cheek. "Your girl is out there. It's just not time for you to meet her yet." She turns back to me, tapping her lip with her finger. "So...what's with the smile?"

"I'm going to check my tables." I hurry past her to the dining room.

She races after me, grabbing my arm. "You did it, didn't you?"

"Did what?"

"You had sex with Ethan. Right before you came here."

"Could you be any louder?" I ask, hushing her. "Seriously, I think the whole restaurant heard you." I glance at the tables but nobody is looking at us so maybe they didn't hear.

Tina lowers her voice. "I'm right, aren't I? You had a quickie with Ethan before work!"

I can't lie about it. My pink cheeks are a dead giveaway. "Okay, yeah. I did." I don't bother telling her it wasn't a quickie, but an entire afternoon of hot, thrilling, amazing sex. I got off early from my cleaning job and was at Ethan's house by one-thirty.

"Wait," she says, keeping hold of my arm as I try to pull away. "Have you been going there every day?"

"What?" I yank my arm free. "No. Of course not. I clean houses before I come here." I reach under the counter and grab a rag and a spray bottle.

"You get off at four, sometimes three if you work fast."

I walk to an empty table and wipe it down. Tina follows, whispering, "You've totally been going over there. That's why you're always smiling like that." She points to my face.

She's right. I'm smiling again. What the hell is Ethan doing to me? Maybe it's the great sex making me smile. It can't be Ethan making me smile because that would mean I like him way too much. This is only supposed to be a summer fling. Nothing more. And if Ethan really is planning to play pro ball, our relationship will be ending sooner rather than later. He won't have time for a girlfriend.

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