Page 10 of Andy

“Are they still in the area?”

Laughter bubbled up from her as they were crossing the street. “No. They were living in Florida but just moved to Maine.”

“Whoa, that’s a big difference.”

“Yeah. They don’t like staying in any one place for long. They want to be free and travel. It’s cheaper to just buy a mobile home, but they want to really live in a place. They are weird.”

He didn’t have time to respond because they were at the diner. He pulled open the door and let her step in before him. As she passed, the scent of vanilla filled his nostrils. He wanted to lean in and sniff her more but didn’t.

“Just the two of you?” the woman behind the counter asked.

“Yes,” Andy said.

“You can sit anywhere. This place isn’t busy at this time. I keep telling the owner he needs to close earlier, but he wants us to stay open until seven.”

“Thank you,” Andy said as he took the menus she held out as they passed the counter.

“You’re welcome. And want can I get you to drink?”

Andy turned to face the woman and flashed her a smile. “Just water for me. What would you like, Mel?”

“I’ll have iced tea.”

“Sure thing, hon. I’ll get it out to you.”

Andy followed Mel to the booth. It was one of those half-circle booths, and Mel slid in, scooting to the middle. He sat facing the door. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything.

“So, Andy, you know how long I’ve lived in the area. What about you? How long have you lived here?”

“I moved to San Diego when I was eighteen. Then I moved to Virginia, and I lived there for a few years before coming back.”

“Crisscrossing the country. That’s something you have in common with my parents.”

The waitress brought out their drinks and placed a hand on her hip. “Do you two know what you want to eat?”

“I’ll take a cheeseburger with ketchup, no mayo,” Andy said. He hadn’t even looked at the menu, but he didn’t care what he ate. He just wanted to spend time with Mel.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger, too, but with mayonnaise.”

“Sure thing. And I’m guessing you both want fries with that?”

Mel nodded. He smiled at the woman taking their order. “Yes. For us both.”

“Good. I’ll get those out to you in a bit.”

Mel placed a napkin in her lap and then glanced up, her lips spreading into a smile. “I’m currently renting and living with two other roommates. They are in a relationship. When I first moved in, they weren’t. It’s a little weird. Chris, that’s the dude who is with Alice, was sleeping in a closet when I first moved in. Granted, it was a large closet, but still, he was in the closet until Alice decided to be with him.”

“So I’m curious, how did you all split rent if he was in a closet?”

“It was weird. She had him pay a quarter of the rent, and then we split the rest. Now he pays a third, which means I only pay a third.”

“Do you like living with them?”

“It’s okay. They keep to themselves. I’m not home much during the day since I work at the bank, and on the weekends, I try to get out and do stuff. They work nights at a restaurant, so we don’t see each other often. It’s not bad. They don’t eat my food, and they don’t cause problems. There's only been one time I've heard them having sex, which is awkward. Like, what are you supposed to do? Leave? Stay? I never know."

Andy chuckled as heat slid through him. He liked this woman a lot. She looked very prim and proper, but they'd already talked about sex a few times. She had a good head on her shoulders, or she had seemed to at the bank. Maybe it was wrong to give this a try, but he'd seen something yesterday, and he wanted to give it a go.

“I don’t know what protocol is.” There’d been some wild times when he’d first joined the Navy, but because he’d lived on base for most of his Naval career, he hadn’t had to deal with people next to him having sex so loud it drew the attention of others.

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