Page 38 of Ghosted By Texas

“Okay,” I replied hesitantly, not sure if I should be ready to bolt out of the vehicle or not.

“I spent forever racking my brain trying to remember what your favorite food was, and I couldn’t think if you’d ever told me.”

Memories assailed me of our time together, snippets of conversation here and there, but I don’t think he’d ever asked. I shook my head in response. “Nope, don’t think it ever came up.”

“How could that not come up?” He asked, almost as if it was a question for himself and not me to answer.

“Don’t know. For the record, I’m not picky and you saw my favorite the other day.”

“Potato soup is your favorite food?”

“It’s my favorite comfort food. Don’t judge me.”

“Not judging. Okay, is there anything you won’t eat?”

“My stomach doesn’t agree with super spicy, but I don’t have any allergies or anything, and I’m a fairly adventurous eater.”

“I know the perfect place then.”

We ended up at an upscale looking restaurant with a sleek, modern design. The name didn’t seem to match the vibe until we went inside, and I realized why it had the moniker it did. Teasers, while sounding like a strip club, was all about giving its patrons a sampling of foods. It was kind of like one of those fondu places without the fondu. Actually, there were dipping sauces too, so it was kind of like that.

“This is crazy cool,” I told Austin as we both took in the different menu selections that were samples based on theme or an overall general sampler with a little bit of everything.

“I say we go all in and get The Whole Shebang.” I giggled because that was literally the name of the sampler platter with a little bit of every theme included.

“That works for me.” I grinned at him as he placed our order. “You find the best places to go out to eat,” I informed him, as if he didn’t already know.

“Again, we have an internet search to thank for this one. I didn’t even know it was here.”

It was a small space in the heart of our growing town and probably didn’t get as much attention as it deserved here, but depending on how things went with our platter, I hoped they were here to stay. It was just the type of place we needed to go from smallish bumpkin community to a moderately sized city with a little culture. Since our town was in the growing pain stages, it was a wait and see mentality with what would stick and what wouldn’t.

Our dinner was spectacular and surprisingly filling. Sure, each item was basically only a couple bites each, but after testing all of them, I found myself pleasantly stuffed, but not overfull in the way that makes you feel gross.

“That was so good,” I gushed to Austin for what was probably the tenth time as we climbed back inside his car, and each sat back and digested for a minute.

“It really was. Maybe I should let the internet make all my culinary decisions for me from now on.”

“I am not opposed. You’re two for two now.”

“The food wasn’t the only thing that made the night memorable, Becs.”

“Yeah? Was it the sleek design of the place?” The teasing was meant to lighten the mood from the serious that seemed to be impending.

“Well, that was nice enough, but getting to know you better is something I should have done years ago. I think we got caught up in all the physical back then and forgot to do the ‘getting to know you part’. Not that we didn’t do a little of that, too,” he quickly back peddled.

“I know what you mean. No need to get your knickers in a twist.”

“My knickers in a twist? What century do you live in, or better yet, what country?”

“Eh, it’s an expression somewhere, just roll with it.”

“You are something else,” he admitted after he finally started the car.

“So, where to now?”

“Now, we’re going to your place and ending the night in a way we can both enjoy while working off all those calories.”

“I thought you just said that we spent too much time on the physical before and not enough on getting to know one another?” I almost couldn’t hold back my laughter.

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