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“I can see that.”

I take my first breath which doesn’t nearly bury me.

“This all happened because of the order thing?” he asks.

I nod, feeling vulnerable for sharing a piece of me. However, I can’t lie when he’s already seen me like this.

“You don’t like to order?” he asks without removing his hand from my thigh.

“I just get really nervous. They ask all these questions and stuff, and I freeze.” I lean back and try to make myself small, but with Heath’s steady gaze dawning on me like the sun. I know he sees me.

“You could’ve told me,” he mutters.

“So you could mock me later?” I counter back.

A glare is sent my way. “So,Icould fucking order for you the next time.”

“What makes you think there will be a next time?”

With a roll of eyes, he says, “You and I will be seeing each other a lot since Blondie has befriended you.”

Wait. What?

A smile appears on my mouth. “You have a nickname for Marie?”

“Indeed.”

“That’s cute.” I put my elbow on the table to cup my chin.

“It’s certainlynotcute,” he grumbles with a scowl.

I smile.

He glares.

A teenage waitress puts our food on the table and then turns toward Heath with a friendly smile. “If you need anything else, tell me.”

Heath doesn’t even glance at her and completely ignores her.

When she walks away, he steals a fry from my basket. In return, I take a chicken tender from his basket, and he sends me his signature scowl.

“What? You stole first.”

With a sigh, he looks away, but his mood isn’t sour like it is always.

18

Heath

What the fuck am I doing?

Why am I sharing a meal with a girl and having fun? Okay, scratch the last part. I’m not having fun.

Liar.

“—are so beautiful. I wonder how they make it,” Hope rambles about something as she sips her chocolate smoothie. She loves that shit.

How do I know? It’s her eyes. Whenever she sips it, her eyes spark up in delight.

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