Page 39 of Not in My Book

“Great!” He threw his hands up in the air. “Then romance me, Rosalinda! You’re the romance expert. Since I did such a shit job at it, plan the perfect second date for Maxine and Hunter.”

He stalked off. I curled my fists at my side and shouted after him, “It’s Max!”

By the time the weekend hit, my plan for our date was falling perfectly into place. Winter in New York was nearly in full force, gusts of wind and rare hints of sunlight made walking outside unbearable. And on a cloudy day like today it was near frigid.

A nice, long walk with Aiden soundedperfect.

I was willing to suffer for the greater good. I had thick tights on under my jeans, an extra sweater on under my coat, and gloves and a hat safely secured in my tote bag. That peacoat alone wouldn’t keep Aiden warm.

I texted him to meet me at one of my favorite parks, Jefferson Market Garden. I had stumbled upon this park in the Village when I first got to New York. It was small, but they always had two food trucks hanging around there at lunch time. It had walkways with hedges surrounding the trees and a fountain. In the summer, there were colorful flowers everywhere, but in the thick of winter, they had hung fairy lights between the trees and fence.

We were supposed to meet around two. The park was just a fifteen minute train ride for me, so I left at five after two to make him suffer just a bit longer in the cold.

Twenty minutes later, because I knew I could rely on the MTA being unreliable, I found Aiden at the entrance of the park, his shoulders pulled to his ears and his chin tucked against his chest. I smiled in victory at the sight of his peacoat. He was blowing air into his bare hands, trying to keep warm in the cold.

“I got here early, just so you know,” he said as I approached him. His breath puffed in a cloud in front of him. “You shouldn’t be late for dates.”

I tsked at him. “Fashionably late.”

“Can we just go to the restaurant? It’s freezing out here.”

“Sure.” I shrugged. I moved to stand between the two trucks sitting outside the park. “Take your pick.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and smiled up at him. He had slicked his hair back again, and I hated how handsome it made him look.

He gave me an incredulous look as he looked between the two trucks. “You can’t be serious.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked innocently.

“It’s freezing, Rosalinda,” he clipped. “I’m not eating outside.”

“Well, I’m hungry. Feel free to leave, but you’ll have to explain that to Ida.” I stepped toward one of the trucks, pushing myself up on my tiptoes to see over the makeshift counter.

“Hey, Rosie.” Mateo smiled down at me from the truck. “Do me a favor and go to hers today?” He nodded toward the second truck. “Business has been sparse.”

“Aw, c’mon, I want tacos, not a burrito,” I whined.

“It’ll be on the house next time. Please.”

“Fine.” I stalked over to Juanita’s truck.

“Rosie!” she said, delighted, standing from the small chair she had in her truck. “In the mood for a burrito?”

“Always.” I smiled. “Any progress with Mateo?”

“None.” She pouted as she dumped food into the tortilla. Aiden stepped forward next to me, observing the menu.

“I told you,” I said to Juanita, “He likes you. Just go talk to him!”

“No way.” She shook her head. “If he likes me so much, he can come over here.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that he’s shy?” I raised an eyebrow, but she only huffed.

“Well, I’m shy, too.” She eyed Aiden. “And for you?”

He shrugged. “Whatever she’s having.”

Juanita’s hands started moving quickly, collecting ingredients.

“It’s nearly a year now that we’ve been working out here together. If he wanted to make a move, he would’ve. Besides, he told me this morning when we were setting up he was thinking of moving his truck to Washington Square.”

---