Page 12 of Grace on the Rocks

Emma watched him look at her from over the menu. She found what she wanted and placed it back down, locking eyes with him once again.

“Yeah,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I get that a lot. I don’t know, I just think it’s a waste of time if you go through the motions and find out that you’re not compatible with someone. And if I hate anything, it’s definitely wasting my time, especially with something like relationships and romance and stuff.”

Kyle’s lips turned up, and maybe Emma was imagining this, but it looked like his eyes only got bluer. She felt the flutter of the delicate butterfly’s wing in the pit of her stomach and she quickly grabbed the champagne glass filled with ice water in order to stop it.

“What?” Emma asked, suddenly self-conscious. She had brushed her teeth for four minutes before leaving and she hadn’t eaten anything since a couple of hours ago and she had checked her face right before leaving her car. There was no way something was on her face or in her teeth.

So why was he looking at her and smiling like that?

“Whoa, no need to get defensive,” he said, his smile only deepening. “It’s just, I’ve never heard a girl be so explicit when it comes to romance. Normally, they’re looking for Mr. Right or walking on the beach or all that stuff the movies come up with that makes us guys look bad because there’s really no way we can live up Ryan Gosling in The Notebook.”

“And you call me defensive?” she asked with a laugh. “Someone has issues.”

“Look, I’ve dated around,” he said flatly, “I’ve had a couple of girlfriends before which means I’ve been forced to witness the atrocities that are known as romantic comedies. I’ve probably wasted three hundred hours of my life that I’ll never get back. The only good thing about them is watching them usually got me laid at the end of it.”

“Wow,” Emma said, rolling her eyes.

“I figure if you’re comfortable enough sharing things upfront with me, I can do the same with you.”

“So you’re saying that the only reason you asked me out tonight was to get some?” An arched brow, a challenge.

His eyes sparkled, taking it. “If that were true, I’d have suggested we go see the new Katherine Heigl movie,” he said. “Instead I asked you out to dinner.”

“Right, the same place you take all your dates,” Emma said. “Very classy, Underwood.”

The waiter came by and recited a detailed list of specials. As Emma listened, she couldn’t believe the memory these waiters and waitresses were forced to possess, although she still remembered dances from when she was fifteen years old. The waiter was polite and formal, but when he spoke, even as he took Emma’s order, he kept his eyes on Kyle. And Emma didn’t think it was because the waiter recognized him as a Gulls player or that Kyle came here on a pretty consistent basis. Apparently, the waiter assumed Kyle would be paying for the meal which meant Kyle would be tipping the waiter which meant the waiter’s attention would be solely fixed on Kyle.

She frowned at this realization. It was moments like these when she wished she could climb on the table and act like a snotty, wealthy Newport Beach girl, demanding to know if the sexist waiter knew who her father was. How did he know Emma wasn’t paying for the meal? Besides society’s tradition and women’s high expectations, of course. And the fact that Emma had never paid for a date, ever, in her entire life. And she didn’t plan on paying for this one, even though it technically wasn’t a date.

“So, tell me,” Kyle said, once the waiter had left. His eyes pierced through Emma’s, almost as though he could see through to her very soul. Which, if Emma was being honest, frightened her a little bit. “I want to know about more of these interesting beliefs you have regarding the whole romance thing.”

“In this day and age, I’m sure many young women share my somewhat cynical beliefs,” Emma said. “I’m really not that special.”

“That’s not true,” Kyle said, and was it her imagination, or did his soft-spoken voice actually sound... sincere? “Remember? I noticed you in the stands before I came up to you at the beach. That’s definitely saying a lot because when you’re on the ice, you don’t notice anything except the puck, the players, and the goal.”

“I was wondering when the excessive flattery would come,” Emma said, but even so, she could feel her face being blanketed with a warm mask of redness. “You’re very good, Underwood.”

“Well, I have had a lot of practice,” he conceded. “Anyway, your views, please?”

Emma leaned back in her chair, her eyes scanning the dim room. Couples were involved in intimate conversations, groups of friends were laughing out loud, waiters and waitresses were talking about the specials. Even though there were tons of people surrounding them, it felt as though Emma and Kyle were in their own little world, submerged in darkness, with only the small, vanilla candle set in the center of their table offering subtle, flickering light.

“I don’t know,” she said after a moment, shrugging her shoulders. “We all have that first real experience of being in love. A first bite of the apple. And something happens which taints every other apple you taste after the first one. Some people go through life still hopeful, though, that they’ll find one as good, if not better, than their original. Some people assume that nothing that good will come along again, so they just give up searching in general and ridicule people who do. If I had to choose a side, so to speak, I’d have to align myself somewhere in the middle.”

“How did I know you were going to say that?” Kyle asked.

“Look, I wish I could be optimistic about love,” Emma replied. “And I believe in the concept that there is a true love out there somewhere for people. But I’m a little bit more realistic when it comes to me, and don’t assume that I’ll find something like that in my own life.”

“I think guys would love you,” Kyle observed. “Do you know how difficult it is to find a girl who doesn’t actually want to play games?”

“Don’t deny that guys don’t like the games, too. Be honest. If guys didn’t like certain things, girls wouldn’t have to play. I’ll give you an example. Most of the time, guys like the chase and if a girl really doesn’t give one, the guy doesn’t think she’s worthy enough since she was so easy to acquire. So we think of these stupid games in order to keep a guy’s interest. Not answering his call so he thinks we’re busy. Not responding to text for however long because of the same thing. Flirting with a guy she doesn’t care about to get the guy she does like jealous. It’s stupid and a waste of time.”

“You really do believe your time is valuable, huh?” Kyle teased, his eyes sparkling.

“Listen, everyone’s time is valuable,” Emma said. “But I have better things to do than to sit around talking about myself, listening to someone talk about themselves and eating some food. I have food at home, and quite frankly, I really don’t care about getting to know other people.”

“Wow.” Kyle actually looked surprised. “That was harsh.”

“I know,” Emma said. “I know. I sound horrible, but it’s hard for me to trust people. I have two best friends and my father and that’s it. Those are the only people I depend upon if I can’t do something myself. And I’d rather just be upfront with someone than lead them on.”

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