Page 49 of Simply Irresistible
“You’re unbelievable.”
I would have been concerned by her statement if it wasn’t for the fact that she gently set her work down beside her, picked up the plate, and dug into the grilled shrimp kabob with gusto. I was speechless. Melanie didn’t pull the food off the skewer; she ate off the stick like it was corn on the cob.
“What are you doing?”
“Eating,” she said, looking at me like I was the crazy one.
“That’s not how you eat a kabob.”
“Actually, thisishow I eat a kabob.”
“Well, it’s the wrong way.”
She sighed. “It all goes in the same place; what difference does it make how I eat it?”
“You’re supposed to take the food off the skewer.”
“Says who?”
“Everyone in America.”
“Doubtful.” She rolled her eyes. “Does it really matter?”
“Yes.”
“Of course, it does,” she muttered under her breath. Aloud she said, “I do it this way because I can have a little bite of all the flavors.”
“You can do that when they’re off the skewer, too.” Duh. “You know, like when you eat foods that weren’t cooked on a skewer. You cut them up and have little bites of all the flavors.”
“Ha-ha. My name is Tyler, and I’m a grilling genius, and I know how to eat, and no one else does.” She said in a ridiculous mockery of my voice.
“Oh yeah?” I said, chuckling at her silliness.
“Yup,” she smirked.
“God, you’re cute when you think you’re right.”
“Thanks, but my name’s not God.”
“You’re quite full of yourself this evening, aren’t you?”
“I’m just happy I’m nearly done with this design.” She flexed her fingers. “I feel like I’ve been working on it forever. It has more detail than other pieces and I didn’t think about how much more work it was going to be.”
“I have absolute faith in you,” I told her as I carefully slid the shrimp, onion slices, and pineapple off the skewer and onto my plate. I picked up my fork and stabbed a piece of shrimp; ate it. Then I repeated the procedure with the onion and the pineapple, looking pointedly at Melanie.
“How can you be so sweet and so obnoxious in the same moment?”
“Years of practice being a little brother.” I smiled a toothy grin.
“You’re adorable. I bet that face got you out of a ton of trouble when you were little.”
“It’s been getting me in and out of trouble for years.”
“That doesn’t surprise me one bit,” she said, chewing on her kabob in her weird way. “Want to watch a movie?”
“Yeah. How aboutJurassic Park?”
“I was thinkingGhostbusters.” Her and her damn eighties movies.
