Page 119 of Knockin' Boats
He cocked his head. “How do you figure?”
“All those party girls pawing all over you on the DreamBoats?”
Ash shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I fucked them all.”
“But some of them.”
“Well, I’m human,” he admitted.
Even though I knew he hooked up, hearing the words made my gut tighten.
“I’m not interested in party girls anymore,” Ash said, giving me a searing look. “There’s only one person I want.”
My mouth went dry. “Yeah? Like, exclusively?”
Like dating? Like boyfriends?I couldn’t bring myself to voice those questions.
“Why bother with anyone else when you’re the one I want?” Ash answered.
Well, when he put it that way…
“Right,” I said awkwardly. “Yeah. We’re on the same page.”
I grabbed the door to Rosie’s, opening it and ushering him through before he could see the questions spinning through my head.
What are we doing?
Where is this going?
Is this just friends fucking or…something more?
Luckily, Rosie’s tiny little diner captured his attention. “Wow, there’s like four tables and you order at a window. You didn’t tell me that.”
“Is that a problem?”
“No,” he said, sounding excited. “That means this place is going to be fuckingawesome.”
“Well, I already told you that.”
Ash wasn’t listening. He charged toward the counter, eyes raised to read the menu affixed to the wall above.
“Ooh, chocolate gravy,” Ash said. “And a biscuit with molasses? Oh, but I gotta try the shrimp and grits. You know? Give me one of each. I have to try it all.”
“You’re my kind of customer,” Grandma Rosie said with a wink. “What about you, Saw? You want your regular hoecakes and a side of bacon?”
Damn, I was predictable, wasn’t I? Ash’s enthusiasm had spotlighted how rarely I tried new things.
“Um, actually, give me the Crab Benedict, and just a side of hoecakes.”
I couldn’t totally abandon my original plan. I’d beencravingthe cornmeal pancakes.
“Look at you, changing things up.”
I shrugged. “Trying new things can be fun sometimes…”
Her eyes twinkled. “It sure can.”
We hung by the counter until a table opened up when Mimsy and Pipsy, the twins who ran the nearby gardening store, cleared their plates and headed out.
