Page 18 of Look My Way
“Eight it is. You have the movie, or should I rent it?” I sip my Pepsi, which is now watered down from how long it’s been sitting as I did nothing but watch the door from the moment I got here.
“I have it. My sister got it for me for my birthday a year ago. She does that. Likes to add to my huge DVD collection with her dollar-bin finds.” His face relaxes and he flips the page of his menu, his finger moving over the plastic covering. “What do you usually get here?”
“The caldo or carnita tacos. I’ve only been here twice, though, so I think I’ll try something new this time. Maybe the chicken flautas.”
“Chicken flautas sound good.” He nods, closing the menu, and looks behind him when the waitress appears asking if he’d like something to drink. She quickly disappears after he orders a sweet tea, and his attention turns back to me, eyes dropping to the table in between meeting mine.
“So how many DVDs would you say you have in your collection?”
He shifts in his seat, eyes shining. Does he not get to talk to others about the things he likes? Daniel does come across as a self-absorbed asshole and someone who only cares to hear someone when the conversation revolves around him. He barely let Liam respond yesterday, speaking before he could or cutting him off. A warning look came when he finally got a word out.
“Over two hundred, I think. Daniel doesn’t think I need any more, but it’s not like I’m taking them over to his place.”
I bite my tongue when I have the urge to suggest he leave whatever he wants to at mine as long as it’s something of his. “Does Daniel not like the same movies you do?”
He lets out a soft sigh. “He doesn’t care for movies at all. He’ll watch one with me sometimes, but he says they’re a waste of time and why live through others when we can experience so much more in our own reality.”
“He really said that to a writer?” I huff a laugh, my brows bunching together.
He smiles and then laughs, lifting his hand to his mouth. “It’s kind of funny, huh? Daniel doesn’t really care for what I do for a living anyway.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah. Speaking of which . . . Did you get a chance to finish that book I gave you?”
“I did,” I say, sounding coy. I read it every chance I got—lunch breaks, waiting in line for my food, and in the tub. He’s really talented, and his storytelling consumed me, keeping me on the edge of my seat while also leaving me smiling and laughing. I downloaded a few more once I was done, reading them on my phone and finishing one in my truck when I got here way too early. They all had a common theme, aside from the murder and mystery. One MC was always lacking something in the bedroom and in his love life before the other came along.
“And?” He interrupts my thoughts, straightening himself in his seat in anticipation.
“I loved it. Remy reminded me a lot of myself when I was in my twenties—so lost and searching for something more, not knowing what it was until it came around.” Apparently, that didn’t happen when I thought it did either. Liam really spun my whole world on its axis, showing me how lacking my life still is. I have my hobbies, but they aren’t my passion. Neither is my dream job I accidentally landed one day. No. He is.
“You say that as if it was so long ago,” he says playfully, tapping his fingers on his phone.
“For all you know it could have been thirty years ago and I have a really good skin regimen going on.”
He makes a high-pitched sound with his throat. “In that case, I need to know your secret because these crow’s feet are really starting to come in.”
“I think you’re aging quite well.”
His lips part and then close, fingers lifting to push on his glasses again. The waitress returns with his drink, and he quickly takes it from her, turning away from me as his face pinkens.“Don’t look away from me,”I want to say. Keep looking this way—keep looking my way.
“You guys ready to order?”
I look at Liam, motioning for him to go first. His eyes widen as he’s taken back when I do.
“I’ll uh, take the flautas.” He fingers the corner of the menu, eyes falling away from the woman and back to me as her attention also shifts.
“I’ll have the same.” I stack our menus together, fingers grazing over Liam’s, and I struggle to sit still in my seat with the way my body’s buzzing. I leave my hand next to his for a second longer before handing the menus to the smiling waitress. She takes them, wrapping them in her arms as she struts away.
“So, are you really thirty years older than me, or are you one of those people who likes to act like three years going by is a whole century?”
“You asking my age?”
“I am. You’ve asked lots of questions about me today, and I think we better shift the attention to you before I leave with a complex.”
“I’m thirty-nine.”
“Really?” he says with disbelief in his tone.
