Page 102 of Fostering Chemistry
“Good for her,” he said.
“You have good ideas,” I added, a little shyly. “Like blowing that whistle at the end of the scavenger hunt so I could find you. That’s the real reason we beat Tori and Jayden.”
He gave me a quick smile. “And look where that’s brought us.”
Diego pulled up to the front of the restaurant and came around to open my door. I told him I could walk from the parking lot, but he refused—either because he knew my leg was still a little sore or because of the high heels I was wearing. But I couldn’twear a dress this nice—a royal blue wrap dress borrowed from Tori—without heels.
I waited in the lounge area while he parked. The restaurant was fancy, but not as big as I was expecting. The lighting was on the darker side and atmospheric. There was a bar at one end of the long dining room.
And soft music. The whole thing screamed high-class restaurant.
Which was not my forte. I bet Aaron would have been at home here, though. I resisted the urge to ask for a menu to browse while I waited. Tonight was about starting over, not scarfing down delicious food, but I could already smell amazing scents in the air. Garlic, definitely, but maybe a chicken dish.
My stomach rumbled. Hopefully I wouldn’t eat everything in sight and ignore Diego during the meal.
Then he appeared, and my heart did a funny little flip-flop when he walked in. He wore that black suit like nobody’s business.
It fit him well. It showcased his broad upper body, slim hips, and strong legs. I was pretty sure when you looked up “tall, dark, and handsome” online, there had to be a link that led to his picture.
He smiled, his eyes sweeping up and down me once before he took my arm and went up to the maître d’. He gave his name, and we were told our table was ready. Diego kept hold of me while we followed the head waiter.
He turned, leading us past the bar to a smaller, quieter dining area. I glanced in the direction we were heading, my eyes skimming the space, but I didn’t see any empty tables. Maybe there was another room beyond this one?
But then the maître d’ slowed down, reached a four-top table, and stepped back.
My jaw dropped as the two people sitting there got to their feet.
Cody and Aaron were here.
“This is a surprise,”I said after the waiter pushed in my chair.
“That we own suits?” Aaron joked. Though technically, only he and Diego were wearing suits. Cody had on a black dress shirt, open at the collar, with a few threads of silver running through it. His pants were black, too, and he looked really good.
Really hot.
They all did. Suddenly, food was the last thing on my mind.
“You look beautiful,” Cody said, and the other two echoed him, as if ashamed they hadn’t said it first.
So… a bit awkward. But I couldn’t say I minded that they were all here.
Quite the opposite.
A waiter came, and Diego ordered wine for the table. Though the gift certificate belonged to Diego and me, it was silently acknowledged that Aaron knew more about a fancy restaurant like this than we did. I frowned at that thought. The gift certificate wouldn’t cover all of us—but I assumed they’d worked something out when they’d decided to spring this on me.
Whateverthiswas.
I hid behind my menu for a while, trying to figure out what sounded best… and giving myself a moment to regroup. I wasat a restaurant with three handsome-as-hell men. And… it really didn’t feel like we were here as friends. It felt like a date. With four men. Even knowing that Tori and Hailey did this kind of thing all the time hadn’t truly prepared me for it.
And did they feel it was a date, too? Or just a do-over from our uncomfortable lunch yesterday?
The wine came, and Aaron did that thing that I’d seen in movies, sniffing and sampling it before giving it his approval. Diego pointedly looked away when the waiter poured four glasses since Cody and I weren’t twenty-one. Once an RA, always an RA. But at least he didn’t speak up about it.
“What are we toasting to?” Aaron asked.
Diego didn’t answer, since he was still pretending that only half of us were drinking, so I spoke up. “To roommates. Four-sevenths of us, at any rate.”
Cody clicked his glass against mine and then took a long swig as the others did, too. “Good,” he proclaimed, his voice a little raspy.
