Page 10 of Coming For Her Curves
The boys start to gag in the back, and Brock leans forward. “Wait. How do you know my mom's favorite pizza?”
I look over at Izzy. She looks startled but shrugs her shoulders. “Uh, well, you will probably hear about it anyway. Ryker and I knew each other growing up. We, uh, dated in high school.”
Brock is looking at me in the rearview mirror, and I meet his eyes. “Wait, what? You dated my mom?”
I could jump in and tell him how I've loved her since we met in kindergarten. Or how I've compared every woman to her since then. But I don't think Izzy will appreciate that. So I just answer the truth and repeat what Izzy said. “Yep, we were friends growing up and dated in high school.”
We pull into the parking lot of Pizza Haven, and Izzy practically jumps from the car when I park.
The boys run ahead, and I catch up with Izzy. “You okay?”
She stops and points at the door. “This is a horrible idea, Ry.”
I smile at her. “That's the first time you’ve called me that in twenty years.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Ryker, this is a bad idea, and you know it. By this time tomorrow night—scratch that, tomorrow morning—everyone in town is going to be talking about us having dinner together.”
I have no doubt that the whole town will know we’ve had dinner together, but it doesn’t bother me. I want everyone here to know that she’s mine. She may not know it yet, but it’s going to happen. I try to comfort her because I know she doesn’t want to hear any of that. “We're two friends catching up, Izz.”
Brock peeks out the door. “Mom. Ryker. You guys coming?”
I look at the boy that should have been mine. He looks just like his mother.
Izzy smiles at her son. “We're coming.”
Brock disappears inside, and I walk the rest of the way to the restaurant and open the door. Izzy walks past me, making sure she doesn’t brush against me.
As soon as we're inside, I help Izzy take her coat off. She slides into the booth, and I set our jackets on the booth behind us to hold it for Brock and his friends and then sit down across from Izzy.
As soon as we’re seated, Brock and more of his friends come over. “Ryker, my friends wanted to meet you. Is that okay?”
I stand up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sure, Brock.”
I shake the hands of his friends, and they are all excited as I pose for pictures and even sign a few napkins. I grab my wallet and pull out some twenties and hand them to Brock. “Here you go. You and your friends can play some games, and I’ll order pizza. What do you want?”
The boys all chime in. “Anything.”
“Pepperoni.”
“Cheese.”
The boys excitedly say thanks, and when I sit down, Izzy has her wallet out. I hold a hand up. “Put that away. I’m not taking your money.”
“Ryker, you can't pay for dinner and all those games and…”
I just laugh. “Yes, I can."
The waitress comes, and I order pizzas. When I order the pepperoni, sausage and vegetables, Izzy interrupts me. “Oh no, I'll just eat what everyone else is eating.”
I ignore her and order the pizza. When the server walks away, I stack the plastic menu in the holder.
I look at her across the table. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a long time, but you should know that when you are with me, I'm going to make sure you get what you want.”
She looks as if she’s physically affected by my words. She’s staring at me wide-eyed. "What are we doing here, Ryker?"
I look into her eyes. “Eating pizza.”
“Har. Har.” She laughs. “I'm serious, what are we doing here? Nothing can come of us. You know that, right?”
