Page 15 of Promise Me Nothing
“I probably should have thought of this beforehand,” I say, wincing slightly at the embarrassment tugging at my neck, “but I can’t afford this place.” I point at the menu. “They’re charging twenty-five dollars for an appetizer.”
Lucas smiles at me. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got dinner.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want it to seem like I’m coming here expecting you to…”
“Hannah.” He shakes his head. “Welcome to Hermosa. Tonight is my treat. I knew you weren’t going to have gobs of cash when you got here, okay? That’s why I’m gonna help you find a job.”
I let out a sigh. “You’resure,sure? Because I can…”
“Hannah.”His tone is a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “I’m sure. Now.” He lifts his menu and takes a look at it again. “Let’s see what’s on the menu tonight.” He dips the menu slightly so I can see his face again. “Do you like hipster food? Because that’s everything they have on the menu.”
I can’t help the little giggle that escapes my lips, but it gets cut off by a near shriek from the corner.
“Oh mygod, she wasn’t lying!”
I snap my head to the left, to a short blonde standing at the top of the stairs and looking in our direction with wide eyes and an even wider smile.
Wearing a bikini top under a white tank and a pair of jean cutoff shorts, her skin tan with a hint of pink, she looks like she just stepped out of a photo shoot. Her hair is a thick mess of short tendrils tucked back behind a pair of gold sunglasses.
She’s gorgeous, with amazing curves on a petite frame, and when she finally moves in our direction, slipping between tables with ease and confidence, never letting her eyes stray from where I’m sitting, I can tell that she knows the type of power her presence commands.
“When Lennon told me you were spending time with your sister, I said she must have taken one too many surfboards to the head but here she is. In the flesh.”
She continues to stare at me, her eyes roving over everything she can see on the surface. Though, if I had to guess, I’d say she’s trying to find the secrets underneath as well.
“Paige. It’s rude to gawk.”
Lucas’ reprimand is said with a hint of teasing, and it’s then that I connect the name with the person standing in front of me.
“Is this the Paige you mentioned earlier?” I ask.
Paige tilts her head to look at Lucas, her eyes narrowing. “Been talking shit about me, Pearson?”
“No, no, no,” I say, my eyes widening and worry rolling through my body. “We were talking about the downstairs room in his house and he said you called it…shit, now I can’t remember.”
Lucas starts laughing and Paige follows in his wake, and I just give an awkward smile as I try to follow along and understand the dynamic between them. Are they friends? Dating? I thought his girlfriend’s name was Remmy?
“Don’t mind this troll,” Lucas says, aiming his thumb in her direction. “She just never realizes when she’s unwanted.”
Okay. Definitely not dating, then.
Ignoring Lucas’ words, Paige plops down in the seat next to him, dropping a tiny leather backpack into the one other vacant chair, then gives him a not-so-unnoticeable elbow in the middle of the bicep.
“What he’s trying to say is that before he had a real sister,” Paige says, pointing at me, “he had me, which was the closest thing he’s ever had to a sibling to tease and torture.”
Lucas rolls his eyes, but I can see the bit of affection and playfulness that he’s trying to hide.
“Ignore her. She always thinks she’s more important than she really is.”
Now it’s Paige’s turn to roll her eyes.
“Anyway,” she says, dragging the word out and then turning her attention in my direction, “Lucas having a sister is already the only thing anyone can talk about. So, help a girl out and tell me everything about yourself so I can be the insider with all of the information.” Then she rests her elbow on the table and her face in her palm, giving me a big grin.
I let out a choked laugh. “The only thing anyone can talk about? I’ve been here for like, less than two hours.”
“Exactly,” Paige says, looking at me with disbelieving eyes. “That’s plenty of time for the Hermosa Beach gossip machine to begin churning. And if Lennon’s the one with the information, you better believe it’s moving at a rapid pace.”
Then she turns her head and looks to Lucas. “I’ll never forgive you for letting her get the inside scoop on this before me,” she pouts, poking Lucas in the ribs. “Lennon’s number one goal in life is to be the person everyone goes to for the goss.”
