Page 49 of Forever Yours

Sitting in Belly’s with Ash and two girls wasn’t how I wanted to celebrate getting a job, but I rolled with it. For early evening, the place was busy, every table filled and only a few spots at the bar remained empty. A couple of sports games—one basketball, one football—played on mute from large screens mounted on the far wall.

Our waitress, Cathy, dropped off our drinks and appetizers.

“Here you go. Your mains will be about ten more minutes.”

A chirrup of thanks went up from everyone at the table.

“Your guy not coming?” Ash slid my soda and lime chipotle chips my way since I was too busy texting.

I smiled at the dancing cheerleader GIF Julien sent and turned my phone over, screen down, on the table.

“His practice ran over, and he has some stuff he needs to do for class tomorrow.”

I told Julien we could wait until our date on Saturday to celebrate. A date I was ridiculously excited about. We hadn’t gone out and had a romantic evening of just the two of us together since… damn, was it really since last Valentine’s Day in February? That was six months ago.

Back home, Julien and I hung out all the time. At the Fields. At his or my house. With Liz and the guys or eating at Ruby’s. Sitting around the firepit in Ryder’s backyard. Parties on a Friday night. But those weren’tdate-dates.

I was still debating going over to the condo later to stay the night, but I was bone tired from not getting any sleep and had nodded off a few times already at the table, even with the bad karaoke being sung off-key by the three girls on stage who wouldn’t let anyone else have a turn at the mic.

“You’re with Julien Jameson, the soccer player, right?” Mei asked me, taking a mozzarella stick and slowly pulling it apart to watch the gooey cheese stretch until it made a smiley face.

Mei was the girl Ash had met at the party last night. The only way I could describe her was adorable. Twin dimples on a heart-shaped face framed by an angled bob of slick, black hair. And she was tiny. Standing next to Ash, the top of her head reached just below his shoulder.

Mei’s roommate, Sylvia, reached across the table for the bottle of ketchup that matched her scarlet hair, then dumped half of it on her basket of fries.

“Is he the one who was fighting with his brother over that girl?”

Ash looked over at me, and I pretended to take way more interest in digging my nacho into my bowl of salsa.

Mei elbowed her friend. “Read the room, Syl. That’s his boyfriend.”

Sylvia’s eyes popped in apology.

Ash suddenly blurted out, “In the immortal words of Cards Against Humanity: ‘You’re on a first date. What’s an instant red flag?’”

“HPV!” Sylvia enthusiastically chimed in.

Mei covered her face with her hands. “Oh my god.”

“What? I love that game. How about this. ‘Mom! Mom! Look at me, Mom! I’m…’” Ash waited expectantly for an answer.

Mei eeked out through her fingers, “Shitting in a Coinstar machine?”

I slapped a hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t spew food everywhere as our table erupted in belly laughs.

Taking long gulps of my drink, I patted Ash on the back. “She’s a keeper.”

With hearts in his eyes, he kissed Mei’s blushed cheek. “She is.”

I knew that look well. I wore it every time I laid sights on Julien.

“About damn time,” Ash said when the three girls finally walked off the small stage. He yanked on my arm. “Come on.”

Choking on my drink, I shook my head. “Nope.”

“I’ll do it.”

Mei got up from her chair and rushed over to the karaoke machine before anyone else had a chance. “Syl, come on!”

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