When I opened my eyes, it was to find Will staring at me, eyes wide and intense.
His pupils were dilated, and his mouth was slightly open.
He swallowed hard, then offered me the roll in his hand, which he promptly forgot the moment that I’d started eating.
I took it greedily and did the same thing with his.
By the time I was finished, he had another one buttered up and waiting.
I finally slowed down at roll three.
“Are you trying to fatten me up?” I asked when I finished off the third roll, my eyes opening to find him draining his glass of tea and tugging hard on his shirt collar.
He took a bite of his own roll then, not seeming to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I had my three before answering. “Not that you couldn’t stand to put on a few pounds but… no. I just wanted you to enjoy some good food.”
“I think that you are seeing things if you think I could stand to put on a few pounds.” I grinned and leaned back so that he could see my belly, then lifted my shirt. “See this roll? This roll disagrees with you.”
That roll was the bane of my existence. No matter what, it was always there. And it seemed to grow exponentially in the months since I’d been rescued from my kidnapping.
On one hand, I wanted to work out and get the roll back under control.
But on the other, I knew how much the man that’d held me captive had hated me being fat, in any way, shape or form.
So I kept it, loved the roll secretly, and nurtured it with extra carbs.
And, honestly, I found that I loved the added weight. I’d been blessed with a tall, lithe body. Sure, it’d always been a bit on the slim side due to my metabolism. But as I aged, and got closer and closer to the age of thirty, that metabolism didn’t seem to treat me the same as it used to.
Things weren’t as easy to keep under wraps.
And I didn’t care.
Will’s eyes went to the roll on my belly, then up to my chest where I was showing him the underside of my sports bra, then back to the roll.
His lips twitched. “That roll is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Umm,” Banger interrupted us. “Do y’all want any more rolls? Tea? Also, do you want to order? Your other waitress doesn’t want to come over here and do you for some reason.”
I looked up and frowned. “What? Why?”
Will looked to find this ‘waitress’ and found her sitting at the edge of the bar, talking to a patron, and totally ignoring her duties.
“Banger,” Will said softly. “Are you supposed to be covering the front?”
Banger shrugged. “Yes. But it’s not like I have any tables. They can wait.”
“Is Maribel doing this because it’s me? Or is she doing this to all of the customers?” Will questioned.
“Oh, she’s doing it to all of them. Not just you,” she admitted. “I’ve been covering her ass all night because of that guy she’s talking to.”
Will looked at the guy ‘Maribel’ was talking to, then looked at Banger. “We’re not quite ready to order yet. Neither one of us has looked at the menu. We would like to order an appetizer, as well as get a refill and more bread.” He stood up. “I’ll be right back, darlin’.”
Then he walked away, heading in the direction of the two at the bar.
“Uh, oh.” Banger sighed. “This is about to go bad. Maribel and Will have always gotten along like oil and water.”
My brows lifted. “Really? Why?”
Banger sat down in Will’s vacated seat and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched along with me.
“Salem and Will were best friends. Salem and Mirabel are twins. Mirabel doesn’t like that Will doesn’t like her. Will’s funny like that, though. He’s always been wary of Mirabel. Mirabel is a fly by your pants kind of girl. Doesn’t see the point in rules. Will try anything once—drugs, threesomes, carjacking—and doesn’t see anything wrong with anything she does. Salem, on the other hand, always follows the rules. Never does anything reckless and picks up all of Mirabel’s slack. Which Will noticed. Has always noticed. And Mirabel hates that Will doesn’t like her,” Banger admitted, reaching over and taking a bite of the roll that Will had left half eaten on his plate.
I took a sip of my lemonade and groaned.
Man, it was wonderful.
Like, well and truly wonderful.
I hadn’t had lemonade like this in forever.
It brought me back to my high school days where I used to beg one of my brothers to take me to Sonic so I could get a lemon slush.
There was one particular lady, if she was working that day, knew the right trick to make them amazing.