A low, slow groan escapes me, making the guys turn toward me. Grinder looks agitated, which seems to be his natural look. Bats seems curious, like he’s trying to figure me out. Nova looks intrigued. It’s a feeling that’s fast becoming mutual. “What?” I ask. “I haven’t sat on anything soft in five days. And don’t get me started on how wonderful the air conditioning is.”
A mischievous grin crosses Nova’s face. “If you need somewhere to sit . . .”
I cut him off with a sharp, “No.”
“You don’t know what I was going to say,” he counters, playing innocent.
“We all know what you were going to say,” Grinder replies, picking up his menu.
Nova shrugs and picks up his own menu. Yes, we all know where he was going to suggest I sit. And yes, the voice in the back of my head may be intrigued. Not that I’m telling Nova. Instead, I follow the trend of burying my face in my menu.
“Oh, hell, yes,” I exclaim, my eyes landing on the clear choice.
Grinder drops his menu and looks at me. “Something catching your eye?”
“Cheeseburger.” I moan in anticipation.
Grinder looks at me in disbelief. “Seriously? You’ll be crapping that greasy shit out before the end of the day.”
I level a glare at the asshole. “Don’t you dare say anything bad about cheeseburgers. They’re one of my three perfect foods.”
Grinder leans back, crossing his arms across his chest. “Perfect foods?”
I nod. “Beef patty, cheese, veggies, and bun. Covers all the food groups. Perfect food.”
Grinder scoffs. “And the other two perfect foods?”
“A good supreme pizza and chicken parmesan.” Nova chuckles as Grinder goes back to studying his menu, shaking his head. I smirk. Score one for me.
The waitress appears a moment later and drops off a round of ice water. “Are we ready?”
“Yes,” Grinder replies. “Club sandwich to go.”
The rest of us gape at him.
“Seriously, dude?” Bats barks. “To go?”
“Burning daylight,” Grinder replies. “We need to get to the post office and back to the trail. We’ve got two hours of hiking uphill to get to our campsite, and we all know Belle’s going to want to stop a dozen more times to take pictures.”
“Fuck off, Grinder,” I tell him. He levels a glare that begs me to tell him he’s wrong, but I don’t get the chance.
“I bet your pizzas take some time to cook,” Nova ponders. “And they don’t travel well, do they?”
The waitress shifts nervously. “Uh, no they don’t, sir.”
Nova grins. “Perfect. I’ll take the supreme with extra olives.”
“I’ll have the mahi-mahi with a side salad,” Bats orders next. “Ranch dressing. For here,” he says with a pointed look toward Grinder, who looks like steam is about to erupt from his ears.
The waitress turns to me, but I sit there confused. It didn’t take long to figure out Nova enjoys antagonizing Grinder, but Bats? I did not see that coming.
Nova leans close and taps my menu. “Having the Ranch Burger with fries?”
I nod, because hell, yes, I am. “Let me guess. You want a bite?”
Nova’s grin turns lascivious. “I’d love a little nibble. But I’ll settle for trading you a slice of pizza for some fries.”
My cheeks flush with heat—and elsewhere—because I don’t think he’s talking about biting into my lunch. Still, a burger and a slice of pizza? That’s a win-win right there. I clear my throat and order, then grab my phone. “I’m going to step outside for a second. I want to check in with Rachel while I have a signal.”
Once outside, it doesn’t take Rachel long to pick up. I wince as I catch the end of a loud squeal of excitement. “Lizzy! Oh my gosh, girl. Where are you? I already miss you so much.”
“I miss you, too, Rach,” I tell her. “I’m in Warner Springs, waiting for my lunch order.”
“Wait, I thought you were getting there tomorrow. How did you get ahead of your tightly planned schedule?”
How? Because Grinder is a controlling asshat who wants to set trekking speed records. He had us on the trail a half hour after sunrise to make sure we got into town before the post office closes. So yeah, our attempt to drag out lunch pissed him off. But lucky for us, the post office is a block away, leaving us plenty of time to get there after we eat. He was right about having another two hours to go, though. It’s going to be a long day.
“I hooked up with a group heading northbound. I know how worried you are about me hiking alone.” With Rachel, personal safety is a straightforward explanation compared to the grilling I’ll receive if I mentioned that the group in question is three guys. “They’ve got a faster pace, but I’m keeping up.”
Unfortunately, Rachel is more perceptive than most people give her credit for. “You mean, like the hot breakfast guy and his two hot friends?”
Okay, sure, Bats is pretty attractive too. In a husky military kind of way. But Grinder is an asshole . . . who some people might consider attractive . . . but not me.
“Maybe,” I squeak out.
There’s a loud squeal on the other end, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear until she’s done. “OMG. I need details.”
“Of course you do,” I say with a sigh.
I spend the next few minutes telling Rachel what little I know about them, trying to convince her I haven’t had “fun” with any of them. Not that I’m opposed to the idea. Well, with Nova at least. I don’t know if Bats is interested. And Grinder? Ew. No. But the bigger question is, am I ready?
“I get it,” Rachel says when I finish. “You’re not ready to get back into the game. But think about it, at least? A little fun might be what you need. In the meantime, can you at least upload some photos of the guys onto your cloud? I wouldn’t mind a reminder of what they look like. Plus, your followers will love it.”
“My what?”
“Your followers,” Rachel repeats, like it should be obvious. “You know, on Instagram.”
I scrunch my nose up, confused as hell. “I’m not on Instagram, Rach. How can I have any followers?”