Page 54 of Connectio

“Sure.”

“Awesome!”

My jaw is like cement, heavy and weighted open, so I close it just as our waitress approaches the table.

“Two pizzas: one Supreme, one Hawaiian. I also have a burger with the lot, and a roasted lamb sandwich swimming in mint sauce.” She places the pizzas on the table, the waiter behind doing the same with the burger and sandwich.

“What the hell is that?” Will asks, nodding to Carly’s lamb sandwich.

She slides it in front of her. “The yummiest thing you’ll ever taste.”

“I can promise you that is not the yummiest thing I’ll ever taste. Not even close.” He lifts the lid of her sandwich with the tip of his fork. “Is all that green shit mint sauce?”

“She loves the stuff,” I say, leaning forward to help myself to a slice of pizza. “It’s hideous.”

“It’s not hideous. When I see Derek next, I’m gonna smother it all over him and lick it off.”

Will lets out a belly laugh. “Now that I’d like to see.”

“You want to see a woman lick shit off another man?” Oliver asks. He gives me a disgusted look, as if I’d be disgusted too. I’m not, strangely enough.

“I wanna see my pretty-boy best mate covered in sticky shit and nothing he can do about it.”

Oliver presses his lips together. “Charming.”

I’m about to ask him what his problem is, when Will hands him a slice of pizza and says, “Here, eat a piece of pizza, ya cranky fuck.”

Carly bursts into laughter, a chunk of lamb flying out of her mouth and hitting Oliver in the face.

It bounces off his chin and lands on my plate.

I look at it…

…then look at her…

…then look at Oliver.

Everyone else does the same, until we’re all laughing, sans the cranky fuck.

* * *

After eating lunch,Will and Jeremy head back to school to get the excavator ready while the rest of us take care of the bill.

“I think Will is a bit smitten with you, Lib.” Sal hands her credit card to the woman at the till then pulls out a packet of gum from her handbag.

I shake my head. “He’s not; he’s just a massive flirt.”

“He’s wasting his time,” Oliver says as he calculates what he owes for lunch. “Will isn’t her type.”

I stare at him. “And how would you know what my type is?”

Digging into his pocket, he pulls out some notes and change. “Lib, I work with you every day. I know your standards, and Mr Steroids doesn’t even come close.”

“And who does come close?” Carly asks before I do.

“Someone more refined, more educated. Less… moronic.”

Carly taps her chin. “Let me guess. Someone like you?”