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S ebastian walked behind Endy as she entered the dining room. A spray-painted outline of a gorilla wearing headphones encompassed the entire wall in front of them, and palm fronds decorated the ceiling.

When Endy agreed to have dinner with him, Sebastian was ecstatic. This woman was gorgeous, funny, and completely unpretentious.

And completely different from his ex-girlfriend, Sloane.

When he’d asked Endy where she wanted to go out for dinner, she’d chosen the place with the gorilla graffiti on the walls.

The hamburgers were considered the best in the Coachella Valley, with the most expensive thing on the menu being the triple patty, triple cheese, triple bacon, loaded burger—and that was barely over twenty dollars.

Waiters rushed around them, carrying trays laden with juicy burgers and fresh green salads.

One stopped at the table next to them with a frosty stainless steel carafe from which he poured a thick milkshake into a tall glass.

The door to the restaurant opened, and a family of seven crowded at the entrance.

The busboys cleared a table and then pushed two together.

Sebastian looked over his menu, then closed it almost immediately. “Do you know what you’re going to get?” he asked Endy.

“I do,” she replied and immediately closed her menu too. “I really recommend the fries here. They’re legendary … and they’re bottomless.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “Bottomless?”

Endy nodded and rubbed her hands together. “All you can eat, baby.”

Sebastian chuckled and looked over Endy’s slender but muscular arms. “You don’t look like you take advantage of bottomless fries.”

“They’re my downfall,” Endy said. “In fact, you’ve got to do me a favor and stop me from going overboard. When I look like I’ve had enough, please stop me. Not one more fry goes into my pie hole when I get the look.”

Sebastian laughed. “You have a look when you’ve eaten too many fries? How will I know?”

“Oh, believe me … you’ll know.”

The waiter placed their burgers in front of them, followed by a large red plastic basket of french fries that he set in the middle of the table. Endy immediately snatched one up and popped it in her mouth.

“Holy smokes,” she exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her open mouth. “Hot!”

Sebastian selected a fry, blew on it, then took a bite. “You’re right. These are good.”

Endy nodded through her steaming mouthful, then grabbed another from the basket.

Sebastian sipped his beer and leaned back in his chair. “So how long have you been the pickleball expert?”

Endy smiled. “Oh, I’m not an expert. And I do other things at the pro shop, too, not just pickleball.”

“So you’re not an expert?”

“Not by any means,” replied Endy. “I’m just an average player. There are plenty of club members who are way, way better than me. A couple have even considered playing on the pro tour.”

“There’s a pickleball pro tour?” Sebastian asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Tennis can’t have all the fun. I mean, maybe tennis has all the money, but they can’t have all the fun, too.”

“Is that why you like pickleball so much? The fun?”

“For sure. Well, that, plus the fact that it’s so quirky, so approachable.” Endy nodded as she spoke. “And so addictive. Someone once told me that they plan their vacations around playing pickleball.”

She selected another fry from the basket, popped it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.

“Gary Lombardi told me that after the first couple of lessons and clinics he did, he started playing both in the morning and again in the evening. And then he started carrying his paddle around the house, practicing his groundstrokes.” Endy giggled. “Drove Dean nuts.”

“Huh,” said Sebastian, rubbing his chin.

They continued to talk, mostly about things they enjoyed doing and movies and TV shows they’d watched recently. Sebastian was happy to hear they had shared tastes in movies, and Endy gave her opinion in between eating almost the whole basket of fries.

When the waiter came by and asked if they wanted more, Endy nodded enthusiastically and gave him two thumbs-up. When the basket arrived at their table, she barely waited a minute to let them cool before she started digging in again.

Watching her, Sebastian could barely contain his amusement, but he just sipped at his beer.

“Oh god, I’m so full,” Endy said, reaching into the basket again. Her eyes looked a little glazed over and she puffed out her cheeks. Sebastian smiled when he recognized it.

It was the look.

Endy took a sip of wine from her glass, then reached into the basket for another fry.

Sebastian pulled the basket away from her. “Uh, you sure you really want another one?”

“Yeah, just one more,” Endy slowly said, her eyes glazing over. She selected a fry from the basket, her hand paused above the table.

Sebastian leaned halfway over the table and grabbed the fry with his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Then he leaned farther over the table, lifting out of his chair, and bent over Endy, smoothly kissing her.

“Have you had enough?” he asked.

Endy stared into his eyes and warmly smiled at him. “Of what?”

“What do you think?” answered Sebastian, with a lopsided grin.

“I think that they should be bottomless,” Endy replied, her eyes twinkling.