Page 43 of Until Nalia

“You weren’t doing anything except spending all day in front of the TV.”

“I like watching TV.”

“Then I guess it’s good that you have a TV here.” She catches my gaze and rolls her eyes, making me laugh.

“This all looks and smells amazing.”

“We hope you enjoy it and if you do we hope you’ll tell your friends and family,” Bion says, wrapping his arm around his wife’s waist.

“I can do that,” I assure him, and he smiles softly before he and his wife step away from the table.

Unwrapping my silverware and placing my napkin on my lap, I pick up a piece of pita bread while Logan eats a finger full of fries that came with his gyro.

After scooping up some hummus with the warm and soft pita bread, I take a bite and can’t help but moan in happiness. I love food, all food, but Greek food is my favorite. And the hummus is probably the best I’ve ever had in my life, not only is it fresh, but also creamy and rich with flavor.

“Good?” Logan asks, and I look at him.

“So good,” I scoop up more hummus. “Sorry, I would offer you a bite, but I don’t want to share.”

“You’re not joking.” He watches me take another bite without offering him any.

“I don’t joke about food.”

“I made you my famous salsa.”

“I know and I enjoyed it, but this is…” I shake my head. “It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.” I kick his foot under the table when he smirks, and I can see whatever smart-ass thing he’s about to say written all over his face.

“Don’t even.”

“I didn’t say anything.” He laughs, picking up his gyro.

Digging into my salad, that is so simple, I make it at home often. I shake my head; my salad has never tasted as good as this. “We need to tell everyone we know about this place because I’m going to be pissed if they go out of business.”

“Or we could have lunch here every day.” He says, and I meet his gaze.

“Can’t you just relish in the fact that you got your way and we’re having lunch together now?”

“I know you like me, Nalia, so why are you fighting the inevitable?”

Because I get the feeling he would expect a lot. A lot of time, a lot of honesty, a lot of me. And I’ve never given myself to anyone, not the parts that are complicated and ugly, the parts that I don’t even like looking at when I stare at myself in the mirror. And having to expose anyone to those pieces scares me. He scares me. Opening my mouth, I start to make up some lame excuse about how I’m in the middle of finding myself and not looking for anything more, but his phone starts ringing, cutting me off.

“Sorry.” He pulls it out of his pocket. “It’s the school.” He frowns, putting it to his ear. “Hello.” I can just barely make out a woman speaking. “What happened?” His brows pull tight. “Okay, but what happened?” His eyes narrow on mine. “Again, I hear what you’re saying, but I’d like to know what happened.” His jaw clenches. “Yeah, okay, I’ll be there.”

“Everything okay?” I ask when, after he hangs up and picks up his ball cap from the chair beside him, putting it on.

“That was the assistant principal. Coop got into a fight, and I need to go in to pick him up. He’s suspended for the rest of the day and has ISS the rest of the week.”

“What?” My stomach drops. “Who did he get in a fight with?”

“She didn’t say, just said she’d talk to me when I get to the school,” he tells me, and I shake my head. I just can’t wrap my head around Cooper, who is so sweet, getting into a fight with someone for no reason.

“Go,” I tell him softly when I notice that he’s looking around the restaurant searching for either Bion or his wife. “I got this.”

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“Don’t be, it’s okay, just go and call me when you can.”

“I will.” He steps over to me and then wraps his hand around my lower jaw, tipping my head back as he leans down and places his lips against mine. The kiss is over before it even begins, and nothing more than a peck on the mouth, but it’s so significant that I know it will be forever ingrained in my subconscious. “I’ll call you.”