Between Octobers Bk 1, Savor The Days Series by A.R. Rivera Read Free Book Online Page B

glanced at me.
    “Are you and Gretchen still together?” She
tossed a rueful glance in my direction, then added, “I hope so,
because you two are the perfect couple.”
    “Would you like to take a picture with
me?”
    Her response was a rapid, violently excited
nod. I was sure if I listened really hard, I would have heard her
brain rattling against her skull.
    She took out her phone and leaned down,
placing her cheek against his. He compensated in a subtle way,
slightly moving away to toss her phone to me. When he leaned back,
he was close enough for the picture, but no longer touching. I
caught the cell and fumbled with the buttons until the camera came
on. Inside the tiny screen she smiled with obvious bliss while he
struck a pose that looked quite natural. Calm and pleasing. I
snapped the picture.
    “One more. I blinked,” Evan said. The girl
and her grin stayed frozen as he slipped two fingers up behind her
head and crossed his eyes. As soon as the click sounded he was
nervous again.
    Then, she was droning about how much she
admired everything related to him. His clothes, his wonderful
hair—oh how she’s spent hours staring at it, longing to touch
it!—and the way he set his hands on the table in front of him was
so sexy. At that, he stuffed them inside his sweatshirt. I
listened, in awe, as the girl made mention of a social networking
site that built an entire marketing campaign around the question of
what type of underwear he wore. Evan turned beet red.
    “I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she
apologized, noting his change of color. “I mean, you must be used
to people talking about it. It’s been everywhere. I bought one of
the t-shirts that had—”
    “Actually,” he interrupted, “I try not to
pay attention to any of that stuff.” His eyes met mine. “None of
it’s true.” One hand rose up to pinch his eyebrow.
    The girl stared longingly, waiting for him
to return her gawk.
    My stomach growled.
    “Could you put in our orders, please?”
    “Oh! Duh!” The waitress knocked the side of
her head and glanced at her forgotten notepad. “Sorry . . . what
did you want?”
    “I’d like a cheeseburger, no pickle,” Evan
glanced at me from the corner of his eye, “and fries please. And I
will have an Arnold Palmer to drink.”
    “We don’t serve alcohol.”
    He shook his head. “Right. How ‘bout
this—can you fill a glass with half lemonade and half iced
tea?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “There you go,” he gestured grandly.
    “I can make that!” She squealed, but didn’t
make a single move to fill the order.
    I covered my mouth with my hands, trying to
stifle a laugh.
    Evan pointed to me with his chin. “She’ll
have the chicken salad and another water.”
    Finally. The young server took off toward
the kitchen.
    Maybe it was the unexpected nature of the
situation, or the fact that I was overjoyed to have Sol’s phone
back. Maybe it was a combination of the two. Either way, it didn’t
matter. It was hilarious. As soon as she was out of earshot, I lost
it.
    “You find this funny? I thought her head was
going to pop off.”
    I had a million questions—was his name
really Evan, or had he made that up, just like his job in
maintenance? What was this girl talking about? Who was
Gretchen?—But I couldn’t stop laughing. That waitress clung to
every syllable, absorbed in him to the point of catatonic
tendencies—what wasn’t funny about it?
    High on endorphins, lighthearted and giddy,
I wiped my eyes as the girl returned with our drinks. She shoved a
bottle of water in front of me. I’d wanted a glass, but bit my lip
and watched. With Evan (if that was his real name), she lingered.
Slowly placing the items one at a time in front of him. First the
straw, then the napkins, the flatware, and last but not least, his
glass. Her manner, obviously meant to exclude me, was overt. I
laughed again, looking directly at her and not caring.
    “Could you do me a favor?” He had her full
attention so