do you have any lip gloss with you? I can ' t seem to find
mine." I searched through my bag, desperate to look my best.
"Yeah, in my purse in the back." I grabbed her
purse, and finding the gloss, I applied it with a shaky hand when we pulled up
to the restaurant. "Are you ready for this?" Alyssa ' s voice sounded
strained.
I looked over at her. "Yeah. I ' m thrilled to
freaking death." I'd never mentioned my feelings for Tristan, but the
sympathy pouring from Alyssa ' s eyes made me wonder if I ' d been more
transparent than I once thought.
I plastered the biggest smile I could and nodded.
“All right, let ' s get this show on the road," she said.
Once inside, we spotted Tristan and her sitting near the
front of the restaurant. With my chin held high, I headed straight to their
table with Alyssa ' s heels clicking behind me.
"Hey, Spud, Amazon," Tristan said, and then offered
his great smile. When his dark brown hair fell near his eyes, my pulse jumped.
Kellie looked up at us with wide eyes. Good.
"Hi. You must be Kellie," I said, smiling so big my
cheeks hurt.
Kellie bobbed her head and squeaked. "Yes, you must be
Elle." She dragged her eyes from me and up higher to Alyssa. "And you
must be Am–" she corrected herself, "sorry, I mean, Alyssa." Her
face turned as red as a ripened tomato.
Alyssa pushed me into the booth. I faced Tristan and she
faced Kellie. "I ' m sure Shrimp here has mentioned my little nickname, but I
prefer you call me, Alyssa. I reserve nicknames for those I consider friends."
She glanced at Tristan, then back to Kellie. "Well maybe not friends, but
he 's
Elle' s
other best friend so I allow him."
Without skipping a beat, Alyssa picked up her menu and
scanned the page. I had to close my mouth, but Kellie ' s mouth still
hung open when I followed Alyssa ' s move and looked over my menu.
"Alyssa." Hearing Tristan ' s punitive tone,
I peeked over my menu. Just as I thought. His eyes glowed with anger, and the
muscles along his strong jawline jerked. He opened his mouth, but our waitress
came over, squashing his chance to lash back.
"Welcome. Looks like the rest of your party has arrived?"
Tristan grunted in reply, causing the poor girl to frown. She recovered quickly
and smiled before addressing us again. "What will you be drinking this
evening?" The waitress looked at Alyssa, expectantly.
"I ' ll take a diet Coke and she ' ll have the
same."
On the verge of correcting my order, Tristan interrupted me.
"Um, make that second order an iced tea, non-sweet. Elle
doesn ' t drink diet Coke, " he said, glaring at Alyssa.
"Oh, I guess you're right. You know her better than I
do." Alyssa dismissively waved her hand in the air, while she continued to
read the menu. "I think I ' m ready to order, if everyone else is." Alyssa placed
the menu on the table and smiled at Tristan.
Maybe bringing her along was a bad idea after all. I
immediately jumped in and ordered the chicken taco plate again, as did Alyssa.
Kellie decided to speak up then.
"I ' ll have the same and Tristan will have chicken fajitas."
Alyssa cut her eyes to me with a quick smile. She knew Tristan never wavered
with his food choices–another area she loved to tease him about.
"Uh, Kellie, I don ' t like chicken fajitas."
Before I could fully comprehend my actions, I ordered for
him. "He ' ll have the beef fajita plate and after, we ' ll have a dozen
sopapillas with a side of ice cream for him. We really enjoyed them last
weekend, but we missed out on the ice cream." I shrugged my shoulders.
"I think that sums everything up," Alyssa finished,
quickly.
Why in the hell did I do that for? God, this was not going
very well. Not only did Alyssa jump Kellie for almost using Tristan ' s nickname, but
Tristan corrected my order and I corrected Kellie ' s order
for him.
Sometimes silence is nice, but the silence right then turned
thicker than molasses with tension. I had a feeling the discomfort would only
get worse from here.
I wanted to
mine." I searched through my bag, desperate to look my best.
"Yeah, in my purse in the back." I grabbed her
purse, and finding the gloss, I applied it with a shaky hand when we pulled up
to the restaurant. "Are you ready for this?" Alyssa ' s voice sounded
strained.
I looked over at her. "Yeah. I ' m thrilled to
freaking death." I'd never mentioned my feelings for Tristan, but the
sympathy pouring from Alyssa ' s eyes made me wonder if I ' d been more
transparent than I once thought.
I plastered the biggest smile I could and nodded.
“All right, let ' s get this show on the road," she said.
Once inside, we spotted Tristan and her sitting near the
front of the restaurant. With my chin held high, I headed straight to their
table with Alyssa ' s heels clicking behind me.
"Hey, Spud, Amazon," Tristan said, and then offered
his great smile. When his dark brown hair fell near his eyes, my pulse jumped.
Kellie looked up at us with wide eyes. Good.
"Hi. You must be Kellie," I said, smiling so big my
cheeks hurt.
Kellie bobbed her head and squeaked. "Yes, you must be
Elle." She dragged her eyes from me and up higher to Alyssa. "And you
must be Am–" she corrected herself, "sorry, I mean, Alyssa." Her
face turned as red as a ripened tomato.
Alyssa pushed me into the booth. I faced Tristan and she
faced Kellie. "I ' m sure Shrimp here has mentioned my little nickname, but I
prefer you call me, Alyssa. I reserve nicknames for those I consider friends."
She glanced at Tristan, then back to Kellie. "Well maybe not friends, but
he 's
Elle' s
other best friend so I allow him."
Without skipping a beat, Alyssa picked up her menu and
scanned the page. I had to close my mouth, but Kellie ' s mouth still
hung open when I followed Alyssa ' s move and looked over my menu.
"Alyssa." Hearing Tristan ' s punitive tone,
I peeked over my menu. Just as I thought. His eyes glowed with anger, and the
muscles along his strong jawline jerked. He opened his mouth, but our waitress
came over, squashing his chance to lash back.
"Welcome. Looks like the rest of your party has arrived?"
Tristan grunted in reply, causing the poor girl to frown. She recovered quickly
and smiled before addressing us again. "What will you be drinking this
evening?" The waitress looked at Alyssa, expectantly.
"I ' ll take a diet Coke and she ' ll have the
same."
On the verge of correcting my order, Tristan interrupted me.
"Um, make that second order an iced tea, non-sweet. Elle
doesn ' t drink diet Coke, " he said, glaring at Alyssa.
"Oh, I guess you're right. You know her better than I
do." Alyssa dismissively waved her hand in the air, while she continued to
read the menu. "I think I ' m ready to order, if everyone else is." Alyssa placed
the menu on the table and smiled at Tristan.
Maybe bringing her along was a bad idea after all. I
immediately jumped in and ordered the chicken taco plate again, as did Alyssa.
Kellie decided to speak up then.
"I ' ll have the same and Tristan will have chicken fajitas."
Alyssa cut her eyes to me with a quick smile. She knew Tristan never wavered
with his food choices–another area she loved to tease him about.
"Uh, Kellie, I don ' t like chicken fajitas."
Before I could fully comprehend my actions, I ordered for
him. "He ' ll have the beef fajita plate and after, we ' ll have a dozen
sopapillas with a side of ice cream for him. We really enjoyed them last
weekend, but we missed out on the ice cream." I shrugged my shoulders.
"I think that sums everything up," Alyssa finished,
quickly.
Why in the hell did I do that for? God, this was not going
very well. Not only did Alyssa jump Kellie for almost using Tristan ' s nickname, but
Tristan corrected my order and I corrected Kellie ' s order
for him.
Sometimes silence is nice, but the silence right then turned
thicker than molasses with tension. I had a feeling the discomfort would only
get worse from here.
I wanted to
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