Page 125 of The Sidekick

So much for spending time with him. I feel like I should be using my appetizer plate as a shield.

“How did you meet?” Her tone rises in volume and pitch as her excitement grows. She leans her elbows on the table, fully invested in some grandiose story she’s made up in her head I’m sure.

“Yoga class.”

“You do the limp noodle thing?”

I want to facepalm so bad right now. It’s like she reads my mind because she gives me a glare.

Asher shrugs and thanks the waiter as he sets the water down.

I stare at the matching glass placed in front of me. We’re the only ones that got water. How weird is that?

It’s not weird, and this isn’t kismet. Get it together!

I glance down and face my next horror.

The menu stares innocently back at me.

Neither of us blink.

How the heck am I supposed to eat with all of this going on around us? Everyone else has segregated into little cliques to mumble to each other while Andi really gets going with the questions. Only Shade and I are silent.

Panic wells up. I suddenly feel like I don’t belong here, and the urge to grab Shade like a purse and run for the door is becoming overwhelming. I need to get out of here for a second. But I can’t run away. Shade will refuse to move. I know it.

“Tera?” Andi’s concerned voice breaks me out of my stare down with the menu.

I stand announcing loudly, “I have to pee,” and then run for the bathroom.

I’m not running out the door and driving away, so I call it good. Strategic retreat, that’s all this is.

Once I’m in the softly lit hallway leading to the women’s restroom, I lean against the wall with a groan. I just left both him and Shade there to suffer alone. What kind of person does that? I’m such a coward.

I spend a few minutes silently berating myself and banging my head on the wall. Neither coping mechanism is working. I need to stop. I have to get it together, go back to the table, order food I will stare at for an hour, collect Shade, and bail. I can do this. I have a smoothie ready to go in the fridge. It’ll be fine.

When I finally have myself calmed down enough that I can pretend I’m normal, I open my eyes and startle.

Asher is leaning against the wall across from me, watching my meltdown with a tiny smile.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” I sigh and drop my head back. Of course, he caught me. I should have gone into the bathroom and locked myself in a stall.

“Feel a little better?”

“Not really,” I squeeze my hand over my throat, searching for that soothing, grounded sensation I get from it, but it isn’t working. I look at the entrance, hoping no one else comes back here to watch the panic zone happen. “I’m such a mess.”

“You’re adorable,” he corrects me, and I give him a suspicious look.

“Has anyone ever told you that you need to raise your standards? I’m starting to get concerned for you.”

He raises an eyebrow with a smirk. “My standards are actually very high. It’s a good thing I put you on that pedestal.”

“You’re funny, too? I can’t win,” I whine and bang my head again.

“Stop,” he says calmly, and my head drops forward automatically. I frown darkly as I realize what I just did.

“I can bang my head if I want to,” I try to sound stern, but I think I fail because his smile widens unbearably.

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