Page 59 of The Pinkie Pact

"Oh, look, you were right," I said, pointing to the rows of wine as we paused in the entrance area. "They have wine."

A smile lit up his face. "Think that'll be enough?"

"I think so?"

The maître d' came by, nodding at Kieran like they knew each other. He led us to our seats as I thought about what a great job Kieran had done picking out the restaurant, not too crowded in a cozy, intimate space.

This was the most grown-up date I'd ever been on... by far. A weird tremor went through me as I wondered if I was actually adult-y enough to handle it. How soon could we get that wine going?

We took our seats at a quiet, secluded table in the corner as the maître d' put down our menus and mentioned that our waiter would be with us soon.

Thank God.

If it was any consolation, though, when I glanced at Kieran, I noticed he picked up his full glass of water and spilled a little of it onto the tablecloth. He was nervous too, and it was so damn cute.

We both picked up the menus, studying them for a few minutes, the silence stretching out.

"So what's good here?" I asked.

"I think you can't really go wrong with anything," he said. "I always get the same thing. Boring I know. But I love their risotto."

"I love risotto actually. I'll try it too," I said, although I wondered how I'd even be able to eat with this anxious stomach.

Our waiter showed up and took our drink order, saying he'd be right back with some wine. Hallelujah.

"So you said you had a rough week?" Kieran asked, setting aside his menu, his eyes darker in the dim light of the restaurant.

Oh, right. I'd better think of something. "Well, not rough really. Just long."

"I know what you mean. It seemed like this night would never get here." His face flushed slightly after he said it. "I mean, yeah, it was a long week."

That was really sweet, and I had no clue what to say or do. This was all so weird and awkward. I mean, the guy had just broken up with his girlfriend a week ago. Did he really mean to ask me out on a date this soon?

I had nothing to say, and I could feel the same tension in him as well. Well, actually, I could always feel that tension in him. So that was really nothing new.

While racking my brain for a conversation topic, I realized all I wanted to do was stare at him, the flicker from the candlelight doing something to his face that took my breath away.

Thankfully, the waiter, as if he sensed our situation, came over to take our order and pour us some wine. I took a huge gulp as Kieran raised his glass for a toast.

"Oops, sorry. Couldn't wait," I said after I swallowed nearly half my glass.

Laughing, he had a drink also. A long drink.

"So how's your new roommate?" I asked, already feeling slightly better. "Any progress with the slobbery?"

Kieran's eyes brightened with amusement. "Right. I wish. Well, actually, I take that back. I did make some progress. My roommate, whose name is Daniel by the way, seems to have an issue throwing awayalmostempty ketchup bottles."

"What?" I sputtered. "What does that even mean?"

"He had eight—I counted them—nearly empty bottles in the fridge. And when I asked him about them, he said he was too lazy to finish them completely and so he just grabbed a new one. And someday, he'd use up the rest."

"Oh, my God. That's so funny." I covered my mouth with my hand at the look of annoyance on Kieran's face.

"Not really," he said, the corners of his mouth turning up into a reluctant smile. "I guess it is a little. But I was the one who ended up rinsing them all out and recycling them."

"Oh, you poor baby," I murmured. "That must have been so awful for you."

He narrowed those sexy eyes at me, a slow grin emerging on his face. "It was."

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