Page 51 of The Other Side of Together

Detective Miller leans back in his chair and smiles. “I was thinking of ordering something different tonight, but…”

“Or…” The word jumps out of me, my whole body jittery. “I could do an order of extra lo mein…” I say, then laugh like a hyper butterfly. When my eyes skim Marcus’s, he raises one eyebrow, his eyes sparking.

“Whoa.” Detective Miller whistles. “Impressive. Guess I really am that predictable if everyone here knows my usual.”

“Not everyone. That’s my own detective work.”

Both detectives laugh and nod while I smile at Detective Robinson’s badge, grateful the lighting is dim for my hot cheeks’ sake.

“And what can I get you?” I ask Detective Robinson, my finger hovering over broccoli and beef.

“Well…if you know his usual, you probably know mine.” He points to my tablet. “Let’s see if I get a surprise, or if we really are Zhang’s VIPs.” He grins, showing the gap between his front teeth.

“Challenge accepted,” I say to my tablet, but my eyes slip to Marcus who picks up his glass and drains the water in two gulps.

Detective Miller laughs and slaps the table. “Big, fat tipfrom Lex for dealing with this crew.” He reaches across the table and slaps Detective Robinson’s shoulder.

My neck is kindling a bonfire that will flare out the top of my head any minute, but I smile, feeling like I’m breathing in hot air. I bend one knee so I don’t pass out. “Anything to drink?” I hit the buttons before they tell me. Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew. Dr. Pepper.

I breathe through my nose to keep a straight face and ignore Marcus, but he leans into the table and drops his hands under it. A second later, his fingers trail behind my knee and down my calf. My heart jumps and I inhale sharply, shaking my leg like I’m flinging off a bug.

“You okay?” Detective Miller’s eyebrows furl but Marcus’s fingers drift to the side of my knee while he pretends to study the menu on the table in front of him.

I lock my knee and snap my eyes to Detective Miller and smile, nodding spastically while my stomach squirms. “Yes. Fine.” My thoughts travel at the speed of light down my leg to Marcus’s fingers. “Sorry. You said large Dr. Pepper, right?”

He nods and hands me his menu as I bite my lip, hauling my focus back up my body to Marcus. “What can I get for you?”

He leans back and crosses his arms on his chest, rocking on the chair’s back legs. I glance at his fingers that just secretly left lava trails down my legs, then the fraction on his arm.

“What’s 3/1000?”I ask with my eyes.

“Show you in the pantry. But that heart on your wrist looks serious. You got a boyfriend?”

I look at my tablet, then back to Marcus, talking with my eyes.“Look at your menu before your dad notices.”

Luckily, Detective Miller is discussing something with Detective Robinson, and Marcus sighs, long and loud.

“Well…if you know what these jokers like, I bet you know what I like.” His eyes widen. “And it has nothing to do withfood.” I grip my tablet tighter while he scans the menu, then sighs and looks at me. “I had Zhang’s earlier today but can never get enough. I love everything about it. So good.” His eyes spark and set tiny fires in places that make me want to crawl into his lap or run and jump in the ocean. He grins up at me and I kick his ankle. Hard.

He flinches, then straightens, and smiles at me. “Sweet and sour pork for me, please.”

I’m combing my wet hair after a shower when Lin trots up the stairs, blowing a bubble as she sails into my room.

“Hey, hot stuff.” She flops on her stomach across my bed. “Will you promise we can talk about something more exciting than calculus? Does anyone actually like it? Or use it?” She swings her head toward me where I’ve dropped into my desk chair. “The answer is decidedly no. So, let’s talk about something useful as a warm-up. Like…the real reason you weren’t at school today. Hmmm? Could it have something to do with a soccer player?” She stares at me and taps her chin. “Which would positively dash Harvey in pieces since he thinks you two are going to end this year with your lips locked while you’re on some super-scary rollercoaster on Senior Day.”

“How do you know that?” I prop my feet on my desk, remembering my lips locked on Marcus’s while I was supposed to be at school with Harvey. Marcus’s lips affect my stomach way more than any rollercoaster could. That stomach-drop feeling happened repeatedly in the last twenty-four hours. I put my hand over it, then pretend to straighten my shirt when Lin looks at me weird.

She digs a pen out of her bag. “Heard he’s going to ask you to prom.”

Oh. That. I haven’t thought about prom since Marcus took over all sections of my brain.

When my phone buzzes on my desk, I pick it up to see Mmm on my screen and control my voice to keep from shrieking. “Be right back.” I jump up and bolt into my bathroom, swinging the door closed behind me. Climbing into the shower, I huddle in the corner and answer. “Hi,” I whisper through a spreading smile.

“Hey,” he sighs into the phone.

“Was it your idea to come in tonight? That was the best kind of surprise.”

“It was actually my dad’s, so that worked out nicely. Maybe he senses how much I crave Zhang’s these days…”

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