Page 76 of To Love or to Lose
Knowing that the last comment was clearly directed toward me, I decide against responding.
Instead, Logan does. “Strong women,” he says, giving all three of them fist bumps. “My favorite.”
It has come to our attention, as more time progresses since we ordered our food, that all five of us have quickly become hangry, leaving the conversation to simmer out.
When our food arrives, everyone is practically salivating at the view of our plates being set in front of us.
“I’ve never been more excited for something that’s not a bagel in my life.” Eloise sighs as her rigatoni gets sat down in front of her.
She said exactly what we are all thinking. After walking all morning around the city, only fueled by a bagel, we’re all close to crashing.
Logan groans into the first bite of his pasta. “Everyone can thank me later.”
Winnifred and Genevieve are too busy splitting their lasagna into two pieces to even register what he says. Genevieve is holding a knife and fork while Winnifred holds the pan steady. Finally, they get a piece of the pasta onto a second plate.
I watch as Genevieve groans into her first bite of pasta, which immediately makes me feel a hundred degrees hotter. It’s one thing to have a pretty girl sitting across from me at a restaurant, but it’s a whole other thing to have her eating food she enjoys with no restraint or care.
That’s one thing I’ve always liked about Genevieve. She’s strong-willed, but she also doesn’t care what other people think of her. She’s secure enough with herself to not worry about other people’s opinions.Who fucking cares if she’s scarfing downpasta like her life depends on it? No one, and she knows that, therefore she doesn’t give it a second thought.
For the rest of the time we spend in the restaurant, our table is nearly silent. There are a few light conversations, but besides that, we all focus on eating.
After that, we get an Uber and head back to the hotel. If it weren’t for the university scouts conference being hosted there—and our attendance being mandatory—we would have stayed in the city for a while longer.
“We’re going to head back to our room for a while,” Genevieve says once we enter the lobby.
“I think that’s what we’ll do too,” Logan responds, motioning between the two of us.
“I’m going to go find Ivy,” Eloise says. “See what she’s doing.”She heads down the hall while the rest of us go toward the elevator.
Ours and the girls' rooms are right next to each other, making it look as if we’re escorting them back to their room for their protection, which Logan seems to take seriously.The girls grumble when Logan tells them to lock their door behind them, like teen girls getting upset at their dad for telling them to be careful.
“We’ll see you at the conference, right?” he asks as they shut the door.
“Yup!” Winnifred smiles, shutting the door.
Logan sighs, waiting for the sound of the lock being turned before unlocking our door.
“Why are you so worried about them?” I ask. “They seem to be handling themselves fine.
He looks at me, a small smile working his jaw. “You don’t know those girls like I do.” And I know he’s right.
I really, really don’t.
Chapter Twenty-One
Soon after we shut the door, Winnie gets a text from Eloise asking if she wants to play bingo in the rec hall with her and Ivy.
I know why they don’t invite me. It’s partly because they know I wouldn’t want to go, but mostly because the one other time I’ve played bingo, I got so competitive I was escorted out of the retirement home.
The girls still joke about it to this day, saying they were shocked I didn't body slam the elderly ladies every time one of them called BINGO.I still hold the position that I was never in the business of attacking geriatrics, and I should have never been escorted out.
Winnie leaves to meet them down in the lobby, and I follow behind to get a bucket of ice from the ice machine down the hall. While she goes toward the elevator, I head back toward the room.
As I’m walking, my phone rings.
‘Perfect timing,’I think to myself,
I pull it out and hold it to my ear as I continue down the hall toward my room, but almost stop in my tracks when I see Jameson going into the room right next to mine. I try not to take notice of it, but it is almost impossible when I can feel the tension of my biggest competitor staying in the room right next door.
