Page 66 of The Blue Rose
The waiter comes over with the bottle of wine, pouring it into my glass first. I pick it up and down it, hardly tasting the kind gift. The waiter's eyes shoot up, and he refills my glass, a look of judgment passing over his face. Aster notices and glares at the waiter. I take one more hearty gulp and place my glass down with a loud clack.
“Are you two ready to order?” the waiter asks, placing the bottle into the bucket of ice in the middle of the table.
I look at Aster, waiting for him to respond, but he doesn’t answer, choosing to glare at the waiter instead. I kick him under the table, which makes his glare turn on me. I roll my eyes, looking up at the waiter, heat flooding my cheeks. “Yes, I’d like to order the seafood pasta please.” Handing my menu to the waiter, he takes it and looks to Aster.
“And for you sir?”
Aster turns his glare back on the waiter. “What’s your name?”
My lips tighten into a thin line, and hand tightening around the wine glass.He keeps up this attitude, and the only thing he will be seeing tonight is my ass, walking out the door.
Taken back by Aster's sudden question, he shakes his head. “I’m sorry?”
“We never got your name,” Aster says with a raised brow.
“I apologize, sir, my name is Pierce.” he responds, sweat dotting his forehead.
Aster breathes in the man's fear and smirks, finally settling back in his chair. “Pierce, I’ll have what she’s having.”
He takes a cloth from his pocket and swipes his face, mumbling “Very good, sir,” then walking away.
I kick Aster again, harder this time.
“If you kick me one more time, I’m going to make your ass raw later, and you won’t like it.” Our eyes narrow at one another and I smirk at him, breaking the standoff. “Go ahead and laugh now, you won’t be later.”
“Stop being an ass and I might stop kicking you.” I sass, tapping my foot on his leg and pushing my luck. “Seriously, what’s gotten into you? Tonight is already hard enough. I thought you being here would make it easier. Clearly, I was wrong.”
His eyes soften, and he tries to take my hand but I pull it away. Son of a bitch’s arms are longer, though, and he manages to grab me, not letting go despite my tugging. “I’m sorry. I just-” He pushes his hand through his hair, making the curls fall into his eyes. I hate seeing him like this, he looks so innocent when he’s upset at himself that I can’t stay mad at him.
I squeeze his hand, and he looks at me. “It’s not okay what you did, but I opened up and talked to you. Now, it’s your turn to do the same.”
“You’re right, I just… don’t like seeing you with any other guys, and when he silenced you like that cop did, I just…” His jaw feathers, his eyes darkening. “I lost my anger. I'm sorry. You mean so much to me, and I got a little jealous.”
“I understand, but I’m still pissed. Thank you for telling me, but you owe Gene an apology. You were glaring at him the whole time and were rude. He’s one of the few connections I have left to my mom, and there is no reason to be jealous of him. He's a sixty-year-old married man who I think of as a fun uncle.” The waiter brings our food over, and I release my hand from his, waiting until the waiter is gone before I continue. “You mean a lot to me, too, and to prove you are special to me. I want to show you something… tonight. After dinner. Something no one has ever seen before.”
I take a bite of my food, Aster’s eyebrows knitting together as his head tilts to the side, curiosity lacing his beautiful green gaze. “I would like that very much,” he says finally, and we enjoy the rest of the meal in comfortable silence.
I’m going to show him my paintings. The secret ones. My nightmares no soul has ever seen. I pick at my food, moving it around my plate, butterflies flying around in my stomach.I wonder how he will react, if he will see me differently.The paintings are gruesome and bloody, not meant for anyone to see, but something has shifted in our relationship.I think it’s time.Maybe if I share this with him, we will grow even closer, and he will finally drop the last bit of his wall he keeps up so strong.
We finish our meal, and I place everything in a pile on the table. “I’ll be right back, I need to use the restroom.” Aster nods his head and I leave the table after kissing his temple.
Heading back down the hall to our table, I hear a voice say my name, startling me and making me clutch at my chest. “Oh, Gene! It’s just you,” I say, seeing him standing there by himself.
He looks behind him and grabs my arm taking me further down the hall. “I didn’t want to say this in front of your man or Betty, but there's something off about Aster.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confusion and anger lacing my voice.How dare he ambush me to talk bad about Aster. I know the two were glaring at each other all night, even after we got our food, but he has no right to do this.
“There’s nothing wrong with Aster,” I say, yanking my arm out of his grip. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t judge him based on one interaction.”
I walk away, but he grabs my hand, stopping me in my tracks. “I mean no harm, but it’s just a gut feeling. There’s something not right with him, you can see it in his eyes. He’s hiding something, Serena. Something big”
Pulling my hand away once more, I level my glare at him, “Look, I understand your concern, but Aster would never hurt me. So please, mind your business.”
I finally walk away, and he hollers after me, “Just be careful!”
Aster waits near the front, taking my arm in his, and we head back to my house. Nervous energy surrounds us. What's to come entirely up to him.
TWENTY-THREE
