Page 31 of Right Where You Left Me
“Let’s go to the Italian place in Hillside?” She suggests. “Giovanni’s.”
“Yes. Yes that sounds perfect. I’ll see you later, Sage.”
“See you later.” She says grinning.
I quickly tap my card, blatantly ignoring the Cheshire grin on Peyton’s face, and leave the shop.
And I also ignore the swarm of butterflies currently invading my stomach.Friends, I remind myself. We’re just friends.
CHAPTER 12
Sage
“What did I agree to?” I mutter to myself, sitting on my bike. I’ve been parked outside ofGiovanni’sfor ten minutes because I, of course, got here way too early. My last tattoo of the night finished up earlier than I expected it to, and I obviously did not rush out of the shop to get here as quickly as possible. That would be insane. Because. This isn’t a date. And I am absolutely not excited about this.
Then why are you so nervous?
Ugh! Stupid Emma and her stupidly beautiful face. Why did she have to invite me out tonight?? Why did I agree??
I pull my phone from my jacket pocket and look at the clock on the screen, seeing that I have five more minutes until I’m notweirdly early. I look down at my outfit, faded boot leg jeans and the spare shop crew neck I had in the shop. Because of course I didn’t think to drive by my apartment even though I had time to. God, why am I letting the thought of this dinner get to me like this? Emma didn’t even call this a date. It’s just two friends getting dinner. And it’s going to stay that way.
I pull my helmet off, locking it to the back of my bike. I throw my bike jacket over my arm before I finger comb my hair and then berate myself for doing that and slowly make my way inside. The hostess in the front gives me a big smile as I approach and I return it with a small one of my own. “I’m meeting someone here. I’m not sure if they’re already at our table or not.”
“What’s the name?” She asks looking down at the tablet on the stand in front of her.
“Emma. Or, it could be under Newton. Shit no, Reynolds.” My palms are sweating.
She takes longer than I feel is necessary to look it up and nods her head before meeting my eyes. “Yes, it’s under Newton. Table in the back left, just that way.” She says pointing. I follow her finger and spot Emma sitting alone at a two seater near one of the back windows.
“Thanks.” I murmur and quickly walk over, sitting in the empty chair across from Emma.
Her cheeks dimple as her mouth splits into a smile. “You’re earlier than I was expecting.”
I huff. “Then why are you here already?”
Her cheeks burn pink and fuck do I love it when that happens. “I wasn’t sure when you would get here, I didn’t want you to wait on me.” She says softly. And now I feel like a dick. I don’t want to make her feel bad anymore. Fucking fuck. I want to make her smile at me. To make her laugh. To make thosefreckled cheeks darken because she’s happy, not because she’s embarrassed.
“I’m sorry.” I blurt out. “I’m being an asshole.”
She blinks slowly at me. “No, you aren’t. You’re just?—”
“No. I’m sorry, Emma. Let’s start over?” She nods, her mouth quirking up. “Okay, now. Repeat what you said when I sat down.”
“What? No.” She says, laughing a little.
“Say it.” I demand playfully.
She rolls her eyes, but says, “You’re earlier than I was expecting.”
“I wrapped up early with my last client and couldn’t wait to get here.” I say, truthfully. Leaning in to get closer to her I add, “Didn’t even swing home to change.”
And there goes that blush. Fuck, she’s so cute. Why am I so set on not pursuing her again? Am I actually sure she’d hurt me on purpose? This charming, sweet woman with eyes like whiskey. Whose smile is so warm and tender. How could I possibly think that she would ever hurt anyone and mean to do it?
“Do you remember that Italian place near campus that we used to go to with Spencer Miller?” She asks, bringing me back to the moment.
“Uh, I think so. The little hole in the wall that we used to go to, to get pizza on Fridays?”
She nods. “You remember when we dared him to shove two of their giant meatballs in his mouth and he ended up jamming three in there? I wonder what he’s up to these days.”
