Page 94 of Break the Ice
“I’ve never had it.” Jayden gives me a curious look that spurs me on to clarify, “In Havenview there’s a diner, an Italian, and a multi-cuisine place that mostly serves more Italian food with some German and Eastern European offerings. There’s also a couple of coffee shops, but it’s all very basic and… I guess you could call it utilitarian.”
“There’s a burger place farther down, if you’d rather?”
“No, this is good. I like trying new things.” I peer through the window, but I’m met with my reflection on the tinted glass.
It takes me by surprise how normal I look next to him. Even in Elijah’s zip-up hoodie, I blend in with all the other women and girls around us, and he’s right, with his cap slung low, he passes for a regular Joe. Even if he’s so much more—taller, broader,handsome…
“If you don’t like it, this place does more than sushi. There’s noddle and rice dishes…”
“I’ll try anything once, Hotshot.”
“Anything?” He gives me a devious waggle of his brows that pulls a giggle from deep in my gut.
I swear, I want to physically latch on to him so that I can soak up some of his cheerful spirit into my soul.
“Throw what you want at me.”
“Right now, food, but later… I dunno, maybe a tattoo right here…” The instant his finger strokes across my forehead, everything inside me vibrates. His touch sends a frisson of longing all the way to my toes, edging me closer.
People don’t touch like this in Havenview. They don’t touch at all for fear of being punished. By God, by the elders… And the more Jayden touches me, the sensory and affection deprived part of me aches for more. He can’t know what he’s doing to me because if he’s aware of how confused my emotions are becoming, surely, he would stop. Wouldn’t he?
The unanswered question smothers the air in my lungs.
“What do you think? Sushi now, tattoo later?”
I giggle again, partly snorting through my reply, “Yeah, a big seventy-four.”
“Morrow would be better. There are no other Morrow’s in the game.”
“It would have to be smaller to fit it all in.” A flush creeps over his cheeks as he rolls his lips together, as though he’s trying to hold something in. “What?”
“Trust me, this is not a Jayden joke you’re ready for yet.” He gives my nose a playful boop before he guides me to the server at the door. “Table for two please. Quiet and in the back if possible.”
“Follow me.” The server starts through the restaurant, ushering us to one of the booths at the back where it’s dimmer and we’re truly away from the window and the patrons already sitting. “Have you visited before? I can take you through the way the belt system works.”
“Thanks, we’re good.”
“Would you like to order drinks now?”
Jayden looks at me pensively as if he’s reading my mind. “We’ll have two light beers, a bottle of water for the table, and a lychee juice, please.”
The server leaves with the drink order while I take in our surroundings. When I was at university, I travelled to and from campus every day. It was part of the conditions my parents and The Elders set for me to attend in person rather than online. As a result, I never got to explore the world outside Portland U.
“How about this,” Jayden muses while he taps away at the menu screen. “Seventy-four is too vague. Morrow is too long,” he chuckles at his remark, his whole body shaking with his mirth. “But Nano is just right.”
“Nano,” I repeat to myself.
“It’s what the team calls me. The Nanotyrannus was the fastest dinosaur of its time, and I’m also crazy cranky when I’m hungry.”
“Nano is twice the digits I offered.”
Jayden leans across the table to write his nickname in the air, overmy forehead. “Might as well go all the way, baby,” he croons. The swish of the movement causes me to squirm in my seat as I swallow down another bout of giggles at his remark.
Lord, help me.
Nobody but Elijah has made me feel this giddy and brainless before. There hasn’t been a single soul that’s made the world a better place with nothing more than a smile.
And I know I shouldn’t feel it, or acknowledge it, but Jayden has found that girl and now she’s clinging to him like her fate depends on it.
