Page 47 of Hot Summer Nights

“Lead the way.”

I follow her inside the packed restaurant, my eyes glued to her ass as it sways gently back and forth with her steps. I lick my lips, suddenly hungry for something besides food. Ember waves at the hostess and tells her table for two. I lean against the wall as she makes her way back to me.

“It’ll be about ten minutes.” She says as she comes to stand next to me.

“Sounds good.”

We stand in silence for a few minutes and I rack my brain to come up with something to say. I’ve never been tongue-tied around a girl before, but something about Ember feels like being here with her really matters.

“Have you lived here long?” I ask.

“My whole life.” She says and something in her voice makes me think that she doesn’t want to be here.

“You don’t like it here?” I guess.

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s just-”

“Hey, Ember! Table’s ready.” The hostess calls over, interrupting what she was going to say.

We follow behind the waitress as she leads us to a booth in the back of the restaurant. I watch as Ember slides into one side before I take the opposite slide. The hostess hands us our menues and tells Ember she’ll see her later before she gives me a once over and a flirty smile.

“Haven’t seen you before.” She purrs.

“No. I’m just here for a few days.” I say.

My tone makes it obvious that I’m not in the mood to flirt. She gives me a pout but wanders back to the hostess stand. I turn back to Ember who is studiously ignoring me, hiding behind her menu.

“So, what’s good to eat here?” I ask, desperate to have her eyes on me again.

“I love the beef roast and the mud cake for dessert.” she says.

She finally places her menu down, closing it and putting it at the end of the table. Our waitress comes over at that moment to introduce herself and ask for our drink order.

“Are you guys ready to order?”

“We are. We’ll both have the beef roast with the mud cake for dessert.” I say.

I close my menu and hand both of them to the waitress who writes our order down before hurrying back to the kitchen.

“So earlier, you never finished what you were going to say.” I remind her.

“About what?”

“About if you liked living here.”

“Oh. Right. I don’t mind it. It’s just that I know everyone here. We all grew up together and it just feels like nothing exciting ever really happens here. I’d like to get out and see more than just these mountains in my life.”

I think over her answer and can see where she’s coming from.

“What about you?” She asks.

“What about me?”

“Where are you from?”

“I live in New York.”

“Really?” She asks, leaning forward with excitement in her eyes.

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