“Don’t know.” I shrug and close my menu. “I didn’t look.”
Layla’s jaw falls open, like she’s going to say something, but changes her mind and snaps it shut. She takes another minute to read over the dinner options, then closes her menu.
“You know what you want?” I ask.
“Yeah, I think I’m going to try the tofu thing you suggested.” She sighs, then frowns. “I wish I had sweet tea.”
“Be right back.” I grab her menu and mine then walk to the back of the restaurant, towards the kitchen. I push the swinging door open and, as expected, Kim is at the stove.
“Josh,” he says with a grin, tossing some vegetables in his wok. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good. Real good.” I’ve come here once a week for the past three years, building a relationship with Trong and Kim. Back then, they were a new restaurant and had time to chat. Now, they’re slammed six days a week. I don’t want to take up too much of his time. “Listen, um, your new waitress gave me her number in front of my date.”
“A date?” Kim grins and pushes the swinging door open to peer into the dinning room. “The girl in the black?”
“Yeah.” I rub the back of my neck. There’s only one girl sitting by herself at a two person table. It isn’t hard to figure out who I’m here with, but that doesn’t make me any less anxious. “That’s her.”
“She’s hot.” Kim walks back to the stove and starts plaiting someone’s order. “I’ll have a word with Tamra. Do you know what you want to eat?”
“Yeah. Yellow curry and tofu sweet and sour.” I grab a pen from the table by the door and write our order on a scrap piece of paper. “Thanks, Kim.”
“Anything for our best customer.” Kim sets the finished plates on a tray then begins working on his next order.
“Hey, do you mind if I grab my girl a sweet tea?”
“Sure. Go for it.”
I leave the kitchen and walk behind the bar. My waitress, who I’m assuming is Tamra, corners me as I’m filling Layla’s cup. “What are you doing?”
“Kim wants you.” I walk around the counter without giving her a second glance.
“You can’t do that!” Tamra yells, but I ignore her.
Back at the table, I set Layla’s tea in front of her. She looks up at me, wide-eyed, with a grin. “Where’d you go?”
I pull my chair out and sit again. “I’m friends with the owner. We won't have any more problems tonight.”
Layla smiles again and takes a sip of her tea. It mustn't be sweet enough because she opens a packet of sugar and dumps it in. Tamra drops our plates on the table a few minutes later and walks away without saying a word. Layla picks up her fork and dives in. She looks up every now and then and smiles, but I can’t help feeling the tension build between us.
“I’m not very good at this,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. “To be honest, I haven’t taken a girl on a proper date in years.”
Layla’s green eyes widen. She swallows the bite in her mouth and asks, “Really?”
“There hasn’t been anyone I’ve wanted to get to know outside of the bedroom since high school.” I grimace, realizing that sounded better in my head than it did out loud.
“But you’ve had girlfriends before, right?” She leans back in her chair, a tiny crease forming between her brows.
“Define ‘girlfriend’.”
Layla looks at me, horrified, and I chuckle. “Don’t judge me. Those girls knew from day one that I didn’t want anything serious. If they got hurt, then that’s on them.”
Her eyes narrow. I can practically see the gears turning behind them. “And what do you want from me?”
That’s the question of the day. What do I want from Layla?
I’ll tell you what I don’t want, I don’t want her with anybody else, and that’s a first. Normally, I couldn’t give two shits about what a girl does or who they do it with, but the thought of any man’s hands on her makes me see red. “Truthfully, I don’t know.”
“Huh,” she says, taking a bite of rice and vegetables.