This is the guy I’m supposed to be crushing on, not Ross, I remind myself. A good guy, a normal guy. Not a bully. Not a man who’s been in and out of jail for the past few years, if rumors are to be trusted.
Jenner sits back and gives me a really long once-over, head tilting back, fingers tapping on the table top as I stand there silently, absorbing the fact of his identity and lack of Ross-ness. His nails are too clean, I think randomly. His hair too perfectly styled. The blond streaks in it doesn’t look natural. The spikes are a bit too long.
It hits me that he looks like a badly-put together clone of Ross, and a shiver crawls down my back. What in the world? What’s up with that? Is it a coincidence? Or is it me?
Didn’t I already berate myself for going for another blond? Does it go deeper than that?
Didn’t Ross admonish me to go for the original, not the copycats?
Jesus. After the way he behaved last time I saw him, why do I even care about what he said?
“Coffee?” I ask brightly, to cover up my confused thoughts, and pour him a cup before he opens his mouth to reply. “What can I get you?”
“You’re Luna,” he says, not seeming to be paying any attention to what I’m doing, or even his coffee spilling over, creating a black puddle on the table. “Luna Spinelli.”
“You know my name?” Maybe it shouldn’t surprise me so much. After all, Dena seems to know the name of every single person in town, but I barely remember him from school.
“Yeah, well. Ross was always so fascinated with you, you were hard to miss.”
“Really.” Hard to miss? What does that mean? Uneasy at the turn of this conversation, I place the coffee pot on the table and pull out my notepad. “Did you want to order something?”
“A helping of you would do it.” He leers at me, and before I stab him with my pen, he laughs. “Sorry, just kidding. Couldn’t help it. A burger and fries, extra bacon, extra cheese.”
My hand shakes as I take the order. He’s still staring at me. I don’t know what to make of him.
“Burger and fries coming right up,” I mutter, stashing the notepad away. “That’d be all?”
“Yeah.” He flashes me his pearly whites, taps his fingers again on the table. “I can see why Ross wanted you. You’re a pretty thing.”
Ugh. Is this... normal flirting? Am I so unaccustomed to it that it seems weird?
“Why are you talking about Ross? What’s he to you?”
“Nothing. Nobody.”
Yeah, somehow I find that hard to believe. Turning on
my heel, I head back to the kitchen, slowing down just enough to grab Dena by the elbow and drag her along. I don’t stop until the kitchen door closes behind us.
Ignoring the cook’s narrow look, I point back toward the tables. “Jenner.”
“What about him?”
“He’s creepy.”
“Seriously. By that I assume you mean that he’s finally hitting on you?”
“It’s not that, Dena. Or it’s more than that. It’s just...” I sigh. “He said he now knows why Ross wanted me.”
“Whoa, now. He said that?”
“Isn’t it creepy?”
“It’s... interesting. Maybe he was only making conversation, though.”
“About Ross?”
“Okay, point, but some people are awkward. He could be shy and doesn’t know what to say to you.”