Piece of My Heart (Fostering Love 4)

Sean gave me a what the fuck scowl, and I grimaced, shrugging my shoulders before looking away. I was completely botching what should have been an enjoyable dinner. To be fair, I wasn’t the only person at fault. I hadn’t been the one who’d shown up late.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, running a hand down my face. “I didn’t mean that toward you. I mean, you were late, but I wasn’t trying to call you out.”

“You just keep talking,” Sarai said, her lips tipping up in a small smile. “But you’re not making it any better.”

“I’ll shut up,” I replied immediately. Then, like a complete jackass, I lifted my fingers and mimicked zipping my mouth closed.

Sarai laughed and looked back across the table at Hailey, dismissing me. I closed my eyes for a moment in disbelief.

I needed to turn this shit around. I waited for my moment, quietly observing the two women as they talked about their classes and professors.

“What’s your major?” I asked Sarai quietly as Sean finally captured Hailey’s attention again.

“I’m getting my MBA,” she replied. “I graduate in the spring.” She grinned and did this little celebration motion with her hands. I relaxed a little. If I could just keep her talking, maybe I could salvage her opinion of me. If nothing else, at least she’d think I was a good listener.

“Damn,” I said. “That’s a lot of school.”

“Well, I took a couple of years off after high school,” she replied. “So it hasn’t seemed too bad.”

“Oh yeah?”

“It turns out,” she said softly, leaning toward me as if she were telling me a secret, “college is expensive.”

I chuckled and she grinned.

“No kidding,” I replied. “I was never very good at the whole school thing.”

“Why is that?”

“Class clown,” I said, pointing to myself. “I was too busy making sure everyone else wasn’t paying attention to learn anything.”

“Ah,” she said knowingly.

“It’s a curse.” I shrugged.

“I’m guessing the Army beat that out of you,” she said, turning toward me a little.

“The drill sergeants didn’t find me amusing,” I replied drily.

“I bet.” She laughed.

Hailey said something, pulling Sarai’s attention back across the table. Damn, just when we were getting somewhere.

We ordered our meals, and thankfully I didn’t embarrass myself again. There was something about the woman sitting next to me that made me all nervous and twitchy. I wanted so badly to make a good impression that I psyched myself out.

I watched her while we ate, trying not to seem creepy. I couldn’t help myself. Everything she did, every move she made, seemed…dainty. I’d never used that word before in my life, but it fit. Her table manners were impeccable; meanwhile, my sushi rolls were falling from my chopsticks with alarming regularity.

“Do you need help with that?” she finally asked as I tried and failed to get a roll into my mouth.

“No,” I mumbled, putting a hand in front of my mouth to hide the food hanging out of it. “No, thank you.”

“I have just the trick,” she said, lifting one finger in the air.

I sheepishly put my chopsticks in her hand when she gestured for them. I watched in fascination as she folded the wrapper from her straw and set it between the chopsticks, then wrapped a tiny rubber band from inside her purse around the whole thing.

“See?” she said, squeezing the chopsticks on one end so they opened and closed at the other end. “Magic.”

“Did you just put training wheels on my chopsticks?” I asked in disbelief.

Sarai’s eyes widened innocently as she pressed her lips together. “Yes?”

“I think I love you,” I replied, wiggling my fingers. “Let me try them.”

The woman was a genius.

“Better?” she asked, watching as I easily grabbed a roll.

“Jesus, Evans,” Sean said, scoffing. “I can’t take you anywhere.”

“I’m taking these home with me,” I replied, opening and closing them a few times.

Ground rules for wingmen in our circle meant that I was getting a free dinner. Since Sean was the one trying to impress his date, it was his responsibility to pay. I’d given up beer and video games to help him out; it was the least he could do.

Unfortunately, Sean seemed to have missed that memo and didn’t reach for the check when the waitress set it on the end of our table after we’d finished eating. I gritted my teeth as I watched him smile widely at something Hailey said. I glanced down at the check and then back at him as Sarai grabbed her purse and started rifling through it. Sean still didn’t pick the damn thing up. Finally, just as Sarai found her wallet and pulled it out of her purse, I reached past her and snatched the bill up.

“I’ve got it,” I said quietly, putting my hand on top of hers for just a second. I reached for my wallet at the same time she tried to argue.