“A bug hotel? What the hell is that?”
“Exactly what it says it is. It’s a place for bugs to live and thrive.”
She wrinkled her face up. “That sounds like my worst nightmare.”
Laughing, I shook my head and speared a shrimp on the end of my fork. “No, no. Good bugs.”
“Okay, but what is it? How do you make one?”
I swallowed the shrimp. “It’s mostly a few wooden pallets stuck together and filled with things that bugs can nest in. Bricks, plant pots, old pipes, insulation, concrete slabs.”
“And you just put it all together? What about plants?”
“Yeah, but we don’t put those in. We just construct the house and get it there. We typically add the bricks and heavy stuff when we deliver it.”
“Wow. I never knew they existed.” She stabbed some pasta with her fork. “I didn’t know he made all that stuff.”
“Rae, you haven’t been in the garage for over three years.”
“It’s dusty and dirty, that’s why.” She smiled slightly. “Plus, Grandpa gets all assy if you get in his way.”
I laughed. “I know. I do it often. He’s… lovably assy.”
“You can’t be lovable and assy.”
“Of course you can. You’re that all the time.”
She flicked a small piece of mushroom off the side of her plate. It landed on the table next to mine.
“Oh, boy,” I said. “That sure told me.”
She kicked me under the table instead. “Asshole.”
“A lovable one?”
“Don’t push it.” She narrowed her eyes, but they were bright with amusement. “I can ignore you again anytime I want.”
I pointed my finger at her. “Fifty bucks says you can’t.”
“You’re seriously betting on my ability to ignore you? I did it successfully for two whole years.” She responded by pointing her fork at me. “I can do it again.”
I rolled my eyes and twisted my fork in my spaghetti. “Yeah, but now you’ve been exposed to my devastating charms again. It’s not going to be that easy.”
“Your devastating charms? Which ones might those be?”
“I’d have to take off my shirt to show you all of them.”
“Let me guess. They come in a pack of six and disappear into your pants.” Her lips tugged to one side. “And, if you tensed just right while lying down, you’d be able to sip liquor from between each little muscle.”
“How did you know? Oh, right—you did that once.”
Her cheeks flushed bright red. “It was my birthday, and I was drunk!”
“You did it in front of almost a hundred people at a bar.”
“Again, it was my birthday, and I was drunk.” She shifted on the chair. “It happened one time.”
“I still have that video on my old phone.”
“I thought we were going for dinner, not a rehash of old times.”
“Aw, come on, Rae. It’s so much fun when you blush, though.”
Her cheeks turned bright red again. “It is not!”
I grinned. “See, you say that, but you’re blushing right now, and it’s fucking adorable.”
She jabbed her fork into the pasta. She was still bright red, and her eyes narrowed as she put the fork into her mouth. She ate like that for a good minute until I laughed and shook my head, focusing my attention on my dinner instead.
We finished without saying another word. She made a point to ignore eye contact with me, but she finally broke that—and her silence—when I handed our server my credit card before she could even bring us the bill.
“What are you doing?” Rae asked. “I can pay for my dinner. This isn’t a date.”
“I know it’s not a date, but you’ve had a rough day, and I wanted to do something nice.” I finished the rest of my drink. “You don’t have to be so defensive all the time.”
She sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. Just—don’t you think this is weird? Us having dinner when…” She trailed off.
“When I just told you I’m still in love with you?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Yeah. That.”
“No. Do you?”
“Yes.”
I let go of a small laugh and leaned back in my chair. “All right, okay, fine. It’s a little weird, I guess, but I’m not doing it to try to trick you to fall back in love with me or anything. I don’t have some ulterior motive for being nice to you. Do I wish you still loved me? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but it’s not the point. I’m buying you dinner as your friend because you need one of those right now. You also made my favorite ice cream, so take this as my thank you.”
She twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. “The ice cream was a thank you.”
“So, dinner is a thank you for the thank you. Relax.” I smiled and took back my card from the server. “Speaking of… Do you think the ice cream will be frozen now?”
She checked her phone by hitting the lock button to light it up. “Yeah. Why? Are you that impatient?”