“I told you about Kara, right, Thomas? She’s just so amazing. You two have a lot in common so why don’t you get to know each other better?” She rose, hanging her designer bag on her arm. “Just the two of you today, okay? I forgot that I’m supposed to meet my friend at the hair salon in five minutes. It’s just next door so don’t worry about my ride, sweetheart,” she told him. “My friend will drive me home. Enjoy your dinner and just have fun, okay? Bye, kids.” She gave us air kisses and left.
When she was gone, I gave Thomas a knowing look. “You know she’s full of it, don’t you?”
He looked at me for a moment, his lips tucked together, his brown eyes shining with laughter. And then he let it out. He had a deep laugh that rumbled in his chest.
“I’m sorry. She does this all the time.” He looked embarrassed. It was adorable.
“I know. This isn’t the first time she’s ambushed me like this.”
His eyes shone with laughter. “No one is safe from Tita Didi.”
“Last time, she set me up with a guy who didn’t blink.”
He looked at me for a moment, not saying anything, not blinking. Ah, damn it. This was another weirdo she’d set me up with. And then his eyes twinkled and he blinked several times. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hi, guys.” The server placed the menu on the table, along with order cards and a pen so we could choose what kind of sushi we wanted. “Can I get you something to drink first?” he asked.
Thomas looked at me. “Ladies first,” he said.
“I’d like a coconut bubble tea, please. Double the bubbles.”
I would have ordered a milkshake if they’d had it on the menu.
“Great choice. And yours?”
“I’ll have green tea, please,” Thomas said.
Green tea. I realized I’d never hung out with a guy who ordered green tea. Was he a health freak? He was on the slim side, but his shoulders were broad, his arms filling out the dress shirt he was wearing.
“Perfect. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
“Thank you,” we both said.
I wasn’t sure what else to talk about after the server left, so I asked, “So…you’re Tita Didi’s nephew, right?” I grabbed the card and the marker, placing a number one beside the veggie caterpillar roll, tempura yam roll, and shiitake mushroom roll.
“She’s my mom’s sister,” he answered.
“You two looked close.”
“She doesn’t have any kids.”
My eyebrows rose. “So you hang out with your aunt at the mall? Nice guy. Didn’t know you guys still exist.”
His brown eyes were amused. “Oh, we do exist. Just some of us didn’t wake up early and missed Nice Guy 101 class.”
He was witty too. I handed him the pen. A lock of his hair dropped on his forehead as he looked down and wrote on his order card. He raked it back with his fingers. It was black and curly, so it would totally be normal if it reminded me of someone I was so totally over. Except that it was the wrong shade. Cameron’s hair was darker, almost blue black, especially when hit by the sun. And it wasn’t tightly curled like Thomas’s. Cameron’s were like loose angel curls.
Damn him. Get the hell out of my head, Bigfoot!
“Have you guys decided on what to order?”
The server jerked me out of my thoughts as he placed our drinks on the table.
“I don’t think you remember me,” Thomas said when our server left.
My eyebrows drew together. “Have we met?”
“Not properly introduced. I go to the same church. I saw you slap your brother in the face once.”