Messy Love (Stumbling into Love 3)

“Okay.”

I’d just opened the menu when the waiter approached out table. He looked about mid-twenties, blond, with full lips and high cheekbones. “Can I get you guys something to drink—oh.” He was looking at me strangely.

“Um…I’ll take a glass of water and…what do you have on tap?” He listed them for me, and I chose a dark draft. “How about you?” My gaze found Danny, who was smiling.

“I’ll have the same.”

“Are you ready to order, or do you need some time?”

“A few minutes. Thanks,” I replied.

“Of course. Anything you need.” He walked away, so I looked at the menu again.

“I think I want a big-ass burger,” I said.

“The burgers here are great. They also have different kinds of fries. I love the Cajun and the parmesan.”

“Oh fuck. Those both sound good.”

“You get the Cajun, I’ll get the other, and we’ll share,” Danny suggested.

“Yeah, okay.”

Danny was looking at the menu, and I found myself watching him. It was sharing some fucking fries, so I didn’t know why I felt like he’d just offered me the world or some novel idea I never would have thought of. I think it was just all of it, being there at all, and again, acknowledging this was real and how my life had changed that had me feeling…off.

He glanced up and saw me looking. “What?”

“Nothing.” Look at the menu, pick a big-ass burger, and stop being creepy. “I think I’m gonna get the one with pepper bacon on it.”

“Solid choice. Mushroom deluxe for me.”

“Horrible choice,” I replied, and Danny gave me the finger. “Mushrooms are gross.”

“Well, good thing you aren’t eating my burger, Mr. Pepper Bacon.”

“Which is the shit.”

“Mm-hm. Whatever.”

“And wait, I thought you didn’t like mushrooms?”

“Disgusting on pizza, delicious on burgers.”

My brows pulled together. “You make no sense.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that.”

The waiter returned with our drinks, and we put our order in—mine coming with two patties. “Good choice,” he told me.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. It was hard to choose.” I looked at Danny. “I notice he didn’t say that about yours.”

“Is this your first time here?” the waiter asked. His nametag read Adrian.

“Yep.”

“Definitely save room for dessert. I’ll hook you up with this chocolate lava cake we have, and I’ll add some raspberries on top. It’s technically not on the menu that way, but it’s to die for.”

“Cool. Thanks, man. That sounds good.”

He nodded, smiled, then slipped away.

“That was nice of him,” I told Danny.

“Oh, sweet summer child.”

“Huh?”

He leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “He wants to fuck you.”

My pulse sped up. “Wait, what? How do you know that?”

“Because my eyeballs tell me so.”

I shook my head, trying to wrap my brain around it—the waiter, and how Danny had worded that. “Do your eyeballs talk to you?”

“No, but they don’t have to. Fuck, dude, you really couldn’t tell? He was eating you alive with his eyes. He wants to ride the Jonathan train.”

My face felt hot. “No he doesn’t. And can you never say that again? It’s ridiculous.”

“That someone wants to have sex with you?”

“No, the Jonathan-train thing.”

“Oh.” Danny chuckled. “You should get his number.”

My eyes scanned the restaurant, looking for the waiter, as I said, “I can’t do that.”

“You could. You’ve only met guys on apps, right?” I confirmed, and he continued. “Get his number, hang out with him, bring him home, and have sex. You can do that if you want. If you’re not interested, you don’t have to, of course. Not everyone is into sex, or they want to get to know someone first, but you can do all that now.”

“I’m into sex, believe me.” Could I do this? Could I get that guy’s number? Did I even want to?

“God, I love sex.” Danny’s voice had this husky, throaty sound to it all of a sudden that he didn’t typically have. My cock took notice, perking up.

“I heard how much you enjoy it.” The moment I said the words, I wanted them back. Definitely had to work on how the truth sneaked out around him.

“I’m sorry. I still feel bad. I’ll be careful. He was a screamer.”

And yep, my dick was getting interested. I tried to adjust myself in the seat without making it obvious. Now that we were talking about it, I really wanted to have sex. Wanted to be as open about it as Danny was. “And apparently you weren’t giving it to him hard enough.” I went for nonchalance, and it didn’t sound so bad. I could do this. I could talk about sex with guys the way my buddies talked about sex with women.

“Hey, I gave it plenty hard, thank you very much. I was trying to be respectful of you.”

“Excuses, excuses,” I replied while I was silently thinking, Down, boy. Don’t think about sex with Danny.

“He’s coming. Now’s your chance. Want me to go to the bathroom?”