I hum along to whatever's on the radio while spreading cream cheese over my bagels. It's dinner time, but I haven't been grocery shopping and bagels and cream cheese are all I have.
My phone suddenly starts ringing, so I set my dinner down and walk over to the couch, where my phone sits. An unknown number.
"Hello?" I answer, straightening the pillow on the couch.
"Meredith? It's Luke. I got your number from Dan, the guy running the desk. I hope you don't mind. I didn't want to seem too forward by asking you earlier." Luke rambles, running short on breath a few times.
"It's fine, I'm glad you have it. Now I won't spend my days eating bagels alone." I laugh.
"Bagels? That's not dinner." He comments. I hear shuffling on his end of the call.
"It was either bagels or a strawberry poptart. I don't even like the strawberry kind."
"I'm giving you two options because I'm bored and I know you are too. Would you rather go grocery shopping and make food together or go out to dinner somewhere? Not like a date, or anything, unless you want it to be-"
"Going out sounds nice." I cut him off, giggling at his nervousness. "Do you know any good places? I have no idea where anything is."
"I know this good place a few blocks over, it's called Marty's. They do pizza, wings, cheesy breadsticks, all that kind of stuff. You in?" He explains. He sounds extremely excited about this place and I'm not gonna lie, it sounds amazing.
"I'm so in."
-
"They have this barbecue sauce for the wings that tastes like heaven and hell collided, it's so spicy yet so good." Luke states, showing me the list of wings on the menu.
"The wing roulette sounds amazing. Do you know what kind of wings are on it?" I ask. He nods and smiles.
"Sweet, spicy, tangy, everything. We could get a large and share it, maybe turn it into a game. I mean, if you want."
"What's the forfeit?"
"First one to tap out from either getting a super spicy one or getting too full has to cook the other dinner for a week." Luke smirks and leans his elbows on the table, letting his menu topple over.
"Deal. I've been eating hot stuff all my life, this'll be easy." I boast. He chuckles and shakes his head.
"Oh, Meredith. Sweet, innocent Meredith. You haven't tasted spicy until you've had these wings."
"You haven't tasted bitter tears until you lose to me." I challenge lamely. We laugh together at my attempt at being cocky until a waitress showing hella cleavage approaches our table with a notepad and a fanny-pack wrapped around her waist.
"Once you become a mother, you get used to lame trends like these." She jokes, pointing to the fanny-pack. "What can I getcha?"
"The large wing roulette, please. And two waters. We may need them." Luke orders. He stares at her boobs for five seconds too long. Not that I was counting.
"Is that all?" She asks, scribbling our small order onto her notepad.
"Yep." Luke states. She smiles and struts into the kitchen, calling our order out to the cooks.
"Not to embarrass you or anything, but I noticed you staring at me." Luke chuckles, turning back to face me. I don't blush, though it is a little embarrassing.
"I was counting how long you were staring at her boobs. It was quite some time." I admit, the right side of my mouth turning up into a half-smile.
"Jealous?" He smirks, cockiness shoving me full-force into my seat.
"Nope, just watching." I assure him, though I'm not sure I'm confident in my answer.
Our wings come faster than anticipated, along with two large glasses of water. The waitress wishes us good luck before going to check up on other nearby tables.
"I'll go first since it was my idea." Luke volunteers quickly. He picks a random wing and takes a bite of the saucy goodness.
"Mmm, I got a sweet one. Your turn." He smiles. He sets the bone down on a napkin and wipes his fingers on a seperate one.
"All the sauces look the same." I comment, inspecting each one for any signs of peppers or seasonings. No hints.
"Just pick a random one and pray." He says.
I reach for one shaped like a football and take a quick bite, sighing in relief when I realize it only has a slight kick to it.
-
"I can't believe I lost." I sigh, finishing off my water. Turns out Luke was right when he said the wings get really spicy.
"You don't have to cook me dinner, we can call it a tie." Luke offers, slapping a bill on the table. I cover the tip.
"No, a bet's a bet, you're getting dinner for a week." I stand up from the booth and slip back into my jacket. I grab my purse from the seat and hook it over my shoulder, ready to go.
"Let me at least drive you to the store, then. Bagels and strawberry poptarts aren't exactly ideal dinner foods." He chuckles lightly. We walk out the door side by side and find Luke's car, which he parked right outside the door. The brisk wind blows my hair in all directions.
Luke opens the door for me with a nervous smile and closes it again once I buckle myself in. He gets into the driver's seat and starts the car, the heat immediately blowing through the vents.
"The store isn't far from here. Maybe a two minute drive with no traffic. And they give out little sale-flyers when you walk through the door, which is nice." He rambles. I rub my hands together in an effort to warm them up.
Luke pulls the car away from the restaurant and begins the short drive to the grocery store.
"They sell all kinds of poptarts." He blurts suddenly when we pull up into the parking lot of a large grocery store. Half the letters don't light up anymore, so I can't tell what it's called. An R toward the end flickers.
"Really? Thank God, I need some hot fudge sundae flavor. Those are the best."
"No way, Smores totally tops hot fudge sundae." Luke argues, pulling his keys from the ignition and shoving them into his pocket.
"How do you even live with yourself, thinking such horrible things?" I laugh, clamboring out of the car and jogging to catch up to him, as he's already yards away.
"I think I could say the same thing, you eat bagels for dinner!"
___________________________________________
VOTE AND COMMENT AND FOLLOW SO YOU ARE NOTIFIED WHEN I UPDATE PLS THANK YOU
