Angelic (Book 2)

Seven

He took me to a fairly nice restaurant in the hubbub of Denver. It was early afternoon when everybody finally got themselves together and took off, and Blake was able to start the old pickup in the driveway. August also made us stand in front of him and gave us (mostly me) the long lecture of not doing anything stupid and calling him or Jessica (not Ryan) if anything happened.

"Don't take your eyes off her," he said to Blake.

Blake had given a mock salute and stated, "Sir, yes sir!"

Then August looked to me. "Don't do anything stupid."

All I could do was nod and hope for the same thing.

As we left, August stepped in Blake's way. I was getting into the car, but I could still hear what they said. August spoke so only Blake could hear.

"If anything happens to her . . ."

Blake's gulp was audible. "You'll kill me, I know. See you later."

And then we were finally gone.

Inside the restaurant, few couples were scattered throughout the building, but mostly it was empty.

"This is nice," I commented.

"Thanks. Let's sit over there."

A corner seat. I nearly smiled. Of course.

A bubbly teenager bounced up to take our order. I tensed at her presence, but she seemed altogether quite harmless.

"Two cheeseburgers, a coke, and water for the lady," Blake ordered.

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"Fabulous. It'll be right out."

She skipped to another table, ponytails swaying behind her. My body only relaxed when she disappeared. Blake noticed.

"You still tense up in public places," he said. "I didn't know that."

I shrugged. "Habit. Sorry.

"It's fine." He cupped his chin in his hands. "So, Ellie. Tell me about yourself."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Anything."

Hm. There wasn't much that was interesting. Most things were just downright depressing. "I . . . like milkshakes. A lot."

He laughed. "I got that from the other night."

"Oh." I bit my lip. "And cotton candy, too. August took me to this one fair a while back, and-"

"Let's not talk about August," Blake cut me off, still smiling. "I want to hear about you."

Now I was just genuinely perplexed. "Why?"

"Because I think you're interesting, Ellie."

My cheeks flushed. "R-really?"

"Yeah. Interesting, innocent, pretty, and smart."

Wow. Four compliments. Consecutively. "Oh, um . . . thanks. Thank you. You're smart, too." God, can you be any more awkward?

Bless him for laughing, though, and sliding passed the evidence of my severe communicational incapability. "How about movies?"

I perked up. "When we were with Esme and Jim, August showed me a bunch of movies from the eighties, and I really liked Back to the Future."

This I thought would excite him, because it was a really good movie, but Blake just frowned. "Oh."

"Have you not seen it?"