Keep Our Secrets

28

"I'm gonna use the restroom." Bailey skips away, and all of us slide into the booth.

"I haven't been here in years." Danny looks around.

"Yeah, they did a lot of renovations, but it still has the best burgers around." Josh answers, flipping through the menu.

"Hey guys!" A waitress walks up smiling with a little book in hand. "I'm Kali, I'll be your server."

"Hello Kali." Sam bats his eyes, smiling. Kali looks at Sam, giggles and shakes her head.

"What can I get you all?" Kali asks.

"A water for me and a vanilla shake for our friend." Josh answers.

"Actually make that a strawberry, with no whip cream." I correct Josh, turning to the waitress. Josh just sends me a look, but I ignore him.

"A coke please." Danny smiles.

"A scotch on the rocks." Sam winks at Kali, but she's clearly unamused.

"And for you?" She turns to me.

"Uhm, I'll have a coffee." I nod to her.

"Alright." She smiles at the table before leaving. I look at the menu, scanning for what I want.

"Strawberry shake?" Josh stares at me. I look over the edge of the paper.

"Yeah?" I question.

"How do you know if she wanted that?" His face turns into a scowl.

"I just-" I start to say.

"Hey guys!" Bailey slides into the seat next to me, "did anything happen while I was gone?"

"What did you want to drink?" Josh looks over at her.

"Uhm.." she bites her lip, and my eyes follow the motion. "I guess a shake? A shake sounds really good right now." She smiles at the table, picking up one of the menus.

"What kind?" Josh sets his down, Crossing his arms over the table.

"I guess strawberry." She shrugs.

"What would you want on it?" Josh leans forward.

"Why are you quizzing me?" She leans back from the table.

"Just answer the question." Josh shrugs.

"Josh. It's just a shake man." Sam pulls on Josh's shoulder.

"Just answer the question." Josh doesn't take his eyes off of bailey.

"Why?" She crosses her arms looking pissed. I lean a little forward, and brush the side of her leg with my hand. She relaxes a little, sending Josh a smile, but not one of the good ones.

"Well. I was going to order you a vanilla shake, but then Jake over here," Josh turns his gaze over to me. "Told the waitress to get you a strawberry one. And maybe you were in the mood for strawberry, but I'm pretty sure you like whip cream." He looks back at her.

"I-" Bailey starts to speak but I interrupt her.

"She doesn't like whip cream unless it's homemade. She doesn't like the texture of the store bought stuff." I raise my brow, knowing that I was right. He just looks between her and I, and the look on his face is priceless. I never thought I would ever feel the need to show Josh up when it came to bailey, but the way he was acting was out of line.

"Hm." Josh just shrugs, turning his attention back to the menu. I feel Baileys hand brush against mine under the table, and I hold it, rubbing my thumb on the back of her hand. She squeezes it, and then lets it go. I wish we could tell Josh. It's getting harder and harder to hold myself back when I'm around her.

"Here you guys go." Kali smiles, passing out the drinks.

"Hey!" Sam yells, taking a swig of his drink. "What is this?" He gags.

"Oh. That's scotch." Kali smiles.

"Like actually?" Danny asks. He grabs Sam's drink smelling it then yanking it away from his face. "Yep. Definitely scotch."

"So. Are you guys ready to order?" Kali asks.

"Can I get a salad?" Bailey looks up at Kali. She never gets salads. I look over at her, but she just looks down and avoids looking back at me.

"And you?" Kali asks.

"Oh. I'll just have the steak and potatoes." I smile at her, handing the menu back.

"Alright, I'll bring it out in a jiffy." Kali leaves, and I look back down at bailey.

"Josh!" Sam yells, shaking Josh around. "There's a jute box!" Sam, Danny, and Josh all dart their eyes over the where the music was coming from, and they slide out the booth. Waiting until they were all gone, I turn back to bailey.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Hm?" She turns her eyes to mine, and I can tell she's not. "Yeah I'm all good." She smiles, but it's fake.

"Don't lie." I frown at her. "You never get salads." Her face drops and she turns away from me. "Hey." I call to her. "Hey," I poke her in the side. She yelps and swats my hand away.

"Jake!" She frowns.

"Talk to me." I wrap my hand around her leg, rubbing little circles with my thumb.

"I just.." she holds her face in her hands, sighing. "I've been struggling." She takes a deep breath, turning to me.

"With what?" I lean down closer to her face.

"I just.." she shrugs. "It happens all the time, so there is no need to worry, but I just get into these moods where I feel like I shouldn't eat." My heart drops. Why would she ever feel like she shouldn't eat?

"Bailey," I squeeze her leg, leaning closer to her. She just turns her head back away from me, which kinda pisses me off. "Baby." Her eyes dart to mine, her cheeks going red. "Oh, so you like it when I call you baby?" I chuckle. She just holds her face again, looking like a tomato. "Okay okay." I pull her hands away from her face. "Listen to me. I know you may feel like that, and you can't fully help it. But you deserve to eat. You need to eat." She looks at me, her bottom lip between her teeth. "I promise, this is something we can work on together." I smile at her. "Okay?" She let's her lip go, and nods.

"Okay." She softly smiles.

"So. You wanna hangout later?" I ask.

"Yes!" She perks up, grinning. "Can we watch a movie? I heard about it a few weeks ago, and I've been wanting to watch it." She does her little happy dance, making me smile like an idiot seeing her happy.

"Anything you want baby." I smirk. She rolls her eyes, but I see the little blush on her cheeks.