Paint The Ice

Chapter 8

I bite back a laugh. He calls it not much when he's getting around four pancakes and that doesn't include the rest of the stuff he's ordering. Maybe it's really not much for him but for me, this early in the morning I wouldn't be able to digest that much. I do see why Cole rooms with him though.

I scan the beverages on the menu. "And your drink?"

"Black coffee."

"No hot chocolate?"

"No, I'm waking myself up."

"Okay." I set the menu down and call over the waitress. Mandy. She doesn't approach us right away, we wait until she finishes up with the table nearby before she scrolls over to us with pen and booklet in tow. "We're ready to order."

Mandy stares at us, then listens keenly, writing down every word she hears. Once she's done taking our orders, she double checks with both of us before leaving, only returning with water in clear glasses and plastic straws... and she's off again.

"Was it her?" I probe, tearing my attention away from our waitress when she finally disappears.

Brown eyes across the table shift to me. "Who?"

"Was it her, Mandy, who drew the hearts on the cups?"

"Oh," Asher chuckles in realization. His fingers are long with a strong grip of his glass of water. "Nah. Remember the girl who served us last week?" He takes a gulp and when I nod my head, remembering the face and not the name, he continues. "She was the one who drew on the cups."

"Makes sense." I hum, looking through the glass at the crammed parking lot. As I knew it would be, my car is nowhere in sight and actually neither is Asher's. People are making their way into the diner as we speak. "How did you find parking outside?"

"Far back. Not too bad though."He says it like he's used to it and he must be. "I told you this place is popular." I find him grinning and I can practically see the pride surging through his body.

I suck from the straw standing upright from my glass of water. "You're proud of that, aren't you? Being the first person to introduce me?"

He doesn't need to answer. I can see it with my own two eyes but he does anyway. "Yeah. Now when you introduce this place to anyone else you'll remember that I showed you first."

A laugh erupts from my throat. "You will not be mentioned."

"You'll remember me. There's a difference."He takes another gulp of water and sets the glass down on the table.

The short sleeved shirt he's wearing exposes his toned bicep that flexes and draws attention to him. I don't want to understand why he isn't wearing a sweater like half of the diner including myself. I don't put it past him that he must be immune to the cold, he's on the ice so many times a week. What I consider cold might be totally different from him.

I point a nail to my chest. "You want to be remembered by me?"

A satisfied smirk appears on his lips. "When you're hanging out here with your friends, you'll remember that one day I introduced you to this place."

"Look at you already thinking about what happens when I'm not around you. You're gonna miss me, aren't you?"

"Who says I'm going to miss you? Aren't I seeing you for breakfast often?"

"Sure."Using the straw, I push the ice cubes around in circles.

Silence hangs around us for a moment. Not too long that it becomes uncomfortable. It's the peaceful kind. "Why didn't you speak to anyone other than Cole?" He asks, the question surprising me, " You always seemed standoffish."