Come get lunch with me.
I pulled my eyes away from the book I was reading when I finished the page, opening my phone to the incoming text message I had received. I had expected it to be Andie, or even Sasha, and was surprised when Isaac's name appeared above the new message at the top of my index. I flipped my book over, keeping it open to the page, and rolled onto my back. I sighed heavily, holding my phone above my head as I texted him back.
Why?
I hadn't heard from Isaac in four days, since Saturday morning when I left the diner with Alex, and that was the first time we had seen each other since the marina. I hadn't expected so much silence to pass between us, especially after his attempts to apologize at Andie's on Friday, but I had also started to grow accustomed to it. His text this morning surprised me, and I couldn't help but wonder what was driving his sudden request to see me.
Because I'm hungry and I'm bored?
I shook my head to myself as I typed back.
What if I already ate?
I hadn't, and with Leighton and Dan both gone when I woke up in the morning, I had eaten only a small bowl of what little cereal was left, knowing that part of the shopping Leighton was doing with the boys this morning was grocery shopping. At Isaac's invitation to lunch, however, my stomach had started to rumble at the thought of food, but I was curious to see just how determined he was to get me to join him.
Come anyways. I'm outside.
I stared at my phone for a second in disbelief before standing and walking over to the window, peering outside. Sure enough, Isaac's Jeep was idling in the driveway. I watched him as he stared down at his phone in his lap, bouncing his leg impatiently, waiting for my response.
I don't have to come outside.
Through the front windshield of his car, even with his head cast down slightly, I could see the way his cheeks lifted as he smiled while he typed his response. When he was done, he set his phone down on his leg and reached up to readjust his baseball hat, running his hand back through his hair before he did so.
I could come in and get you.
Even though he couldn't see me, I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I leaned against the wall. I brushed back a small strand of hair that had fallen loose from the haphazard bun at the top of my head, crossing my arm loosely over my chest as I stared down at my phone in my other hand. My thumb hovered over my phone as I debated what to type. When I took a moment to glance back out the window at Isaac, he was leaning forward in his seat slightly, staring up at me through the windshield. When our eyes met, his raised his hands slightly, giving me an impatient look. I chewed my lower lip for a moment before glancing down at the screen, typing.
Give me 5.
I pushed myself off of the wall, walking towards my dresser as Isaac sent a smiling face in reply. I rolled my eyes, tossing my phone onto my bed as I quickly changed and got ready. Leighton was still out with the boys and Dan was at work, but I sent a quick text to Leighton that I was going out, and I was being picked up, as I walked down the stairs, so she wouldn't stress out whenever she came home.
As I stepped outside, Isaac looked over at me through the window, watching as I walked quickly to his car, desperate for the air conditioning. When I reached for the handle, yanking on it hard, it didn't budge. I pressed my lips together in a tight line, raising my eyebrows as I looked up at Isaac's face. His eyes were cast down at the phone in his hands, but the smirk on his lips told me he knew the door was locked, and it was intentional.
"Open the damn door, Isaac!" I yelled at him, rapping my knuckles against the window a few times. When Isaac looked up at me, he was giving me a confused expression, holding his hand up to his ear as if he couldn't hear me.
"Fine! I'm going back inside!" I turned away from the door, taking only a few steps before Isaac had reached over the console and pushed the passenger side door open for me.
"Stop wasting time and get in here, kid! I'm hungry." The grin on his face was infuriating, and I glared at him as angrily as I could as I turned around and walked around the door, lifting myself onto the seat.
"Please know that I hate you and I'm only coming with you because I'm actually starving," I snapped at him after pulling the door shut and reaching for the seatbelt. I glanced up at Isaac through my eyelashes as I clipped my seatbelt into place, taking in his eyes watching me in amusement.
"I think we've actually established that that's impossible," he grinned as he reversed out of my driveway, heading down towards the main road. I shifted in my seat, my legs still sticking to the leather seats despite the cool air circulating around us, as I looked over at Isaac.
"So where are we going?"
"The diner?" The questioning tone of his voice and the way he glanced over at me as we rolled to a stop at the intersection at Rayston Point told me he was wondering if that was okay with me, and my initial reaction was to wrinkle my nose.
"Is that the only place you guys ever eat? I mean, I've been here for almost a month and I think I've eaten there more than I've eaten at all of the restaurants in New York combined," I complained, watching as Isaac narrowed his eyes slightly in a disbelieving manner, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"Well," he drawled, "Where would you rather go? Pizza?" The suggestive way he looked at me, his fingers resting lazily on the bottom of the steering wheel as we stayed stopped at the end of my road, the teasing infliction of his voice made in perfectly clear that he knew I was hanging out with Alex a few days ago. I watched him for a moment, debating whether or not I wanted to play into his antics, before I answered.
"No, I don't really want pizza," I answered, and when Isaac asked me what I was in the mood for, I just shrugged. "Surprise me." I leaned back into the seat as Isaac nodded, finally turning onto Rayston Point Road. I glanced around, watching the buildings pass as we headed into town. The space between us was filled with the sound of the air conditioning humming underneath a quiet song playing on the radio, interrupted only by the sound of Isaac's phone chiming from where it was resting on the console between us. When Isaac reached for it, I turned to him.
"Hey," I said, reaching over and plucking the phone from his hand, "Eyes on the road." Isaac's hand shot out towards mine, his other gripping the steering wheel tightly to keep the car straight on the road as he tried to pull his phone back out of my hands.
"Give it back, Lor." He rolled his eyes, a light laugh in his voice as he poked at my side, trying to make me squirm before he reached for my hands again.
"You shouldn't text and drive," I scolded him, laughing as I twisted out of the way, trying to avoid his hand as he tried to tickle my side again in an attempts to get me to release my grip on his phone. "And you should keep your hands and eyes on the road." I shoved his hand away from my side. My eyes flashed to his phone as it chimed in my hand, and I glanced at it, barely registering an incoming text from Andie before I looked back at Isaac again as his hand covered the screen, tugging on it.
"What're you and Andie talking about?" I asked, and Isaac stiffened slightly, both of his hands tensing around the respective objects they were gripping, his knuckles whitened slightly as the amusement started to drain from his face, something akin to nervousness flashing in his eyes before they were overtaken by annoyance.
"Give me back my phone, Loren," he sighed, sounding angry as his eyes flashed rapidly between my face, my hands, and the road, his body leaning towards me more as the car jerked slightly. I tightened my grip on the phone, giving Isaac a curious glance at the urgency with which he was trying to get his phone back after mentioning his incoming text from Andie.
"Why? You got something to hide?" I teased, trying to lean away from him as he leaned closer, still trying to retrieve his phone from my hands. When I glanced at the screen again, managing to pull his hand out of the way when he had to lean back into his seat and right the car in its lane. I took the opportunity to let my eyes linger on the screen still brightened with Isaac's inbox of text messages, my eyes skimmed over the fact that the last person Isaac had texted was Andie, and my name was in the incoming text message she had just sent him. I glanced between Isaac and my name in the message, confusion and curiosity frowning my lips.
"Why are you and Andie talking about me?"
"I swear to god, Loren, I'm going to pull the car over if you don't give me my damn phone," Isaac hissed in annoyance, glaring at me briefly before his eyes went back to the road. My surprise as the fact that he and Andie were talking about me was enough to distract me from holding onto his phone. Isaac managed to pull it from my grip, stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans with a dark, angry look on his face. He leaned away from me, resting his left elbow against the side of his door, his forehead against his fingers as he stared out at the road, tension working its way up through his shoulders and his jaw. The irritation evident in his tone of voice and his posture sent me shifting slightly to the side, a mix of my own anger and confusion making me regret agreeing to coming to lunch with him.
"Why are you being so weird about your phone? And why are you talking to Andie about me?" I snapped, turning in the seat so I was facing him as he pulled into a small parking lot between two buildings, nearly empty except for a few others parked against the side of a white brick building. Isaac steered his car into an empty spot, throwing it into park before lifting his hat off of his head and running a hand back through his hair again before setting it backwards on his head, letting his hands linger on the brim.
"Look," he sighed, dropping his hands as he looked at me, "Izzy used to snoop through my phone when we were together, so I guess I just still feel weird about other people touching it." I felt my own irritation start to dissipate slightly as the tension in Isaac's shoulders relaxed.
"And if you really must know," he said slowly, looking as if he didn't want to admit it, "Andie is giving me shit about taking you to lunch."
"Why?" My eyebrows pinched together slightly, the realization of why Andie would be giving Isaac a hard time not registering right away, but the second Isaac tilted his head at me, raising his eyebrows at me in a manner that told me I should know exactly what the reason was, it registered with me.
"Come on, Lor," Isaac sighed.
"Right," I mumbled, looking away from him at the building we had parked beside, biting my lower lip as I let my eyes wander over some ivy that crept up the side of the building from some brush behind the restaurant, avoiding Isaac's gaze. Beside me, I heard Isaac exhale heavily.
"Look, that's not why I asked you to lunch today." When I looked at him, his expression had taken a more serious tone, matching the evenness of his voice. "I just missed hanging out with you, your abrasiveness has become quite charming," he added playfully when I rolled my eyes, lightening the atmosphere between us marginally before he grew serious again. "I know it's because of what happened at the marina and I know I apologized, or tried to, already, but I want to apologize again, without making any excuses for Izzy. I still don't know what the hell she was talking about, but whatever digging she tried to do on you, she shouldn't have done it, and she shouldn't have threatened to tell everyone. Whatever it is, it's yours to tell." I couldn't help the hesitant smile that pulled at the corner of my lips as I pulled at the hem of my t-shirt.
"Thank you, Isaac," I said gently.
"Besides," Isaac was suddenly grinning, the teasing light back in his eyes to break through the stiffness that had settled between us, "I need someone to pay for my food."
"Oh my god," I scoffed, rolling my eyes at him as Isaac beamed at me. "Let's just go before I change my mind."
"Yeah? What are you gonna do, walk home?" I paused midway through opening his car door, shooting Isaac a challenging look over my shoulder.
"Hey," I reminded him, "I've done it before."