The Do-Over (The Rooftop Crew #5) - Piper Rayne Page 0,31
by the time we get back.”
“I’ll eat it a week old, I don’t care. You two have fun, but not too much fun.” He winks, then he’s out the door.
“This pizza place is that good, huh?”
I grab her jacket and hold it out for her. “You’ll see.”
We head down the elevator and out to my car, which I’ll drive from now until spring. The weather is turning colder by the day. Kamea climbs into my beat-up Bronco that I bought for fifteen hundred dollars. The hinges whine when I shut the door.
She fastens her seat belt, and if she’s at all fazed about the shit vehicle I just put her in, she doesn’t show it. Usually if I’m dating, I’ll get an Uber or give some excuse for why I can’t drive. Women like the motorcycle, but the Bronco not so much.
“How long did you live in Peekskil?” I ask, pulling out of the parking spot.
“Two years,” she answers.
“And you’ve never been to Slices of Heaven?”
“Nope. I’m curious where it is compared to my apartment. I’m kind of a homebody.” Her voice is shy with a hint of embarrassment.
“What was your go-to takeout?” I ask to let her know I’m not a homebody, but I do enjoy time in.
“Well, there’s this poke bowl place by my house. It was usually that or Chinese. Depends on my mood.”
“Why do you love being home so much?”
She side-glances me. “Are you practicing for that detective position?”
I laugh. “Sorry, just trying to get to know you.”
“I’m not a crowd person. But unfortunately, staying at home so much left me without a lot of friends. Without friends, it just kind of snowballed and I’d stay in more.”
“You had Leilani,” I say.
“Yeah, at one time, but I meant what I said. We haven’t seen one another in a while. The last time I truly hung out with her was in high school.”
“But that night we first met at the bar…”
God, that night has been haunting me lately, and I need to stop obsessing about it. It’s done and over. Kamea obviously doesn’t care or hold it against me. But regardless, it’s about time I apologize for that. When she doesn’t say anything, I figure now’s the best time.
“I’m sorry about that night, by the way.” I pull onto the highway and the wind sounds increase in the old truck.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
Lowering the volume on the radio, I wait until I think I have her attention—which is hard, since I’m driving. I should’ve waited to have this conversation until after we were done eating. Maybe I should hold off. I should look her in the eye when I apologize. So I turn the radio back up.
We drive the rest of the way in silence until we pull off the exit in Peekskil and she points out where she’s from. “I live down that way.”
Her former apartment isn’t in the best area of Peekskil, not that there’s a horrible part of the city.
“Yeah, Slices of Heaven is on the other side.”
So we drive away from her apartment and head to the opposite side of Peekskil to the pizza place Jax and I found on a fall motorcycle ride years ago. Back when I was healing a shattered heart.
I park in the lot and she exits the truck before I can get there, which is fine because this isn’t a date. This is just two roommates going to dinner. If only my eyes would stop straying to her ass. Kamea reads the sign on the front of the building.
“Are you telling me it’s set up like a pizza buffet?” she asks, excitement in her tone.
“It is, and they serve beer. It’s like a double win.”
“If you like beer I guess.”
“They have a great beer here from a local brewery. You have to give it a shot and see what you think.”
She shrugs. “Okay. I can’t believe I’ve never been here, and I was living so close.” Her footsteps pick up speed.
I open the door of the small restaurant for her. It’s brightly decorated in red and black and white. This was made for a college town. She reads the directions and grabs a tray, her smile still in place. Her whole aura right now is happiness. It’s nice to see. We walk down the line, her taking two pieces, me taking three, and adding breadsticks and two beers.
A waitress sits us at a table for two in the back, thankfully away from the couple of families.