To Die For - Davidson King Page 0,38
Sparkles stepped in.
I immediately loved the look of the restaurant. It was rustic with its dark wooden floor and tables. There were exposed beams and twinkle lights all throughout the place, giving it a magical glow. Every table had a candle, and it was quaint. Not some huge, busy, loud place. I wanted to be able to hear Sparkles talk.
“Max! Goddamn, I thought I’d never see you!” Biggs Brighton was a former linebacker, but a bad hit took him out of commission only two years into his contract. He’d always loved cooking, so he went to culinary school and pursued his second dream of owning his own restaurant.
“Biggs, great to see you. This is Lane. Lane, this is Biggs Brighton.”
If Sparkles recognized him, he didn’t let on, just shook his hand. “Good to meet you, Biggs.”
“You too, Lane. When Max said he was definitely coming tonight, I nearly had a heart attack. He’s busier than any ten people I know.” He smiled, his white teeth perfect and straight. His light-brown skin and bleached blond hair making him even larger than life than he already was.
“Well, I for one am starving and can’t wait to eat.” Sparkles smiled at Biggs, but I was glad to see there wasn’t that interested look that so many people got when they saw him. Biggs was married anyway, and I need not worry, but still. This was new, and I wasn’t even sure it would work. I just hoped.
“Let me take you to your table, then.” We followed Biggs to a small area that almost looked like it was set inside a cave.
“I call this Lover’s Cove. I reserved it for you tonight when you called.” Biggs pulled out Sparkles’s chair.
“Thanks, man,” I said as I took my own seat.
“How about I get your server to come on over and get you some menus?”
“Sounds great,” I said, and as soon as Biggs left, silence descended upon us. One thing I didn’t want was to have even a second of awkwardness tonight.
Our server brought over bread and menus. I ordered whiskey, and Sparkles ordered a sea breeze. We talked about the food, which was easy enough, and after we ordered and our drinks came, Sparkles looked at me with a small smile.
“It feels weird,” he said.
“Do you regret going out with me?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Why not?”
He chuckled. “Am I supposed to feel weird about this?” He sipped his drink.
“No. It’s just…I was curious. We haven’t exactly had a relationship that has been all roses and sunshine.”
“True. But I’ve also never known anyone quite like you either, Max. I thought you were one type of person, only to discover you aren’t.” He traced his finger around the rim of his glass as he spoke. “My whole life, any guy I have ever been with made me feel scared, dirty, or it seemed wrong. I never felt weird.”
I wanted to ask him so much about his past relationships, but I decided to just focus on us.
“And weird is okay?”
He smiled at me. “Weird is what I always thought a first date should feel like.”
I matched his grin and leaned in to whisper. “You said ‘first date.’ Does that mean there’ll be more?”
He shrugged and sipped his drink. “I have no sudden urge to run away screaming, so I say your chances are good.”
The blooming warmth in my chest and the flip in my stomach was like a spark. I couldn’t hold back my grin as I took in his words or how his happiness mirrored my own.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lane
The weirdness changed fairly quickly, and I found that I enjoyed talking to Max even more than I thought possible. He told me how being a bartender was actually his dream, which shocked me. But when he talked about what he did, it was like I could feel his passion in every syllable. His love for mixing drinks was how I felt about dancing.
“So tell me, what sort of dancing do you teach?” he asked as he handed his card to the server. I protested, but he said he’d asked me out, so I had to shut up.
“I teach just about everything. Alexandra and I are the instructors. Nolan is pretty much the office manager of sorts. He has hidden talents of his own though, which you saw at that charity show.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I have to say I was surprised to see it was him.”
“I have found people shock me more than I thought they would.” I met Max’s