“Oh no. I’m good. There is room,” she said with a slight smile.
“Do you like sushi?” Great, now it probably seemed like I was second-guessing the entire lunch. But I just wanted her to be happy, this woman I just met four hours ago.
“Oh no. This is fine. I love sushi.” She bit the corner of her lip. I laughed. She was cute even when caught in a lie.
I put my hand on my chin, smiling. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a terrible poker face?”
“So, sushi isn’t my favorite, but luckily, they have other stuff on the menu,” Ari confessed with a smile. “I didn’t want to offend you on my first day.”
“You wouldn’t have offended me by suggesting another spot. Remember, I’m treating you to lunch. But I’ll say, the udon noodles are amazing. That’s a safe bet.”
“Thanks for the suggestion.” She smiled widely at me, then with a chuckle asked, “How’d you know I was terrible at poker?”
I smirked. “Call it a hunch.” More like me noticing every movement, cataloging every detail, because I can’t get enough of looking at you.
The waitress walked over with a bowl of edamame, hips twisting with fury. She wore a long, jet-Black weave, a tight black minidress and fishnets with combat boots. She flashed a seductive smile at me, standing so close to me she obscured my view of Ari.
“I’m Tara. And what can I get you, sir?” she crooned.
Upon further inspection, her weave wasn’t that great. Not that I was a weave expert, but I had paid for my fair share of hair extensions for girlfriends over the years. “I’ll take the rainbow roll.”
Cheap Weave then turned toward Ari, not directly looking at her, and said, “And what will your…guest be having?”
Ari frowned, cocking her head to the side. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was picking up a very weird vibe.
I intervened. “My date will have the udon noodles with…” Fuck. I said “date.” I mean, technically, she was my date. My lunch date. This wasn’t a “date” date.
“Tempura shrimp,” Ari interjected, the smile slightly returning to her face.
“Yes. With the shrimp. Thanks. That’ll be all.”
The waitress then said, “Let me know if you need…anything.” The way she said “anything” was as though a side of sex was also on the menu.
“I think we’ll be fine,” I said with enough conviction in my voice that I hoped she got the hint that I wasn’t interested.
The waitress walked off, and I turned my attention back to Ari. She had gone quiet. Her head was slightly down as she scrolled on her phone. I reached out and touched her free hand across the table. Why can’t I stop touching her? Good grief. It was like I had an addiction.
“You good?” I asked, pulling my hand back swiftly.
Ari quickly looked up from her phone. “Yeah, of course!” She quickly turned her phone over. “I’m sure you get that a lot.”
“Get what a lot?” Now I was the one playing dumb.
“Servers throwing themselves at you,” Ari laughed, her lips curling into a tight smirk. “Hilarious. I think she thought we were on a date.”
“Right.”
Internally, I winced. I’d had the same thought, but hearing Ari say it out loud was like a stepping on a LEGO brick.
“It’s not cool. This chick is mad rude. And for the record, I don’t get servers throwing themselves at me on the regular.” I watched as Ari delicately put the napkin on her lap and opened her chopsticks, that smirk still across her face. She didn’t believe me. The goal was to get to know Ari, not talk about women and dates. That was making me uncomfortable.
“So…baseball, huh? Got any favorite current players?” I asked, changing the subject. I didn’t know a damn thing about baseball beyond home runs and grand slams. I’d grown up playing basketball with my brother.
Ari sat up a bit, the smirk turning into a warm smile. “I dig Mike Trout. Hell of an outfielder. Pretty speedy too for his position.”
“Wait? So, baseball players don’t like to run? Isn’t the point to run the bases?”
“I hate to sound biased but…”
We both laughed. Ari laughed so hard that her eyes were glistening, deep amber pools of light, reminding me of the changing leaves of fall. In that moment, I didn’t think she could be any more beautiful.
“You know, my love of baseball got me into architecture,” Ari said as she slid her chopsticks around the bowl of edamame.