Split(52)

“Two double cheeseburger meals, fries, and two Cokes.” She drops back down to her seat, robbing me of the view. “Sound okay?”

I nod and she pulls the truck around to pay. I grab a twenty from my wallet and hand it to her.

She waves me off. “No, it’s on me.”

I shove the money at her. “Doesn’t feel right. Let me.”

Her eyes narrow. “If you pay, it’ll feel like a date.” The way she looks at me with an eyebrow raised in challenge makes my heart thunder in my chest.

I want this to be a date. I pass her the money and she takes it, a soft blush coloring her cheeks. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I turn away to hide my face as heat crawls up my neck. She clears her throat and an awkward silence fills the truck cab. I’ve never been out to dinner with a woman, nor have I ever been this close to one as pretty and caring as Shy. I’m able to relax a little around her now without a hint of threat from Gage, which is progress.

Seconds tick by but it feels like so much longer when finally the drive-through window slides open to reveal a woman wearing a shirt that matches the sign out front and a visor she’s wearing more like a headband.

“That’ll be fourteen-fifty— Hey, wait . . .” She puts her elbows on the windowsill to get a closer look. “I know you.”

I would think she’s talking to Shyann, except her eyes are firmly settled on me. Shyann’s gaze whips back and forth between us.

“No, ma’am.”

Her glare is tight and she manages to lean out more so that her head is practically inside the truck. “Sure I do. You’re the new guy. Girls at the beauty salon were just talking about you the other day.” She props her chin in her palm. “Everyone’s dying to know your story. You single?”

My heart races and I struggle for a polite response.

“Ahem!” Shyann waves her hand in front of the woman’s face. “I’m sitting right here.” She turns her body, making herself a human barrier.

I stare in shock at the back of Shyann’s head. She’s protecting me.

My chest expands with a breath of relief.

The woman waves off Shy with a smile. “No disrespect, honey. I was just asking.” She blinks a few times and grins. “Shyann Jennings, is that you?”

She sighs and her shoulders slump. “Yes.”

The nosy woman flattens her palm to her chest. “Mary Beth Stewart. We had history and chemistry together.”

“Oh, yeah. You look so . . . different.” The way Shy said it didn’t make it sound like a good different and I have to bite down to keep from laughing.

Mary Beth pats the ends of her shoulder-length hair. “Thank you, I’ve been trying to stay young.” She cups her breasts. “Got these last year, and—”

“Okay, well . . .” Shy shoves money at the woman. “This should cover it.”

“Oh, right!” Mary Beth smiles and takes the offered cash.

Shy turns to me, shock painting her expression, and mouths, She grabbed her boobs!

Battle lost. Laughter shoots from my lips, the sound so shocking, I turn away to muffle it into my hand. By the time I manage to get control, I find her looking at me in that soft way that I feel in my chest. Our gazes tangle and for a moment I’m trapped in the intensity of it.

“You laughed.”

I clear my throat at the emotions whirling through me and thankfully no darkness. “Yeah.”

“Drinks? Hello?”

Shy blinks and I suck in a breath as she turns to grab our Cokes. I take them from her to put them in the drink holder so she can get the rest of our order.

“Shyann, how is your brother?” She rests her forearms back on the windowsill, settling in. “I always did have the biggest crush on him.”

“He’s fine. Thanks!”

“It was great seeing yo—” We don’t hear what else she has to say because Shyann pulls out of the drive-through and right onto the road back to our part of town.

I turn to see the woman hanging out the window, her lips still flapping. “I don’t think she was finished talkin’.”

“Huh?” She feigns shock and innocence. “Oh, was she talking to me? I couldn’t quite hear her through all the slut.”

I pull down my baseball hat and hope she doesn’t see how much I’m enjoying her jealousy. “She seemed okay to me.”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course you would say that. She practically crawled over my body to get into your lap.”

A tiny smile ticks my lips. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Puleaze.” She holds her palm up. “Don’t even bother defending her. Poor girl can’t help herself. Lord knows you don’t make it easy,” she mumbles.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Besides be insanely charming and handsome? No, you’re right, you didn’t.”

I direct my face-aching smile out the side window.

This woman, Shyann Jennings, smart, funny, kind . . . She thinks I’m charming and handsome and if I’m not mistaken she implied that she and I are a couple. “Thank you.”

She digs her hand into the bag set between us to fish out a cluster of French fries. “You’re welcome.” She smiles, then shoves the fries into her mouth.