I blink at him. “Yeah, except it’s not. Because my name’sCarina.” Fantastic. Two seconds into this date and I’m already thinking about the bathroom window that doesn’t exist. There’s a door near our table with a sign that saysemergency exit only, alarm will sound,and I contemplate using it as a last resort. Those signs are fake anyway; the alarms never sound.
Chad looks exactly how I remember him from the party, except thankfully he left his sunglasses at home, revealing hazel eyes. His brown hair is slicked back from his face, and he has a very square jaw and tan skin. He’s conventionally good-looking, sure, but not if he was standing next to Emmett. His smile’s all wrong, and the slope of his nose is nowhere near the cute shape of Emmett’s.
“Okay,Carina.” He says my name theatrically, like Carina isn’t actually my name. He opens the menu and scans it. “This place has the best food. And we got a great table. Perfect, actually.”
Jay walks by our table, and he makes direct eye contact with me as he passes. He looks pointedly at Chad before raising an eyebrow at me as if to say,Really? This guy?I ignore him.
“Yeah, everything smells delicious,” I tell Chad, plastering a smile on my face. He arrived almost half an hour late and doesn’t know my name, but I’m going to sit through this dinner and have a good time just to show Jay. Show him what? I haven’t figured that out yet.
“Order anything you want. It’s all on me,” Chad declares, a proud smile on his face.
“Oh, no. It’s all right, I can pay for myself—”
“I insist!” Chad interrupts, waving over a waitress. “You don’t need to pay for anything tonight.” It’s nice that he’s offering, but something tells me Chad’s the kind of guy who expects something in return for his offer, and he’ll be getting nothing from me today.
“Chad,” I start, “it’s all right—”
The waitress reaches our table, and Chad orders over my protests. “Hi. For appetizers, we’ll have the shrimp cocktail, the tuna tartare, and the calamari.”
What? I never agreed to any of that. “Actually, I don’t like fish.” I do, but it’s the principle of it now. He didn’t ask me my opinion on any of that, and he can’t possibly eat it all by himself, unless his mom shows up . . . I shudder.
Chad glances at me like he just noticed me sitting here. “Okay. Let’s add an order of fried cauliflower to that. And for our mains, we’ll have the Delphine special. Baked potato side for us both.”
I stare at him, stunned. When was I consulted about my meal? He told me to order anything I want then proceeded to not let me order anything at all. This is a lot of food, plus the Delphine special is a cut of steak that costs seventy-five dollarseachbefore taxes. Is he trying to flex his money or something? This is insane.
The waitress—Nina—smiles and asks him how he wants his steak cooked before they both turn to look at me for my answer.Yeah,nowhe lets me speak for myself.
“Um, medium,” I squeak, too stunned to say anything else. The waitress nods and takes our menus, leaving Chad and me alone.
I don’t appreciate being spoken for and not getting to choose what I eat, but Chadinsistedon paying, so I guess I’ll just enjoy my fancy steak in peace without starting an argument.
“So,” I start, crossing my arms over my chest since Chad’s eyes keep wandering. “Kalani said you graduated high school. Are you in university now?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m too busy with my business. I’m making too much money to stop to go back toschool. The point of going to school is to get a job to make money, and I’m already doing that, so why bother?”
I’ve hit a sore spot. “Oh, that’s cool. What is your business?”
He leans back, slinging an arm over the back of his chair. “I work in . . . I guess you can say pharmaceuticals.”
That’s vague. “Like, in a pharmacy?”
He laughs. “Oh, no. I’m my own boss. I don’t have a set workplace, I go where the people are.”
The pieces click together in my head. “So you’re a drug dealer?”
He sits up straight. “Don’t say that so loud! And I prefer to think of it as . . . relieving people of stress and enriching them with mind-altering experiences.”
Wow. Kalani seriously set me up with a drug dealer. What did they talk about at the party? The weather? I gasp internally. Was he at the party to sell drugs? Weed islegalhere . . .
I can’t stop myself. “What do you sell?”
Chad shrugs. “Mostly Molly. Sometimes coke. You looking to buy?”
“No!” I yell, shrinking into myself when people from surrounding tables look at me. “No,” I repeat, this time at a normal volume and more confidently. I don’t dare check to see if Jay turned around at his table.
“All right, chill. You’re so uptight. Hot, but uptight.”
My nostrils flare. What is with people calling me uptight? Kalani, Emi, and Jay all say I need to let loose and get out of my comfort zone, but if letting loose means doing cocaine with I-wear-my-sunglasses-at-a-party-and-order-for-my-date-even-though-I-told-her-to-get-whatever-she-wantsChad, then I want no part of it. The emergency exit near our table is looking better and better by the second.