Cool water rushes around our ankles as a wave comes in.
“How bad?”
I grin down at her, so happy to see that she’s looking up at me, too.“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Not a chance,Demo.”
“Fine,” I reply with a soft laugh.“Well, since it was a blind date, we met at the restaurant.”
“Naturally.”
“I opted for Steel & Salt.”
“The steakhouse?”
I nod.“She agreed to it, so I assumed everything was fine.When I showed up, she was wearing dark jeans with red paint splashed on them and a t-shirt that said ‘Your steak had a face’.”
Katelyn stops in her tracks and gapes up at me.“No,she didn’t.”
The wind picks up, grabbing a loose curl and wrapping it across her face.Without thinking, I reach out and brush it behind her ear.
Katelyn shivers.
I force my treacherous hand back down at my side and clear my throat.“Oh, she did.She made it her personal mission to protest everything on the menu—loudly.When the waiter came by to take our order, she asked for ‘something that didn’t cry when it was murdered’.”
Katelyn laughs.“Oh no!”
“Oh yes.And it got even worse.”
“How could that get any worse?”
“Well, I ordered a steak.”
She sucks in a breath, and I risk a look at her, delighted to see her stifling a laugh.“I’m sure she loved that.”
“She made mooing sounds under her breath every time I took a bite.All while she picked at her salad.”
“Why in the world wouldn’t she just have said she wanted to go somewhere else?”
Shrugging, I start walking again.“I would have happily taken her anywhere else.The last thing I would have wanted was to offend her, but she was just so rude.Start to finish.”
“Why didn’t you just get up and leave?”
“Have you been to Steel & Salt?Their steaks are epic.I wasn’t about to let her chase me away from it.After that last bite, I paid, tipped the waiter generously, then left.She started crying hysterically and telling me that she was just passionate, but I’d had enough.”
“Uhhh, there’s being passionate about something; then there’s being downright obnoxious.She was definitely the latter.”
I snort.“Yeah, I stopped letting Marlene set me up after that.”
“Can’t say I blame you there.”She shakes her head in disbelief, then pauses and turns toward the ocean.
“How about you?Any horrible dates?”I question after a beat of silence.
“Dates?No.I mean, I had my cute teenager dates.Dinner and movies, things like that.But they were normal and awkward.Then I—” She trails off, and darkness clouds her expression.“Well, I didn’t get the chance to date much.”
The heaviness of her tone settles on my heart like thick chains.I want to reach out and pull her into my arms.Want to assure her that she’ll never suffer another day so long as I’m around.
I want to tell her that I’m falling helplessly in love with her even though I promised the both of us that I wouldn’t.But doing so could ruin what we have, and nothing is worth that risk.And just like that, I understand Sawyer’s predicament with Anastasia.I would laugh at the irony if it weren’t so frustrating.