“I’m still waiting for my side of you,” one mumbles. “You’re smokin’.” He takes a quick sip of his drink before setting the glass back down over the ring of condensation left on the placemat. He sucks on a piece of ice, but as he tries to do some ridiculous trick with his tongue to impress me, it shoots back his throat.

He claws at his neck, almost throwing up on the table right in front of me. His face is bright red from coughing so violently. “Jesus, don’t hurt yourself.” I wait a few seconds to make sure he’s not going to die on my watch, and when I see his color return to normal, and he’s able to catch his breath, I walk away.

Rhett watches the entire exchange, and he doesn’t look happy about it. He motions for me to come over, and I do. “Do you always get treated like shit?”

“Not every day, but most. We get a lot of traffic from the high school.”

“That’s bullshit. Does your manager know what goes on in her restaurant?”

“Rhett, really. I’m used to it. If she kicked out every kid who gave me a hard time, she’d be out of business in a week.” I look down at my hand, not even realizing it’s on Rhett’s arm, as I’m pleading with him to let their behavior slide. “Sorry.”

Before I can snatch it away from him, he stops me. His warm skin against my cold hand takes the chill away, instantly. “Don’t be, sorry.” He lets me have my hand back, but not before his eyes roam across my face, settle on my lips for the briefest of seconds, and then find their way back to my eyes.

“Your car wasn’t in the parking lot. I wasn’t sure you were even here.”

“Brian took my car.” My voice cracks, and my mouth is suddenly so dry, it hurts to swallow. Rhett hands his cup to me, offering me a sip. “I’ll get in trouble. I’m okay.”

“Kinsley, take a drink.”

I hold his cup up to my lips, and swallow a little bit of his root beer. I drink it all the time, but sharing it with him, it tastes better than it usually does. “Thank you.”

“Who’s Brian?”

“He’s a new cook here, but he’s also a mechanic, so he offered to help with my car.” Rhett nods his head, and I can tell he has more questions. “What is it?”

“I didn’t think you had a boyfriend.”

“I don’t. Brian’s thirty-five and very married.” The relief in his eyes can’t be mistaken, and it gives me a little boost of confidence.

“How are you getting home tonight without your car?”

“I’ll catch a ride with someone.”

Rhett stares at the placemat in front of him, picking at the soggy corner from the dripping condensation on his glass. “I hate it, Kinsley.”

“What do you hate?” I wait for him to look at me, and it takes a few seconds, but he does.

His eyes are intense yet sincere as he says, “That you’re all alone. Your brother was a pain in the ass when it came to you, warning us all to stay away, but at least I knew you were in good hands when he was around.”

Now it all makes sense. I’m a pity date. “Is that why you’re here? You feel sorry for me? Because if it is, I manage just fine.” I turn to walk away, but he grabs onto my apron string, pulling me back to his table.

“That’s not why I’m here. I’ve wanted to ask you out for two years.”

“Two years?” He’s not making any sense. If he’s wanted to, why hasn’t he?

“Yes, for two long ass years I waited for your brother to go to college. Like I said, he warned us you were off limits. I knew I couldn’t fight him on it—he would have kicked my ass and ruined any chance for us. So, I’ve been biding my time, waiting until the right moment before I approached you.”

“Yet you’ve gone out with other girls, Rhett. You’ve been to dances, on dates, to parties. I may not have been there, but I hear all the gossip at school.”

“I know, and I shouldn’t have done that. I was too worried what everyone else thought of me. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have taken a chance and stood up to your brother. I wouldn’t have gone out with the other girls.”

I shake my head. “You went out with a couple of them more than once. How do you explain that?”

He takes a sip of his drink before continuing. I watch his lips the entire time they’re wrapped around the rim of the glass. “None of my relationships ever worked out, Kinsley. There was a reason for that.”

“This is high school, Rhett. They’re not supposed to last forever.”

“Says who?”

“Me, I guess. We’re eighteen, and forever is a lifetime away. How could I possibly know what I’ll want when I’m fifty? Sometimes, I struggle with deciding what I want for lunch.”

He listens, but with confidence he says, “They didn’t work out because they weren’t you, Kinsley. Every time I was with one of them, I thought about what it would be like to be with you instead. Before long, I realized it was better being with you in my head, as a dream, than it was being with any of them in reality.”

I never realized Rhett was so poetic or that he was a romantic. Then again, I wouldn’t have known considering we’ve spoken more today than the last eleven years of our lives combined. “That’s intense.” I reach in front of him to take his empty plate, but he stops me with his hand on mine.

“Don’t.”

“Aren’t you finished?”

“I am. I mean don’t pretend like it’s weird for me to care about you.”

“But it is. Rhett, I’ve gone to school with you all my life, and now we’re almost finished. Isn’t it a little late for all this?”

“I don’t think so—that’s not what I’m saying.”

Before Rhett can say anything else, Betty interrupts. “Kinsley, you’re needed in the kitchen.”

“Coming.” I take his plate, and grab his empty glass. “I’ll get your check. Actually, it’s on me. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I’d rather he just leave. I’m overwhelmed.

Betty’s waiting for me at the register, just outside the kitchen door. “Brian called, he figured out what’s wrong with the car, but he’s not going to be able to come for you.”

“He did, that’s a relief.”

“Honey, you know I’d take you home if I still drove, but these old eyes aren’t good at night.”

I’m about to tell her I’ll call Carson when Rhett chimes in. “I’ll take her home. She did buy my pie. It’s the least I can do.”

Betty claps her hands with delight, oblivious to the conversation I just had with Rhett a few minutes ago. “That would be wonderful. I knew this young man was a good one as soon as I saw him. Thank you, dear.”

I appreciate his offer, but I don’t want to become a charity care, either. “He’s already taking me home from school tomorrow. I don’t want to inconvenience him.”

“Kinsley, I’m offering. Let me take you home. I want to,” he adds.

I don’t want to argue with him. In fact, fighting with him is the last thing I want to do. I want to get to know him better—even if I still think he might be living in a dream world. “Okay. Thanks. My sister’s at work, I’ll let her know it’s covered.”

Rhett waits while I type out a text, and then says, “Let me see your phone.”

I hand it to him and he glances at the message I sent Kate.

“Just a friend?” he says, with an unexpected hint of disappointment.

I try to grab the phone out of his hand, but he holds it higher than I can reach. “Rhett!”

“Hold on.” He punches his number into my contacts. “There. Now you have no excuse. If you need me, you call me. And if you don’t, text me anyway.”

I laugh as he hands my phone back to me. “Clever.” When I glance at the screen, I snort. Instead of listing his name in my contact list, like a normal person would, he listed himself as “NOT a friend.”

“You know that’s going to come up on the screen—if you ever call me.”

“When I call you,” he stresses. “That was the point.”

“Okay, when you call.”

Rhett leans closer to my screen, checking to see if Kate responded. “She okay with it?”

I tap out one more message to my sister. “Yeah, she’s fine with it.”