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Relationship?I slide my hand behind my neck.
Dylan is running around tossing mango cubes and yellow peppers into two large, industrial-sized blenders. She finally broke down and bought a second one as the dare crowd has grown.
“So we’re just going to give them citrus salsa, nothing else?” Craig’s brow furrows. “That’s different.”
“It’s not really something you eat on a chip,” she explains. “It’s more something you’d eat with shrimp or chicken… or a hardy vegetable if you don’t eat meat.”
Dylan’s long hair is twisted in a bun, and Logan sits on a stool by Thomas, watching her with an adoring smile from a safe distance. Every now and then she dances over to kiss his lips. He tries to grab her, but she shakes her head.
“Not til I’ve washed up,” she warns. “You know what can happen.”
The way he responds to those words makes me believe he knows very well what can happen if pepper oil gets where it shouldn’t—we all do.
Looking around, I wonder when Rachel’s getting here.
“Two more orders of the special grilled shrimp and one chicken tender special.” Salina Duck breezes into the kitchen in her shorts and logo shirt carrying a tray. She stops short when she sees me. “Hi, Zane.”
She smiles, approaching me in that flirty manner again.
“Hey, Salina. You doing okay?” I shift, looking over at Edward and deciding it’s time for his pool lesson.
“Oh, you know. The same.” She shrugs, blinking her dark brown eyes up at me. “I’m doing a lot better now that Craig has stopped messing with the portion sizes.”
She cuts her eyes at him briefly, and he immediately protests. “I was helping our customers be healthy. It was a good thing.”
“It was messing with my tips.” She jerks her chin, adding under her breath. “Egg.”
Craig doesn’t miss a beat. “Did you just call meEgg?”
Salina shrugs, poking out her lips and looking up at me with a smile. “Maybe.”
“Is that supposed to be an insult? LikeEgghead?”
I have no idea what’s going on right now, but I’m fighting a laugh.
“Kids used to call meEggheadat my old school.” Edwardwalks up holding Smokey under his chin, a serious expression on his face.
“That’s because you’re a genius, Eddie” Salina turns fiercely protective on a dime. “Don’t ever let those stupid kids make you feel bad for being smart. Okay?”
Edward nods, startled. “Okay.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“You have a gift.” Her voice softens, and she lightly taps her finger on his shoulder.
“Oh, so for him it’s a gift, but for me, it’s an insult?” Craig waves a hand at her.
“I don’t know,Egg.” Salina picks up the tray of food, turning her body, but never breaking eye-contact with Craig. “Is it?”
His eyes narrow in confused defiance as she disappears through the double doors. “She’s one of our best servers, and she just gets weirder.”
“She’s hilarious!” Allie’s loud voice cuts through the noise in the kitchen. “She’s totally messing with you, Cray.”
Austin follows a few paces behind her. I recognize that saunter from being a teenage boy myself.
“Allie! I’m so glad you’re here.” Dylan calls from where she’s pouring bright orange salsa into a large bowl.
