Page 28 of Until the Last Star Fades

“Go for it.” He ran his hand through his hair, but it sprung back and flirted with his eyes again.

“Oh, okay. I’ll have…hmmm, I’ll have the California Wrap and…fries. I’m famous for eating my weight in potatoes, especially smiley ones…”

“What are smiley potatoes?” asked Ben.

“Oh, they’re these frozen potato thingies in the shape of a smiley face. You pop them in the oven, make ’em all crispy. Mom made them when I was little.” She hesitated, buying more time so Ben could read the menu. “Fries or onion rings…? Hmm, no, I’ll just have the wrap. Oh, and something to drink…” She glanced up at Ben, but he was staring at her. “Actually, water’s fine.”

Ben slid the menu to the server without looking at it. “Do you have chicken nuggets, but shaped like dinosaurs?”

Riley chuckled.

The server narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

He stifled a laugh. “Never mind. A burger and fries, thanks. Ooh, do you have milkshakes here?”

“Vanilla, chocolate—”

“Chocolate! Cheers.” As the server turned, Ben winked at Riley. “I’m so going to have cake for dessert, too. Gotta put back all those calories I lost on stage tonight.”

“Yeah, about that…were you freestyling up there? Your moves, Ben—my God.”

“Oi, they weren’t that bad! I’ll have you know, I learned two routines.”

“Two? Wow. So…” She toyed with the fork lying on her paper napkin. “What have we learned in the short time we’ve known each other? I’m a crappy WAG and you’re a crappy stripper.”

“Ahh, I’m also a crappy actor, so I’m one up on you. Sometimes you don’t know until you try and fail miserably, right?”

Riley’s face softened. “Ben, I’m sure you can act.”

He scrunched his nose and scratched his stubble. “So, your friends at the club…WAGs?”

“Yeah. Did the huge rocks on their fingers give them away?”

“Kinda. They looked quite posh. You meet them through your boyfriend?”

“No. Erika, the future bride, was a year ahead of me in high school. We worked together on the yearbook and became good friends. Leia, the redhead—”

“Her name’s Leia?”

“Yeah, like the Star Wars character. We don’t get along.”

“Oh.” Ben’s eyes lit up as his milkshake arrived.

“Nothing major happened, we just don’t gel.”

“Right. Well, it happens.”

“I’m only friends with her because of Erika.”

Ben tore the paper off his straw and plunged it into the bubbly chocolate froth crowning the tall glass of his shake. “So, three of you there tonight?”

“Some of Erika’s work friends came, too. I don’t really know them. When I hang with Eri, it’s usually just us, sometimes Leia and the guys, too.”

“All hockey players?”

“Yep.”

Ben took a long sip of his shake, his eyes rolling back in exaggerated bliss then returning to Riley. “So, you said your boyfriend got drafted—what does that mean for you?”