Nothing sounded good today. I snagged a pair of California rolls but ignored the squid and octopus, which I usually loved.
Even the first California roll couldn’t whet my appetite. Except the alternative was leaving here and going back to the office and my quiet world of wondering what the hell I was going to do, which was even less appetizing.
And Teagan needed to talk. No matter how distracted I was, I wouldn’t leave her high and dry if she needed me.
I still couldn’t quite bring myself to eat, though, and there’s nothing in the world quite as conspicuous as picking at sushi. It’s easy to move crap around on a plate and feign an appetite when there’s more than two bites of food to begin with, but nudging the same California roll with chopsticks for ten minutes is a little less subtle.
Teagan put an empty plate on the stack and watched the carousel for another to come by.
“You gonna eat that?” she asked.
“I’m not really that hungry, actually.” I nudged the plate away. “So, since you wanted to come here, I’m guessing you wanted to talk about something.”
She nodded. “Yes, I do.”
I rested my elbows on the table and my chin on the backs of my fingers. “Okay, so…?”
She set her chopsticks on the side of her plate. “What happened in that meeting? You were practically dancing your way through the Zone all morning, and then you disappeared to a meeting and came back looking like you’d witnessed a murder.” She wagged a finger at me. “Don’t even try to tell me there’s nothing going on, because there’s something on your mind.”
“I’m… I mean…” I shook my head. “T, there’s nothing—”
“Bullshit!” She smacked her palm on the table, rattling our empty sushi plates, and released an exasperated sigh. “Today alone, let’s see…” She ticked the points off on her fingers. “You passed up no fewer than two golden opportunities to give Cal shit about his mom. Bianca and Scott both completely set themselves up about a dozen times apiece. And you’ve had your nose in that model all day long but haven’t once noticed the massive gay Lego orgy going on in the center of the main conference room.”
I blinked. “A Lego orgy?”
“Yes. A huge one.” She released an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. “Scott and I spent ten whole minutes getting three of them into a proper Lucky Pierre position, and you didn’t even notice. I’m insulted. I really am.”
I couldn’t glare at her. I couldn’t even laugh. “I didn’t see it, no.”
“Exactly. And your Lego obliviousness doesn’t lie. C’mon.” She inclined her head slightly, twin creases appearing between her eyebrows. “I’m worried about you, I really am. Is everything okay between you and your man?”
Before I could stop myself, I flinched.
She leaned closer. “What?”
I was too exhausted and distracted to talk my way out of this, so I rested my elbows on the table again and sighed as I rubbed my temples. “Fine.” I lowered my hands and looked at her. “But none of this conversation leaves this table.”
Her eyes widened slightly, as if she was surprised there really was something on my mind. “Of course it won’t. You know me.”
“So I told you I’ve been seeing someone. And…” My heart thudded in my chest. I resisted the urge to keep glancing at the restaurant’s front door, convincing myself Marie or Mitchell were not going to come through it at any second. “I’ve… It’s…” I stared up at the ceiling for a moment before I met Teagan’s eyes again.
She lifted her eyebrows. “Is it going well?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s great.” I smiled despite my nerves. “It’s really great.” Except… I couldn’t maintain the smile. “The only problem…”
“I’ve never seen you have this much trouble spitting something out. Is he a war criminal or something?”
“No, nothing like that.” I picked up a chopstick and absently turned it between my fingers.
Teagan folded her arms on the table and leaned toward me. “Jon, now you’re really worrying me. What’d you do? Knock him up or something?”
A cough of laughter escaped my lips. “Yeah. That’s it. You got me.”
She laughed, but then turned serious again. “So, what is it?”
Taking a deep breath, I laid my palms on the table and forced myself to look her in the eye. “I’m dating Rick Pierce.”
Her eyebrows shot up so fast, I was surprised one of the rings didn’t fly off. “You got your dick pierced?”
“Very funny. You heard me.”
She stared at me. “You’re not kidding, are you?” There was no humor in her voice, no teasing this time.
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re…” She closed her eyes for a second, then met my gaze again. “You’re really dating him?”
I nodded.
“Holy shit, dude.” She tapped a chopstick against the stack of empty plates. “So, you guys hooked up then, and it just, what? Went from there?”
“Basically.”
“How? He’s… I mean…how…”
I chuckled. “How did a guy like me score a guy like him?”
“Honey, how does anyone score a guy like Rick Pierce?”
“Oh, I have my ways. And no, I’m not telling you that story today.”