My legs burn as I reach my last of six miles. I slow to a swift walk, using the last two blocks to cool down. My reward for getting up at five to run? A four egg white omelet with cheese and spinach at Suvio’s Diner. It doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re cutting weight and you feel like shit, you take what you can get.
The cowbell above the door rings when I shove it open. That thing has hung there for as long as I can remember. It wouldn’t be Suvio’s without that familiar clang.
“Hey, Finnie,” Suvio calls from the back. “You want the usual, champ?”
I grin. It also wouldn’t be the same without the Philly hospitality, the kind that comes from people who’ve known you forever. “Yeah, Suv. Thanks.”
“Have a seat. I’ll be right with you,” he says.
I’m about to slide into a spot at the front counter when I notice Sol sitting in the booth in the back. The diner is a local favorite so I’m somewhat surprised I haven’t seen her here before. Then again, she’s been in school, trying to make something of herself. Can’t say I’m not glad to see her, though.
Sunlight trickles in from the window, lighting the strands of her hair brushing against her cheeks and her large gray-blue eyes. She smiles when she notices me standing there, adding an extra glimmer to her pretty stare. For a second, I think she’s going to wave me over, but then she glances back down to whatever she’s typing on her iPad. She probably doesn’t want to assume I’ll sit with her. And maybe she’s a little shy about asking.
Good thing for both of us, the last thing I am is shy.
I march forward. She’s wearing a lavender sweater and a pink scarf. The colors soften her further, not that she needs it. Sol has that whole angelic face thing going on, with an underlying sensuality that no heterosexual man in his right mind could resist.
When I saw her the other day, despite all that she was friendly and sweet, she didn’t exactly melt against me. I thought maybe she was seeing someone. When I asked Sofia about it, she told me Sol doesn’t date much which shocks me. Someone like Sol can have her pick of guys, so I’m not quite sure she hasn’t done more picking. More than once I’ve had guys mention how hot they think she is, not that I liked them noticing.
“Hey,” I say, sliding into the seat across from her. “Mind if I join you?”
She laughs a little, flipping her iPad closed and placing it into her big purse. “Looks like you already have.”
She adjusts the scarf she’s wearing, the fringed ends brushing just above her breasts. Ordinarily, my attention would fixate to her curves a little longer, but instead it returns to her smile. Like at the clinic, it lacks that extreme gleam I used to always see. It doesn’t seem right for her to be without it, so I decide it’s my duty to draw a little sunshine back into that smile. What can I say, just call me a hero.
I motion her way. “I take it you’re a morning person? Up to conquer the day and all that shit.”
“Not even a little bit,” she answers as I reach for the edges of my sweatshirt and pull. “I just had some work to catch up on.”
Her voice cuts off when I partially remove my T-shirt in the process of yanking off my sweatshirt. It’s not intentional, but I’ll admit, I like the results. I grin when I catch Sol jerking her focus from the muscles lining my chest and forcing it back onto my face.
I tug my tight T-shirt back in place slowly. “Like what you see?” I ask, adding a wink.
This time she laughs for real, despite how her face turns pink. “You’re . . .”
“Hot?” I offer.
She laughs again. “I was going to say―”
“Alpha male sexy with Greek god-like charm?” I ask, cutting her off again.
She grins, but doesn’t exactly deny it. “Did you spontaneously pick out all those adjectives? Or do you keep them handy to impress the ladies?”
I think my quickness surprised her, but I can’t say she’s completely off. “Some reporter wrote it about Gerard Butler,” I admit. “But I thought it was fitting enough.”
This time she covers her mouth to hold back her laughter. “You’re something else,” she says, dropping her hand away.
“I’ve been called worse,” I admit. “Thanks, Suv,” I add when he drops off a giant glass of water and my omelet. “You want something?” I ask Sol.
“Thank you, but I’m good with just coffee.”
I nod and dig into my food. I’m not as hungry as I appear, but I don’t want to overdo it with Sol. That doesn’t mean I don’t like how her smile seems to linger and how it keeps finding its way into her pretty eyes.
“What about you?” I ask.
She tilts her head. “What do you mean?”
“If you were to describe yourself, how would it be?”
She crinkles her nose. “Why do you want to know?”