Party Favors by Sariah Wilson

Author:Sariah Wilson [Wilson, Sariah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

When we got outside, Max asked, “Do you know of any good places to eat?”

Did I . . . “Are you ready for this conversation?”

He laughed.

“I’m going to need some parameters so that I can narrow it down,” I said as we started walking along the sidewalk. I glanced down at where our hands were joined and was thrilled that I was doing something so . . . typical. Something other people did all the time without thinking. It shouldn’t have been a big deal and Vella would have teased me mercilessly if I waxed poetic about it in front of her, but it was a big step for me.

And it was exciting.

“Okay, how about something good, American, and open?”

“And no waiting,” I told him. Ever since he’d brought up food, my stomach hadn’t stopped rumbling. There were a lot of different restaurants I could have taken him to, but they would have had long lines.

“I don’t want to wait, either.”

Why was I reading something into that? He was agreeing with what I’d said, not making some comment on whether or not he wanted to be in a relationship with me.

If I wasn’t mistaken, and I was entirely willing to concede that I might have been, there had been a tone in his voice that caused me to believe he’d meant something else.

“There’s a diner not too far from here that meets the criteria of being American, open, and available. The good part might be more subjective,” I said.

Max laughed and said, “Lead the way.”

As we walked, he asked me how the birthday party was coming along.

“I’m trying to get in touch with my teenage self, but it’s been a while. I wish I knew more about Monterran teenagers.”

“They definitely live in a different environment than kids in America. Their secondary school, which might be comparable to high school in the States, requires students to choose a major to focus on.”

“What did you choose?”

“The same thing I studied at Yale. Languages.”

As in plural? “What other languages do you speak?”

“French and Spanish, some Portuguese. I’ve been using an app to work on Mandarin, but it’s very different from Romance languages, so I’m struggling a bit.”

A distant part of my brain registered that he had just admitted that something wasn’t coming easy to him and it made me like him more, but the rest of me could only focus on the fact that he was fluent in French.

After Monterran and Italian accents, French rounded out my Top 3.

“You speak French? Can you say something?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Whatever you want.” It wouldn’t really matter because I wouldn’t be able to understand him anyway. He could have read me his grocery list and I still would have found it sexy.

I had taken two years of French in high school but had retained none of it. Which became entirely evident when he started speaking.

His words apparently disconnected my eyeballs from my brain and I wasn’t processing visual information correctly or paying attention to what was happening around me.

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