Noah (24 page)

“You’re… you look great.” He caught himself before saying what he really wanted to say
:
that she was beautiful, remembering how spooked their near-kiss made her. For a moment,
after she’d fallen into his arms
he
’d
thought she might bolt from the room like she had before.
It had almost hurt to let go of her.

She
c
rinkled
her
nose
making him smile
. “I’m not too casual? I mean I know the place is totally casual but this
is
a Christmas dinner.”

“Trust me. Most of the guys are going there straight from the gym.
Jack probably is, too. And you’ve seen how he dresses.
” 

Her expression relaxed. “Okay
,
well then
,
I guess I’m ready whenever you are.”

Noah finished getting his shoes on and they were on their way. When he pulled up
o
nto the
restaurant’s
narrow
street,
he
took in how many cars were already in the restaurant
’
s parking lot. Every year this little Christmas shindig got bigger.
They’d have to look for a new place next year or stick with
Rio
’s. He didn’t mention to Roni that one of the reason
s
it was either this place or
Rio
’s was because it was the only two places they knew of that didn’t card. She didn’t need another reminder that he was too damn young for anything.     

His stomach dropped when he noticed Rita’s Honda. He’d forgotten
that
last year she’d come down a few days before Christmas also. He didn’t have to worry about the guys saying anything more about his after-Thanksgiving
ride
with her. And if Rita saw him walk in with another girl, she wasn’t the type to say or do anything stupid. Gio wouldn’t even have to warn her. She just wasn’t like that. But
now
Roni
would be
rem
inded of
Hector
’
s comments about Rita
. A re
mind
er that she thought him
young, immature
,
and into
‘
drive
-
bys
.
’
Not to mention it would remind her that he’d gone out and done this just after he’d spent such a wonderful day with her. Damn it all to hell
!
 

They parked and got out of the car. Noah didn’t even notice he was frowning until he glanced at Roni as they walked through the parking lot
.
S
he was looking at him weird
ly
. “Something wrong?”

He tried to ease up the tension he felt building. “No. Not at all.” Then
he
forced a smile.

The restaurant was in a building that was clearly an old
tenement
once upon a time. The doorways were small. Noah held the door for her and let her walk in first,
since
it
was
impossible to walk through the door together. The bell on the door jingled and
some
s
panish Christmas m
usic play
ed
on
the jukebox. The guys were all already there. Just about every table was taken but Abel and Gio had saved them seats.

Gio had obviously
anticipated
what Noah might be feeling about Rita being there, because the seats he’d saved for them were the furthest from where Rita sat with his sisters at the opposite end of the table. They walked through the crowded restaurant and waved at everyone as they passed them to get to their seats. 

They sat between Jack and Gio. “Everyone’s already ordered but she said she’d be over as soon as you two got here to take your order. Order whatever you want.” Jack smiled at Roni. “You too
,
little lady.” 

Noah breathed in feeling a little better that not only did Rita s
i
t at the other end of table so did Hector, and apparently since he’d waved giving everyone a generic hello he wouldn’t have to be introducing her to Roni. Another thing that made him smile now was how perfect it felt walking in with her. Every
one
here was under the assumption
now that they were an item
and no one seemed to think it strange.

They ordered the shrimp fajitas and Roni hadn’t even flinched when the waitress had asked if they wanted the platter for two. They were sharing a plate just like a real couple would
and no way would he ever tell her how excited something so
trivial
made him. Not only did it make him feel totally immature, he was sure it was something only a damn teenage
girl
would get excited about!

Everything was going smooth
ly
until the plates started coming out. One of the things Chente’s was famous for was the portions were humongous. Every plate that was placed on the table was commented on.

The waitress placed Rita’s plate in front of her. It was this huge red mountain. Gio’s sisters
giggled as Rita’s eyes grew looking at it
.

“Damn!” Abel said laughing. “Rita, what is that thing?”

Noah froze. Roni’s attention had already been on that end of the table but Noah glanced at her after the mention of Rita’s name and her eyes went from the burrito to Rita’s face.

“It’s a wet burrito
,
” Rita said laughing.
“No one told me
it
would be this big!”

Gio’s
sisters
laugh
ed
even louder
as if they’d pulled a good one on her. It
was
a good one actually. That had to be the biggest burrito he’d seen in his life. If it hadn’t been for his churning stomach he
would
’ve been laughing too like everyone else.
Instead,
he kept looking at Roni whose eyes were glued to Rita’s for a solid minute at least.

Thankfully, their flaming fajita tray was brought out and all attention was on them now.

“Damn
,
that looks good!” Gio said.

If everyone else’s plates were oversized, theirs was ridiculous since it was made for two.

“We’re never gonna finish this
,
” Roni said her eyes so wide and to Noah’s relief she smiled.

“Don’t worry
,
” Noah said reaching for a tortilla. “I skipped lunch so I’m starving.” 

Everyone dug in and Rita’s name wasn’t mentioned again. At least not on his side of the table and not loud enough for him or Roni to hear. But he did notice Roni glancing in Rita’s direction several times. She was subtle about it but Noah was so damn paranoid about the whole thing he caught it each time. 

Noah had begun to finally relax
when people started finishing
their dinner
and moving around to talk to others at the table
whom
they hadn’t been able to during dinner.
He straightened up a little when he saw Gio’s youngest sister
Pria
and Rita walking toward their end of the table.

“What did you guys order?”
They walked past them and ended up at the head of the table facing them. “Oh my God, Gio.”
Pri
a laughed. “Soup really?”

“It was their
siete mares
soup. You should’ve seen how much seafood was in it.”

“Well, shit,” Abel laughed. “The bowl is big enough to bathe a baby in!”

They all laughed
.
Noah laughed nervously, praying nothing stupid would be said about him and Rita. He trusted his friends and even Hector knew not to blow
this
but he couldn’t help worry.  

“How were your fajitas, Noah?” Rita asked. “They smelled heavenly when she walked them past us. But
good Lord,
that platter was huge.”

“They were
g
ood,” Noah said
,
hating that he’d now have to introduce her to Roni. “And yeah it was for two. We shared,” he said gesturing to Roni. “This is Ron— uh Veronica, my roommate.”

“Just say Roni, dude
,
” Hector said
,
coming up and standing behind Abel’s chair. “It’s what you call her.”

Noah pressed his lips together and ignored Hector. “Veronica this is Gio’s cousin Rita.”

Rita smiled very genuinely. “Nice to meet you, Veronica.” 

“Nice to meet you, too
,
” Roni responded
.

Noah couldn’t believe how incredibly uncomfortable he was.
They t
alk
ed
mostly about the food then they moved on to talk about the games they
would
play on Christmas
Eve
at Gio’s. Suddenly they were all laughing reminiscing about the previous year. “Remember your uncle and the tissue box with the ball
,
” Abel said laughing.

They all laughed at once. Even Noah couldn’t help laugh
ing
.

“Box with the ball?” Roni asked.

To Noah’s surprise Rita was the one who
jumped in to
explain as she continued to laugh. “We played this game where they tie this empty tissue box to your behind with a ping pong ball in it.” She paused to laugh
, shaking her head, her hand over her mouth
. “And you’re supposed to shake your ass, jump, wiggle, whatever it takes until the ball comes out of the hole.
It’s timed
so
whoever does it fastest wins.
Everyone did until it was my dad
’
s turn and when the music started
and all eyes were on him
he start
s
swaying his hips all sexy instead.”

“It was hilarious!”
Pri
a said. “We always play all kinds of silly games like that. It’s so much fun. You should come with Noah this year.”

“Yeah, bring her, Noah
,
” Rita added.
“You’ll laugh your butt off,” she said this to Roni. “And,” she rolled her eyes
,
“
u
sually at my dad’s silly antics. But it’s all in fun.”

“I… uh.” Roni glanced back at Noah.

Knowing she had nowhere else to be on the twenty-fourth and
most likely
not on Christmas day either, he answered for her before she could think of an excuse. “I’ll bring her.”

Probably because everyone was watching, Roni just smiled and nodded. “Sure
,
sounds like fun.”

Noah smiled satisfied but could only hope she wasn’t mad that he’d put her on the spot like that. With everyone staring at her how could she possibly say no?

It’s crazy how things work out some times. Noah had started the evening dreading that Roni and Rita would be in the same room and
partially d
ue
to
Rita, he’d now be spending his Christmas Eve with Roni. He expected Rita to be pleasant and unlike most girls
he knew she wouldn’t be
catty about seeing him with another girl.
That just wasn’t her.
What he
didn’t
expect was Roni’s change
in mood
once she realized Rita was there.
Sure,
she’d agreed to Christmas Eve, but even
now
as they walked to her car Noah got the strange feeling she might just take it back.     
     

Don’t say it. Don’t
go there
.
“So that’s
the
Rita uh?