Nova (4 page)

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. “Are we? You can’t possibly be over twenty-one, and if you’re under eighteen I kind of feel like an ass.”

“Which is why he needs this bet settled,” Will told me with a smile.

I looked over each of the guys at the table. Of c
ourse Brock was the forward one;
kind of cute but I think he knew that. Nash seemed to be a little on the goofy side. He reminded me of Bart Simpson for some reason. Maybe it was his hair and wide mouth. Will and Austin appeared to be fairly normal, and Austin was even better looking than Brock. But Austin was also the quietest one, and I think that kind of intrigued me.

“Well one of you actually
is
right,” I eventually said.

“Oh, thank God,” Brock exhaled with relief. “So who is it?”

“Ah, no, no, no,” I smiled, waving my finger at them. “This seems a little unfair to me.”

“How so?”

“I’m about to win someone two hundred bu
cks just by saying how old I am?
This person is going to win a bet based on me. Why don’t I get a cut?”

Brock smiled, and so did the others. After he seemed to silently deliberate with each of them he said, “Okay, that’s fair enough. So whoever’s right spends that money taking you out on a date,” he smiled triumphantly.

I laughed out loud. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack,” he grinned.

“How is that fair to me? Wouldn’t it be easier to just give me half the winnings?
I mean the guy is still making fifty bucks on the deal, and without the hassle of the date.”

“Nah, that defeats the purpose.”

“And what’s the purpose?” I looked at each of them and no one wanted to answer. But their smiles said it all and I had to roll my eyes, realizing they had played m
e perfectly. “Nice plan, boys—really, I do like it—b
ut I’m not interested, okay?”

“And she goes for the kill, right to each of our tiny hearts,” Nash cringed.

The others chuckled.

“Look, I need to get back to work. Can I please take your orders now?”

“Okay, okay,”
Brock
said. “How about this? You tell us your age, and then you get a choice. You can go out with that guy if you want, or you can just take the hundred bucks. Does that sound fair?” He made the rounds to see if each guy agreed, and they all nodded or shrugged. Then he looked at me and added, “And if you choose the money, no big deal, okay? We won’t take offense, and we’ll still come and be your favorite customers.”

I actually smiled at that. I was wondering what Brock did for a living because he was actually quite gifted
in
his interactions with people.

“Okay, here’s my offer, and you guys can agree to it or not. I’ll tell you my age, and I’ll make the choice between the money or the date, but
first
each of you have to tell me
your
ages and
what you’re studying in school or
what you do for a living. If you actually have a job,” I added.

“Oh, y
ou’re a feisty one,”
Brock smiled.

I shrugged.

“Hmm, it’s a two-
question interview, boys. She wants to know what her options are. Should we agree to it?” They took a few seconds to consider it and then Brock said, “Sure, we’ll play. I’ll go first.” With a cheesy smile he said, “I’m Brock, I’m twenty-two, and I’m
studying law at USC
.”

Hmm, wanting to be a lawyer?
Not a big surprise.

“Will? You’re up, buddy,” he said.

“Uh,
I’m also twenty-two, and I’m a history major at Davis.”

Nash shrugged and said, “I’m twenty
-one
and I’m in animation.”

I tried not to react because I pictured him drawing the Simpsons.

“Austin?” Brock motioned.
“Which career would you like to share?”

He paused for a few seconds before he replied. “I’m twenty-three and, uh, I’m in business.”

Two of the guys chuckled and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to take that. Maybe “business” meant something I didn’t want to hear.

“So?” Brock smiled at me. “Now it’s your turn.”

I took a moment before I replied, “Well, I’m twenty-
two
.”

There were various reactions
for several seconds
—apparently it had been quite a debate—and three of them slid money across the table to Austin.
But I was kind of surprised that he didn’t really have much of a reaction at all. He didn’t even touch the money, and
took a drink of his water instead
.

“Well, I’d better get back to work guys. Please give me your orders, if you still plan on staying.”

Thankfully they did order, and when I finally left the table, I had to take a deep but silent breath of air.

“Holy cow, spend much time at table ten?” Robin whispered.

I didn’t really feel like responding, so I j
ust gave the order to Roger
and busied myself with another table.

We got pretty busy after that—two separate groups of six
came in
—and I only gave table ten the necessary amount of attention. Robin was cashing them out as I breezed by, and just when I thought the coast was clear, someone caught my arm.

It was Austin, and without saying anything he put two fifty-dollar bills in my ha
nd. I didn’t know what to say. M
aybe I was waiting for Brock to make some sort of response
for the group
,
but he kind of seemed a little…subdued. Nobody said a single word until they were about out the door and Austin said, “See you, Nova.”

I stood there for a few seconds, feeling a bit stupefied.

“Why the
frowny
face?” Robin asked.
“One of them say something mean
, sweetie?
”

“No, they just… I don’t know. I’ll explain it to you later.”

So I did go over the whole situation with Robin when we had a few minutes, from the bet to all four guys leaving me with the money.

“So you actually wanted to go out with him?” she asked. “Then just say so, Nova.”

“No, I just… I don’t know why I’m a little confused. Maybe
they
were disappointed with the outcome. I think it was Brock that wanted the date—you know, the forward one that asked me for my number last time? Maybe the whole thing was just about him hoping the odds were in his favor.”

“So who won the bet?”

“Austin.”

“Uh…which one is that again?”

“He was sitting in the far corner again. The guy in the black shirt with
the
baseball
hat on
.
”

She started to laugh, and it made me really confused. Insecure at the same time since I thought she was laughing because she felt the guy was a wad or something.

“What’s so funny? He’s not that bad. He’s actually pretty cute. Kind of quiet, but really cute.”

“I know.”

I gave her a peculiar look.

“Nova, he’s been in here before.
Without
his buddies.
He comes in here by himself.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen
him
two other
times. T
he last two Fridays for lunch.”

“I was working the last two Fridays.”

She laughed again. “I know; that’s why I think it’s funny. You didn’t even recognize him without his friends.”

I had to take a moment to think it over, wondering what it was supposed to mean. “Well…where did he sit?”

“Two,” she replied, nodding to the opposite end of the café.

I took instant insult to it, feeling like he purposely chose to have a different waitress.
But t
able six motioned for more coffee, so I grabbed the pot to keep my thoughts occupied.

Chapter Three

“Nova, try not to screw it up this time,” Levi teased me.

I laughed and gave him a playful shove. “Be nice. This is only my second time.”

“You’re doing fine.”

He sat back on the park bench
and crossed his arms over his chest while I readjusted the camera lens. Another kid at the skate park took his position at the top of the half pipe, and I anticipated his movement. I took a shot just as he completed a backside 360.

I looked over the shot on the LCD screen and showed it to Levi.

“Not bad,” he nodded. “Try it again and anticipate just a second sooner.”

The same kid was still working the half pipe, so as he began an
airwalk
grab, I snapped the picture.

Levi looked it over and smiled. “Nice. Now you’re ready to be my assistant.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I’ll need more time getting to know your camera.”

“Mm, it’s not hard. You can always cheat and switch it to auto.” He flipped a switch on the camera and handed it back to me with a smile.

I cast him a scowl before I raised the camera to the half pipe again and took an easy picture.
“Did you just want me to fail first?” I asked him.

“No,” he chuckled. “I just wanted you to learn the real way. Almost anyone can take a picture these days with all the fancy cameras there are, but to actually learn photography skills is more beneficial.
Next time we can try out
some
vintage cameras.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

We went back to photographing the skate park, and while I took a phone call, Levi wandered toward the group of kids to talk to them. One of the boys was his younger cousin,
Gray
, and the other four were
Gray’s
friends.

The call was from work. Phoebe was sick and went home early. Ava was out of town for the day, and
Becca
had her little boys to watch, so the only feasible option was calling me in early. Normally I wouldn’t have cared to fill in—the other ladies had done it for me before—
but I was actually having
a really good time with Levi at the park and I didn’t want to leave.

But…
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” I told Robin. I glanced at my watch that read twelve-fifteen.
“
Just give me about
twenty
minutes.”

“Thank you, Nova. I’m already swamped right now as it is—lunch rush—so hurry!” she pleaded before she hung up.

I j
oined Levi at the half pipe and
with a
frown
said, “I have to go into work early. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.”

“Um, do you mind taking me
there and I’ll just get a ride home later
?”

“No, that’s fine.” He said departing words to the boys at the ramp and the
n
headed back to the bench. He grabbed his camera bag and put the camera away as we walked to his truck.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I had a good time.”

He smiled at me, and it made me smile back.

“So did I,” I told him.
“
I really don’t want to leave but… I guess I’ll have to make it up to you.”

“Yep, you will,” he said, taking my hand as we wal
ked
.

Then I started thinking about the fact that we’d seen each other a few times now. Once he stopped by the diner to take my break with me, another time he came over to my house for an hour to quiz me f
or a test
I had the next day, and then here we were at the park enjoying the nice
spring
day before I headed into work. But
I guess the pressure had kind of built on me because I knew that a kiss was boun
d to come pretty soon, and
I knew I wanted him to kiss me at that point because I really did like him
.

It seemed as if he could read my mind, because when we stopped at his truck and he
set
his camera inside, he
turned to me and asked, “I
s it okay to kiss you? I mean I really want to, but if it’s not something you’re comfortable with then I won’t. But I just feel like we’ve got
a
connection, you know? And maybe it’s just me, but…”

He stopped when I wrapped my arms around his waist and stepped closer to him. It took him a moment to realize that was my answer, and after he concluded the pause with a smile, he leaned down and kissed me.