Page 157 of Come Back to Me

“You’re beautiful inside and out. I’ll do my best to help you see what I see every day starting today.”

“Okay.”

We make out and have intermittent small talks in between until I get a notification that our food has been delivered in front of her apartment.

She notices how intense my concentration is as I stare at my phone. “What’s up?”

I get out of bed, putting my shorts back on. “Our food has been delivered.” I stand in the doorway.

“I’ll set up the kitchen table.”

I shake my head. “Stay here. Dinner will be served in bed tonight.”

“Grayson Becker, you really know your way into a woman’s heart.”

“Well, I hope I’ve made my way into your heart, Violet Prescott.” I wink at her, heading for the food sitting in front of her door.

“You snuck your way into my heart when I was twelve years old!” she shouts.

I secure the goods and lock her front door, heading back into her bedroom. “I’d say my mission has been successful then, getting our food and winning you over with my gorgeous smile.” I smile at her in an unattractive way.

She breaks out into laughter, causing tears to come out of her eyes. “Yeah, you won me over with yourgorgeoussmile.”

“Score!” I check the contents of the bag, seeing they put two sets of silverware and a bunch of napkins inside. “Damn, and I forgot to ask about silverware, too.” I hand Violet her boneless wings, sitting back down on the bed next her with my styrofoam box of traditional wings in one hand.

She searches for her side of garlic parmesan sauce for her wings and her side of garlic aioli for her tater tots. She rolls her eyes. “Goddamn, that smells so good.”

I wish I was the one making your eyes roll back like that.

Opening the box to my wings, I get a whiff of the sweet and tangy barbecue sauce along with the fries, which smell like they’re fresh out of the fryer. “Is there ketchup in there?”

She searches through the bag, finding a few ketchup packets inside and handing them over to me. “They were all the way at the bottom.”

I hold one of my barbecue wings up, and she dunks her boneless wing in the garlic parmesan sauce before she holds one of hers up.

“Cheers,” I say.

“Cheers,” she repeats.

We barely touch our wings together because I know she doesn’t like barbecue sauce, so I don’t want to get it all over her boneless wing.

I always thought nothing would come close to Coastal Shores’ traditional wings, but these are a close second. They’re tender and fall right off the bone, plus they pair so well with the barbecue sauce.

“I’ll trade you a tater tot for a fry.” She holds up one of her tater tots.

“I’d say that’s a fair trade.”

She hands the tater tot over to me, dropping it into my hand. I give her a fry, and she takes it in between her thumb and index finger. Popping the tater tot into my mouth, I feel how perfectly crispy they are and how there’s a perfect amount of potato on the inside.

She gives me a thumbs up, meaning the fry and her food must be good. “Thank you for feeding me.”

“Always.”

Violet and I finished our meals about an hour ago.

Now, I have my arms wrapped around her with one hand on her stomach and the other gently squeezing her breast.

“Hey, do you know what you’re going to wear to Thanksgiving dinner next Thursday?”