Page 114 of Bridesmaid Undercover
“My absolute favorite. Whenever I’m down there, I always stop by and get two bags. I limit it to two or else I’ll make myself sick.”
Hardy holds up his hand. “I get five.”
“Five?” I cry. “Do you eat them all in one sitting?”
“Two per sitting, and I save the last to savor.”
“Two per sitting, my God, that would be a dream. I’d get so sick though.”
“Work yourself up to it,” he says. “I can help. Next time we have to do décor, I’ll bring some and we can binge. Maybe you can snort one out of your nose like you did with the meat.”
I poke his arm. “I told you that didn’t come out of my nose. It was the double whammy exhalation.”
“Ah, right, how could I forget?”
I turn to Timothy. “I promise I don’t snort meat out of my nose.”
“Quite the party trick if you did,” he says. “Maybe something to work on.”
“I’d rather not be known as the girl who snorts meat out of her nose.”
“I don’t know,” Hardy says. “It has its charms.”
“These are so good,”I say, grabbing another of Hardy’s fries. “The seasoning is spectacular. And the crispness is unmatched.”
He dips a piece of bread into my soup. “The crust on this bread is fucking incredible. Do they make this in-house? They have to if it’s this fresh.”
“I think I saw on the menu that they make all breads in house, including your burger bun.”
“That would explain why it’s so good.” He pops his piece of dipped bread in his mouth and groans. “So good.” He then turns to Maple. “How’s the salad? Are the walnuts making it?”
She pushes the lettuce around on her plate. “I think the walnuts are the best part.”
“Are they roasted?” I ask as I lift my drink up to my lips to wash down the fries.
“I think so because they seem to have a smoky flavor.”
“Delicious,” I say. “What about your veggie burger?” I ask Timothy, who opted for a side salad rather than fries—big mistake, but I’m not going to point that out. He must see it from the way these fries are seasoned. So good.
“Burger is decent,” he says. “The patty is pretty basic, but the sauce elevates it.”
“Sauce can make or break a meal,” I say. “How long have you been a vegetarian?”
“Since high school,” he says. “So over ten years.”
“Wow, that’s incredible. You too, Maple?” I ask.
“No,” she answers. “More recently, from when I was living in Peru. It wasn’t very easy to cook up meat, or food for that matter, so I just sort of stopped eating it and I’ve kept it going.”
“Makes sense,” I say and then the table goes quiet, everyone picking up their food to eat.
Timothy has been pretty reserved this whole time, not saying much unless I ask him a question, then he starts talking. Hard to have a conversation with someone if they’re not going to joinin. Couldn’t imagine what this date would be like if Hardy wasn’t here.
“So, Timothy,” I say while scooping up my soup with my spoon. “How are the rhinos?”
“Critically endangered,” he says before going back to his burger and taking a large bite.
Okay then…
