Chapter 35

Then it’s my turn, and I’m still not sure what I want. The only thing I know for sure is that I want the waiter to go away. So I point randomly at the menu and order whatever my finger lands on. “Black Pepper Chicken. Is that spicy?”

“Pepper isn’t spicy,” Derek scoffs.

The waiter stops scribbling. “We can make it spicy.”

“No, no,” I say quickly, folding the menu. “Just make it the way it is.”

Derek takes my menu and hands both it and his own to the waiter. “Apparently he still doesn’t like spicy food. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“My tongue burning off,” I joke. “That’s what I’m missing.”

“Wimp.” But his faint smile shows he’s only teasing, and I’m hopeful he isn’t too mad at me for what I said to the waiter.

I don’t say anything else until after the waiter leaves. Spearing a spring roll from the bamboo basket before me, I apologize. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“It’s cool,” Derek says, in a way that tells me it isn’t really.