Loving You Differently

Ten

Aria Adkins

"I figured I'd find you here," a raspy voice echoes behind me.

Surprised, I spin around, nearly dropping the tray of dishes and hot food balanced on my arm. "Austin?"

A dark aqua gaze and a small, crooked smirk greet me from my section of booths at RJ's. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I was in the area," he says nonchalantly. Unconvinced, I walk two feet in front of me, swiftly place each designated plate of greasy food to its assigned customer, and turn back towards one of my bosses with a raised brow and butterflies in my stomach.

"You were in the area?" I question.

He flashes a cute, knowing smirk and leans back against the booth. "The food here is good."

I fake a grimace, "Its alright."

He laughs. "I also knew that taking more than two days off isn't your style. I'm here to keep an eye on you," he jokes.

"I'm an adult," I state.

"I'm aware," he says smugly.

I sigh dramatically and pull my notepad and pen from my apron. With an over exaggerated smile and overly sweet tone, I say, "Welcome to RJ's. Serving you would be an absolute honor. What can I get you?"

Austin lets out another deep chuckle and places a simple order of a double cheeseburger and a side of onion rings. I give him a mock salute and trek my way to the kitchen, carefully swerving around booths of chatty customers and loud children. I place the order on the counter for Anthony and am scooping ice into a glass when Sidney pops up beside me.

With a suggestive smirk, she briefly peers behind my shoulder and states, "You're smiling."

I scrunch my nose but keep my gaze on the glass I'm filling with soda. "Am I?"

"I can count on one hand the number of times you've smiled while on the job. One of which was the day I busted my ass from the bucket of ranch dressing that I spilt. I swear sometimes I randomly get jolts of pain in my tailbone. That shit hurt," she rambles, rubbing her lower back mindlessly.

I let out a small laugh and spin around so that I can take Austin's soda to his table, while also effectively keeping the grin on my face from her line of sight.

She's right. I'm smiling. I can't help it.

Austin flashes me another grin when I hand him his drink, and it embarrassingly takes everything in me to not completely burst into high-pitched giggles when his fingers brush my own.

I like Austin.

There, I finally said it.

His smile and his unwavering concern and his ability to repeatedly stick his nose in my business has ended with me crushing on him like an anxious, inexperienced teen. I know I should push him away and steer clear of him, but I can't. And I don't really think I want to.

"Aria Emery Adkins," Sidney muses, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

I turn my back on the room full of customers and lean against the counter. "I texted him," I blurt out.