What in the world was I thinking? And more importantly, what did Mitch think he was accomplishing with this little stunt?

As it stood, there were four of us at the table. And the dynamics were already pretty weird before he brought kissing into the mix. Seriously, who did that?

I looked across the table to try and catch Gwen’s eye, but she was busy glaring at Mitch while he laughed it off. That boy was either the most oblivious guy on the face of the earth or he was the worst.

While I hadn’t spent a bunch of time with Mitch, I liked him. I was pretty sure Gwen liked him. And that was part of the problem.

We were already sitting in a way that broke us into couples. Originally, I hadn’t thought lunch with Julian would be that uncomfortable. Sure, there was the awkward moment the other night. And last night after the fight with my dad, I had snuck out to his trampoline again.

Thankfully, that time he didn’t notice.

But when I realized we would be sitting next to each other, I was barely keeping it together. I remembered how his arms felt around me and the way his deep voice in my ear seemed to rumble deep down into my bones. I shivered at the memory.

That wasn’t the point though. The point was there was no way to win the stupid eat off, unless you actually won. If I lost, I would end up kissing one of the other people sitting at the table.

Gwen would be weird if only for the fact she was a girl and I was strictly hetero. She was my best friend here, quite possibly my only actual friend in a small sea of acquaintances. She also happened to be into Mitch. Mitch, who happened to be one of the other possibilities. That would be too weird.

And Julian. I refused to consider what kissing Julian would mean.

So either Mitch didn’t care that things were about to get all kinds of awkward or he thrived on it.

I didn’t have time to consider all the possibilities before our food came out.

“Ok,” Gwen announced when the food was all set before us. “We gotta talk about the rules. Everything has to be eaten off your plate to win. No spare fries, no tomato slices. And that milkshake glass had better be empty.”

“We know how it works, Gwen,” Mitch chimed in from beside her. “Stop stalling, and start eating.” He looked around the table careful to make eye contact with everyone seated before yelling, “Go!”

Gwen, Julian and I sat there stunned for a few seconds before it registered that Mitch had started eating and wasn’t holding anything back. After looking at my opponents, I dug in. I started with my burger taking as big of a bite as I could and chewing with a speed that could only be described as aggressive. I grabbed my shake and took a few sips to wash it down before grabbing a handful of fries. I repeated this a couple of times focused on my plate in front of me before looking up and seeing how everyone else was doing.

I was way, way out of my league.

Julian had devoured most of his burger and was working on his fries almost simultaneously. Gwen was also much further along than me on her burger and I swore she had less fries too. But Mitch, he was the one who took speed eating to the next level.

He had grease running down his chin as he shoved the last bite of his burger into his mouth. Just a couple of fries remained on his plate and I watched as he lifted his cup to his mouth, not even bothering with a straw, and began to shovel his milkshake into his mouth with a spoon.

It was a freaky sight to behold and I watched mesmerized. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t going to win, even if I stopped staring at Mitch and focused completely on my own food.

“It doesn’t count if it ends up on the table,” Gwen said around her own mouthful of food and I watched as something flew out of her mouth and landed on Mitch’s plate.

Gross.

“Dude!” Mitch managed to get out though his own mouthful. “Keep it in your mouth.”

“Why?” Gwen opened her mouth wide in Mitch’s direction showing off the half chewed food inside. “Feeling queasy? Doesn’t count, if you throw it up, either.”

Mitch narrowed his eyes at Gwen before finishing up the shake and grabbing the last couple of fries.

“Missed something.” Gwen pointed to the food that had previously been in her mouth and was now residing on Mitch’s plate.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not eating that.”

“Then I guess you’re also not winning, which would be a shame considering how quickly you ate the other food. Everything on your plate.”

I’d given up on trying to actually win, which was probably for the best considering I would be throwing up if I had to watch Mitch eat the final bite. Gwen was ruthless.

Don’t do it.

Don’t do it.

I chanted the words over and over in my head. I looked over at Gwen, who had a smug look of satisfaction on her face. How she could look so happy with herself, I didn’t know. I returned to my internal mantra.

Don’t do it.

He did it.

I gagged at the sight. I couldn’t help it; I was squeamish about those things. Even Julian let out a sound of surprise when Mitch took that final bite. “Disgusting, dude,” He said from beside me.

“What can I say?” he said triumphantly. “I like to win. Now, what did we say the prize would be?” He asked, while stroking his chin like he actually had to ponder it.

“A kiss,” I said from across the table.

“Oh, crap!” Gwen cried interrupting my sulking. “We don’t have a loser yet.” And she was off to eating her food with a renewed fervor.

I looked at her and back over to Julian who was also eating the food on his plate with a look of determination. Apparently, no one at this table wanted to kiss anyone else. So why did we agree to it again? Peer pressure was no joke.

I looked down at my own plate of food and realized no matter how hard I tried, I was going to lose. I might as well enjoy my meal instead. I gingerly lifted my burger and took a bite that was embarrassingly small compared to the destruction going on around me.

“What are you doing?” Julian asked, putting his final bite down. He looked at me with a mix confusion and amusement on his face.

“Well, there’s no way I’m going to win. So I’m choosing to enjoy my meal while I await the inevitable.”

“And that would be?” His eyebrows lifted slightly as he asked.

“I don’t know. I guess it depends on Mitch. But it looks like someone is getting lucky tonight.”

“Lucky, Florida?” Mitch chimed in with a snort. “We’re talking a kiss. But because I happen to be a benevolent ruler and can see my subjects are fighters, not lovers, I can settle on another prize.”

I couldn’t tell if I was relived or disappointed. “Oh, yeah?” I said, trying to keep my voice sounding bored and not as nerve ridden as I currently felt.

“As the self-proclaimed loser, you happen to have something I want. Also, what are we, in middle school? A kiss for eating the most food?”

“You are the one who suggested it, Mitch,” Gwen added.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He waved his hands and shook his head simultaneously, as if trying to clear the very air of the idea. “But that was before I got a better idea.”

“Which is?” I took a breath and held it, waiting for his answer.

Mitch looked right at me, waggled his eyebrows and smiled. “I want to drive your new car.”

Turns out losing was the best thing to happen that day. Mitch had pronounced his new spoil as if I was going to be devastated. If only he knew. Or maybe he did. I was still trying to figure the guy out. At times, Mitch was goofy and acted as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Other times, I could swear I saw a calculating gleam in his eyes. Not that it was ever malicious, but it was enough to make you wonder what was beneath the surface.

Although, when he said he was going to drive my car, I was pretty sure every part of him was in one accord.

I had bought it on a whim. It was a nice car, but it wasn’t my baby. I didn’t see myself obsessing about keeping it pristine. I was sad, I wanted a car, and with the reluctant help of my dad, I had ended up at the dealership in Boise earlier that day. I thought spending a big chunk of money on a fancy car would help.

Turns out, it didn’t make me happy. It didn’t fill the hole that had formed when my mom died. It made me happy for all of five minutes before I realized it was just another vehicle. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice vehicle. The bells and whistles were more than I had ever had. But it didn’t ease the ache.

So when Mitch had leaned across the table looking more mischievous than I’d ever seen him, I wasn’t scared. I was actually glad to let him take it for a spin. In fact, I think watching his eyes light up when he got behind the wheel was more enjoyable than when I signed the papers and made it mine.

I gave Gwen shotgun and Julian and I climbed in the back, careful to stay as far on our own sides as possible. But even so, I was painfully aware of every move he made. He looked around the back seat, buckled his seatbelt and leaned back with a sigh. Not that I was paying attention.

The dark leather of the seats was soft beneath my fingers as I got adjusted in the backseat. The tinting was so dark the interior of the car was heavily shaded, even in the harsh light of the late afternoon. I felt like a celebrity being transported to an event. Well, until Mitch interrupted my daydreaming.

“Katie, relax. I promise I’ll be gentle with her.” He rubbed the dash with his hands petting my car.

“I’m honestly not worried about it. Go nuts.” I could almost feel Julian stiffen beside me at my words, but kept my eyes trained on Mitch. I was nervous about being in the back seat with my current company, not Mitch’s driving.

“Really?” He turned around and looked at me. “Oh, I can’t wait to feel her out on the desert roads.” He looked over at Julian and tilted his head to the side, obviously aware of the tension coming from him. “Dude. Please don’t tell me you’re worried.”

“I’m fine,” came his short reply.

Mitch looked back over at me and let out a long,“Okay,” before turning around and facing forward in his seat. “Let’s see what this baby can do.”

We spent half an hour cruising around. Mitch would park at the start of a long stretch and see how quickly he could get the car to 60 miles per hour. Then he would see how fast he could go without the ride getting bumpy. Or Gwen freaking out.

“Mitch, slow down!” she cried from passenger seat when he finally hit around one hundred for the third or fourth time.

“Seriously?” he sounded confused by her sudden outburst. She had been completely quiet the entire drive, but I had noticed her knuckles were white from balling her hands into tight fists. It was something he would have missed with his attention being on the road.

“Yes, seriously. I hate to be the one voice of reason here. But we aren’t invincible.” Mitch laughed her off, but she kept going. “We aren’t. Bad things happen to people all the time. And you know what? I bet every one of them thought it’ll never happen to me.”

Her voice had taken on a tone of sadness. Frustration, maybe? But whatever it was, it changed the mood of the entire car.

“Okay,” Mitch said softly, and slowed down the car significantly. His hand reached over the console. I pretended not to notice.

He was the model driver from that point on.

It was an awkward drive back to the diner and when we got back, everyone shuffled out quickly. Mitch thanked me with all politeness, the teasing completely gone, and walked with Gwen over to their own vehicles.

I watched as they had another one of their conversations. I don’t know why I thought of Gwen as mine, but I found myself possessive of her. I wanted to know what they said to each other when I wasn’t around. It always looked intense between the two of them but Gwen never shared the details.

I got in the front seat of the car and got ready to drive home when I saw Julian walking away from the parking lot toward his house. I scanned the parking lot looking for his familiar vehicle. It must have been a walking day. With the sun starting to set, the idea of him walking home made me uncomfortable.

Pulling up beside him, I rolled down the passenger window and called out to him. “Julian, why are you walking? We live on the same street, for goodness sake. I’ll drive you.”

He didn’t stop. He didn’t even look at me. Was the world going crazy? How did a fun afternoon end up like this?

“Julian,” I said with more force. “Don’t be ridiculous. Get in the car.”

He took a few more steps before eventually stopping and looking at me.

“Okay.” He got in and added his thanks with so little conviction it was obvious it wasn’t actual gratitude.

“No problem.”

We spent the rest of the drive in silence. Not even the radio kept us company. It felt heavy in the car and no amount of adjusting the temperature made it easier to breath in such close quarters to one another.

I pulled up to his house, expecting him to protest that I drove down the street instead of just parking at my house. But when he looked up in confusion at the car being parked, it confirmed he hadn’t been paying attention on the drive.

“Okay, so I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” he answered, but his voice still sounded distant.

I watched him walk up to his house and then drove away.