“Would you and Gracie-Mae like to join Freddie and me for a bite?” Grams asked.

It was half past eleven, and she looked a mess. Her feet must’ve hurt bad; she wasn’t used to walking much. Besides, I really didn’t want Sheridan University’s baddest bad boy to spend one-on-one time with my chaotic grandmomma, no matter how shallow and ungrateful that made me feel.

“No!” I yelped at the same time West said easily, “Now, that’s a plan.”

Grams looked between us, raising an eyebrow.

“You kids need a minute to decide?”

My cheeks felt so hot I was surprised my head didn’t combust. Dying of embarrassment would be cruel, but also welcome at this point.

“West just got off a shift. I’m sure he wants to go home.”

“West can think for himself, and what he wants is a steak and good company.” West pushed me aside crudely, rolling the candy stick in his mouth seductively, flashing a rakish, well-practiced smirk my grandmomma’s way.

“Where’re your manners, Gracie-Mae? The man’s hungry, and he is asking to tag along, nice and proper. I raised her better than this, I swear.”

“Don’t doubt it for a second, ma’am.”

West opened the diner’s door for us. Grams strutted in first. He wiggled his brows at me, a taunting sneer on his face.

“Ladies first.”

“What is wrong with you?” I bared my teeth.

He let out a long-suffering sigh.

“How much time have you got, kid?”

I punched his arm as I dragged my feet past the door.

He laughed.

He actually laughed.

Like the idea of me inflicting any kind of harm on him was ludicrous.

“Did you lose a bet?” I whisper-shouted as we fell into step together.

“Did you lose your fucking mind?” he countered, sizzling of quiet danger I couldn’t understand how Grams didn’t pick on. “It’s just a meal, and your ass is not even on the menu.”

“Don’t tell me it’s not weird that you want to spend time with me and my grandmomma.”

I was Toastie, and she was a couple sandwiches shy of a picnic. Everybody knew that. Even if he hadn’t, the last ten minutes had brought him up to speed, surely. Why was he going out of his way to befriend me?

“Not everything is about you, Texas. In fact, very few things are. It’s a blessing and a curse, really. Knowing the world doesn’t revolve around your sassy little ass. Sometimes a guy just wants a steak.”

“I—”

He cut me off briskly. “Hungry. Outta my way. Now.” He jerked his head, signaling me to move along.

Grams slipped into a red horseshoe-shaped booth, and we followed suit. A middle-aged waitress materialized to take our orders. She had a pink uniform with a black and white checkered collar and bleached hair.

Ronda’s Roost was a twenty-four hour joint, catering mainly to truckers who passed by. There were only a handful of customers nursing filter coffee and cobbler. Grams asked for iced tea and chili, while West went for the Rajun Cajun club with double fries, milkshake, and an extra rare steak I would later learn was carved out of half a cow. I asked for fountain Diet Pepsi and a miracle. The waitress snapped her gum, cackling at my joke.

“Rough night, kiddo?”

“You could say that,” I mumbled, narrowing my eyes at West across the table. He smiled easily, the stubborn glint in his eyes reassuring me he didn’t mind my hostility one bit.

It was like he’d had a personality transplant overnight. Maybe he was having a mental breakdown or something, because he didn’t resemble the guy I’d seen on campus for the past two years.

Surly, quiet, and grave. With an underlying current of darkness. He walked the halls, the Student Union, the library, and Greek row like he was a man waiting for lightning to strike him.

That bully, violent, quiet, simmering guy? The West in front of me wasn’t even related to him.

Grams didn’t act like Grandpa Freddie was there with us, so I guessed I did get my small miracle, after all. She leaned forward, rolling a coin into the jukebox and choosing “At Last” by Etta James. She was clearly enjoying the male attention, telling West about her time working at this diner.

“Let me tell you, ain’t no grass grew under those feet during those days. Still, wouldn’t change it for the world. That’s where I met my husband.”

“He must’ve been special.” West smiled back at her, and I tried to remember seeing him smile at school. We took mixed media together, so I’d seen him plenty. I couldn’t recall one time, which alarmed me.

“Boy …” She leaned forward, patting the back of his hand. “He was smart as a whip, dangerous as the Devil and twice as handsome.”

Watching her happy made me happy, so eventually, I relaxed into the squeaky vinyl seat and let them mingle.

“So, Mr. St. Claire, are you courting my little Gracie-Mae?” she asked after a while, lowering her chin to examine him through her winged reading glasses.

I choked on my fountain soda, spraying it across the table.

West smirked, angling himself on the table across from us so he and Grams were almost nose to nose, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Can I be honest?”

“Honesty is the best policy.”

“I’m not much of a commitment guy, Mrs. Shaw. Grace deserves a hell of a lot better, so that’s one tail I won’t be chasing. Besides, your daughter’s not exactly my number one fan.”

“Daughter?” Grams put her hand on her chest, giggling. “My dear, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m Grace’s grandmother.”

“Why…” He shot me a playful smile. I wanted to murder him. He knew she was my grandmother. “I’ll be damned. You look like Grace’s sister.”

“Baby sister, I assume,” I sulked, sucking on my straw. He laughed good-naturedly.

The man was laying it so thick, I wished he could do my makeup.

Grams and West ate and fell into an easy conversation again.

They talked about the weather in Maine (according to him, it sucked), the food in Maine (same, save for the seafood), his family (West had more finesse than to say they sucked, but by his tight-lipped answers, I figured he wasn’t close with his parentsg). By the time we were done, West promised to take Grams to the diner again, and soon, and she swore she would bake him one of her infamous pies. Since I wasn’t a part of the conversation, I excused myself to go to the restroom to reapply more foundation. When I got back to the table, I saw West had taken care of the bill and was standing up to leave. Grams was caught in a lively conversation with our waitress, telling her about her days at the diner.