Hiccup #2

Seth shook his head at my offer to leave with him and gave a small caress to the top of my hand. "This is supposed to be a special night and you look gorgeous. It would be a waste if at least one of us didn't enjoy it."

I shrugged casually and stepped forward, looping my arm with his. "It's okay. I think I'd rather have a Baconater and frosty anyhow," I asked him and then turned towards Ethan. "Are you up for Wendy's?"

It took Ethan a second to respond, his attention was fully on Seth and his worried expression let me know that what had happened was more serious than I could fathom. I'd ask them about it when the wound that had been ripped open starts to heal a little.

"You don't have to do that," Seth whispered, his jaw clenching. He couldn't mask the tremor in his voice.

I hugged his arm tighter and gestured towards Ethan, who quickly came towards us. My other arm latched on to Ethan's and I shifted, forcing us to move towards the front door. "You know, I still have my tennis shoes on. How cool is that?"

Seth frowned, eyeing the side of my face. Out of my peripheral vision, I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "Why is that cool?" he whispered.

I bit my lip; glad he was willing to play along.

"The Runaway Bride!" I practically squealed, as if it was obvious.

"That old movie with Julia Roberts? Jesus," Seth said, rubbing the back of his neck, "that movie sucked."

My shoulder shot forward knocking into Seth's roughly. "How dare you! It did not suck."

"Babe, it sucked the big one."

I pursed my lips together and lifted my chin in the air. I knew Ethan didn't like the movie either, so we would have to agree to disagree. "It's still pretty fun to be dressed so fancy and have tennis shoes on."

Ethan forced out a snort. "I can't believe we forgot the shoes. They're in the back of the car. We can-"

I cut him off. "No. It's kind of symbolic. Like, it doesn't matter how much you dress me up and 'properize' me, I'll always be that plain, rebellious girl that doesn't take no for answer."

Seth stopped just short of the door, and he leaned forward to kiss my lips, surprising me enough that my breath caught in my throat. I stared at him curiously.

"You could never be plain," he whispered against my mouth.

I could see Ethan nodding beside us in agreement, but before he could say anything else, my stomach growled. "My stomach's talking," I informed them, even though I knew they'd heard it. Hell, people in Timbuckfuckeree—or whatever that place was called—heard it. "It's saying 'feed me, Cassie.' Feed me!'"

Seth chuckled and pushed the door open. A cold wind, smelling of night and sweetly scented flowers greeted us. "So, Wendy's then?"

"Wendy's sounds awesome," Ethan said.

I nodded. "We'll even go in dressed like this. That way our combined hotness won't go to waste, yeah?" I tapped my chin. "Of course, with the way you two look you might give some poor girl a hotness aneurysm."

"I'm not even going to comment on that," Ethan mumbled under his breath.

"You just did, dummy!"

"Wow. And you're supposed to be in college?"

Before I could respond to Ethan, Seth stopped us one more time. He lifted his face to me, and his gaze softened as he focused on me and then Ethan. The playful mood took a small dive as he spoke, "Are you guys sure? It's hard to get reservations here. Ethan had to pull a lot of strings to get in here so quickly."

"Seth, we're sure," I said, answering for Ethan too.

Seth smiled and stepped forward, his jacket brushing my bare shoulder as he opened the door for me. He offered a hand to help me hoist myself up and followed behind me. Ethan went around to the driver's side and turned the car on, quickly fiddling with the buttons to the heater.

"You know, I bet that waiter is thinkin' we got beamed out of there from an alien craft because we disappeared so fast," I said, chuckling as I settled into Seth's side just as my stomach growled again and my face burned. "This thing won't shut up. Where are those cupcake muffins?"

"It's gonna take a lot for her to forget about those," Ethan said. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Seth. "You shouldn't have gotten so many. You know Cassie has no stopping filter when it comes to sweets."

"I do too," I grumbled, hoping they wouldn't remember my most recent chocolate gorge that ended with my face in the toilet.

Seth shrugged and wrapped an arm around me. "Sorry Cass, I have plans for those."

Tsking my tongue on the roof of my mouth, I sneered at him. "Yeah, eating them all—how brutally unfair!"

"Don't worry. You'll get more than you can handle tonight," Seth said, smiling.

He winked at Ethan, who was still looking at us using his mirror. The blush that spread across the bridge of Ethan's nose and to his cheeks and the flash of lust in his eyes made me wonder if any of us would last through dinner. I was now happier than ever that we decided on fast food. After all, anticipation could kill.

When we got there, standing in line was the cutest kid ahead of us who refused to face forward and gawked at us.

"What a hoot," I said, smiling at the little girl looking up at me in awe. "You like my dress?"

Black soot lashes blinked over blue-doe eyes as the little girl nodded rapidly, clinging to her mother's hand as they stood ahead of us in the Wendy's line. Her short black hair was cut in a bob-like style with longer sections in the front, and her snowy white complexion made me envious. This mini Snow White look-a-like was too adorable.

"You look like a princess!" she said, with a huge smile spreading across her face.

I blinked in mock surprise and placed a hand on my chest. "Me? You look like Snow White. Do you know who that is?"

The little girl frowned and shook her head. "I know it's a movie, but I've never seen it."

"Well, Snow White is the most beautifullest princess in all worlds and, the best part of it all—" I said pausing for dramatic effect before I continued, "she can sing and talk to animals. How old are you, kiddo?"

"Ten and 'beautifullest' is not a word," she said, politely correcting my purposeful mistake.

I formed a large O shape with my lips and nodded solemnly. "You're right." I elbowed Ethan who stood next to me smiling down at the little girl. "Awful smart isn't she? I knew she was a real princess."

Ethan nodded, "Without a doubt!"

She blushed and shot a light-up-the-room smile at her mother who nodded thanks at us as she pulled gently on her daughter's hand so they could go up to the counter and order. That beautiful little girl hadn't been the only one staring at the three of us, but she'd had the most captivated expression.

"Too bad I don't have black hair like that," I mumbled. "I wouldn't mind having a Snow White look-a-like in the future."

"A Cinderella look-a-like is just as good," Seth said.

I gave him a smiling kiss on his cheek before pinching over the lip-shaped mark on his face. "Aw. You're so cute!"

We stepped forward when it was our turn to order and Ethan grimaced as his shoes stuck to the sticky floor. "I think we should eat in the car," he whispered as Seth ordered for us.

"And miss the way people are looking at us?" I teased.

"If the floor is this sticky I can't imagine how the chairs and tables are," Ethan complained.

I smacked his shoulder. "Don't be so stuck up. Besides, we're here for the stellar food. Don't worry about the sticky floor. Somebody probably spilled a soda."

He held his hands up playfully in surrender. "Okay, okay. We'll stay. Of course, there's still that beautiful riverfront view..."

"Too cold," Seth interrupted.

He ushered us to the side as the young man placed a tray in front of us with the three cups turned upside down. I reached for the cups and walked over to the soda machine to fill them up. By the time I finished the once empty tray was filled with hot fries and large bacon-smelling burgers.

"My mouth is watering," I said. "I'm so hungry... here!" I handed Ethan his drink and then reached for the third drink I'd placed next to the machine as I rattled off what Seth, Ethan, and I usually drank, "Coke with little ice, Fanta with medium ice, and Dr. Pepper with no ice for me. Right?"

I pouted when I finished the last bite of my burger and glanced over at the half-eaten one in front of Seth. Ethan hadn't even unwrapped his sandwich yet. He had this thing about eating his fries first and it always drove me nuts. I reached over and stole some of Ethan's fries.

He smacked at my hand and scowled. "Hey!"

Seth pulled his food closer to him before pointing his index finger at me. "No!"

"Fine. I'll just go get a frosty. Oh!" My eyes widened. "How good would it be to smash those cupcake muffins in it?"

"Cassie! It's so good to see you," a woman's voice squealed.

I turned around with a ready smile at the familiar voice. "Hi! How are you?"

She beamed at them. "Wonderful! I'm so excited!"

Seth finished chewing his food and nodded a greeting. "Excited about what?" he asked casually.

"Cassie's going to be carrying my baby!"

I turned to explain more to Seth and Ethan, but the words caught in my throat as I watched the color drain from Seth's face. The fry he'd been about to pop in his mouth fell onto the table.

Anna eyed Seth and bit her lip before turning back to me. "Did I drop a bomb?" she asked.

I shook my head, frowning heavily at the grim look on Seth's face. "They know. It's fine."

"We know. We just don't necessarily agree with it," Seth snapped. His jaw clenched and his fingers curled into his palms as he formed two fists. "I know you guys want a baby, but can't you go take advantage of another broke college student?"

My hand slammed over my mouth to keep my gasp from being too loud. I shook my head in disbelief. Seth had only ever been so outright menacing-like once in the years that I've known him, so obviously another meet up with this side of his attitude—so quickly together too— wasn't something I was equipped to deal with. This type of venom is hazardous, so all I could do was cast an apologetic glance towards Anna and Maddox, the cute, happy couple that I'd agreed to be a surrogate for.

"Seth, stop being rude!" Ethan whispered harshly, coming to my rescue.

Maddox rubbed the back of his neck and gave a half-hearted, uncomfortable sounding chuckle. "Well, this is awkward."

"I'm so sorry!" I said.

"Are you—I mean will you still..." Anna trailed off and the hopeful expression on her face slipped away.

"It's a good thing my body is my body, isn't it?" I said casting a sharp glare towards Seth. "Of course, I'm still doing this."

Anna let out a whistled breath of relief. "Thank goodness. We've already started shopping for baby necessities."

I frowned and bit my bottom lip, trying to recall that book I read on what and what not to do when expecting. "I think that's bad luck."

"What's bad luck?" Maddox asked.

"Shopping for the baby before there even is one. That's bad luck. I'm sure of it. Whatever you bought, take it back!"

Anna gasped. "We'll do it right away! We've had enough bad luck to last a lifetime. I had no idea it was considered bad luck."

"I'm sure it's just a superstition, honey," Maddox said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, we can't afford to not be superstitious. I'm very serious about this! If Cassie says it's bad luck, we're gonna take everything back. I don't want anything bad happening to her or the baby," Anna paused in her almost hysterical rant and turned her attention back to me before continuing. "Darling, I'll see you in a few weeks and everything will be right as rain. You have our number in case you need anything right?"

I nodded and tried to start talking, but Anna continued her ramblings. "We've got to go now."

Maddox's shoulder's lifted and he pulled away from Anna raising his arms in disbelief. "We haven't even eaten yet."

"We'll get it to go. Bye, Cassie!"

I waved at them as I watched them leave, making a note to myself to find and then share the title of the book I'd read with Anna. The idea vanished when I turned back to Ethan and Seth. Suddenly, it felt like I'd been through a rollercoaster ride that only went backward and upside down. The throb in my temple was starting to get worse too.

Smiling at Ethan and sending a scowl Seth's way I started talking. "I didn't expect them to be in a Wendy's. I guess some rich people do have good taste."

Seth pushed his half-eaten burger and fries to the center of the table. "I've lost my appetite."

My lips parted as my jaw threatened to drop, but I quickly stopped it. "Seth, I—"

He lifted a hand and cut me off. "We don't have to talk about it. It's not my body, right? I'll be in the car." The legs of his chair scratched against the tiled floor and it tipped backward but righted itself before it could fall to the floor.

Fish out of water... it's probably what I looked like as I watched Seth storm out of the restaurant. I turned towards Ethan. "I-I didn't realize he was so against it."

Ethan gave her a tight smile. "I didn't know either. He's being an ass. I just thought he was a little apprehensive maybe after you told us about it, but not so against it that he'd be that rude. I don't know what his problem is. I'm sorry about that, Cassie. This was supposed to be a special night and it's just turned to one hellish event after the other."

I shrugged. "It's okay. It was supposed to be all of our first date night, so I'm sorry to you too. Usually when you want something to be flawless is when everything goes wrong, but my silver lining is I still got my Baconater. And another half of one," I said, adding the last part as I reached for Seth's burger.

Ethan smirked at me. "At least I don't have to worry about you trying to get mine now."

"You never know," I mouthed around the large bite I'd taken.

Ethan scowled with disgust and settled back in his chair. "Don't talk with your mouth full!"

I shoved a few fries in my mouth with the masticated burger and bacon. "We have to hurry."

"What?"

"I don't want Seth eating those cupcakes."

Ethan heaved a sigh and bowed his head. "He got like six of them, right?"

"So?"

"He can't eat all six."

"But he's pissed. I wouldn't put it past him to throw them out just to spite me. I need one of those cupcakes and while I'm sexily licking that chocolate Ganache off the top of it we can talk about what his problem is with me being a surrogate... again."

Ethan cringed and shook his head. "Maybe we should save that conversation for another day."

"Why?"

"We need to let him cool off for a little while."

I pursed my lips. "But I'll be sexily licking chocolate Ganache off the cupcake."

Ethan scratched his eyebrow with one finger as he quizzically stared at me. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"Because it'll be sexy."

Ethan snorted and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I'm not following your logic, Cass."

"If Seth's turned on he won't be so mean. He'll be my sexually amped slave. My tongue can do magical things when chocolate is involved."

This time Ethan's snort morphed into a full-blown burst of laughter.

I harrumphed. "It wasn't that funny."