Remember My Name by Chase Potter

with you. I think we should do more of that.”
    “So what do you say to
lunch?”
    “Sounds perfect.”
    I follow him across the
street, matching his stride once we get to the sidewalk. Somehow he manages to
make even a plain white t-shirt and khaki shorts look sexy. With my gaze
sliding from his arms up to where his pecs press against his shirt, I don’t see
the uneven section of sidewalk ahead. My foot catches the edge of the concrete
and I stumble. I don’t fall, but my face gets hot. I should probably keep my
eyes on what’s in front of me.
    “So where are we going?” I
ask.
    “Just a little burger place
I want to take you to.”
    Something about the way he
says it make me wonder. “As in, take me out?”
    A guilty smile awakening at
the corners of his mouth, he nods. “I felt bad that things went so, uh… fast
last time. It wasn’t really fair, because you didn’t know what was coming. So I
thought this could be like, a real first… date, I guess. Sorry, that sounds
dumb,” he finishes, the tips of his ears reddening.
    “Wait, so you were planning
all along on ambushing me in your room?”
    “Yeah, sort of.” He grins.
    Damn him and his disarming
good looks. “You’re terrible,” I say, shoving his shoulder. I’ve never had a
guy take me out before, but I kind of like the idea.
    There isn’t anyone in the
restaurant except for a few old couples scattered at different tables, but Matt
directs us to a booth in the back. “Embarrassed to be seen with me?” I tease.
    He rolls his eyes. “Not on
your life. I just want to have some privacy.” He slides onto the plastic bench
seat across from me.
    It’s barely a minute before
the waitress comes over. I recognize her as a girl from school who graduated
this year, but I don’t know her name. Her hair is long and dark and plain, and
she’s kind of okay looking I guess. For a girl, anyway. “How’s your summer
going, Matt?” I keep forgetting that he’s just two years older than me and
probably knows people from my school.
    “It was good. I’ll have a
third pound burger with waffle fries. No cheese on the burger.” He says it like
it’s the end of the conversation with her, which makes me feel warm inside.
That, and he’s touching my ankle with a shoeless foot. His toe traces a circle
around the ball of my ankle. I glance up at him from the menu.
    “And what about you?” The
girl directs this question to me.
    “Huh?”
    Her resulting laugh is an
irritating noise that sounds like a horse with pneumonia. “What would you like
to eat?”
    Matt’s foot is moving upward
past my knee and making it hard to concentrate. “Um, a half pound
cheeseburger–” I gulp, swallowing the word I was about to say. Forcing
myself to ignore what he’s doing now, I give him a look that says stop it .
    “And?” She taps her pen
against the paper.
    “Uh, with seasoned fries.
Extra fries, too, actually.”
    “Sure,” she says, making a
quick note on her waitressy pad before walking away.
    Matt is smirking at me, but
at least his foot is behaving itself now. “You seemed a little distracted
there.”
    “Ha-ha. I wonder why that
was.” I sneak a glance under the table. His foot is tucked safely back in his
shoe.
    When the food comes out, he
raises his eyebrows as the waitress deposits a plate with a huge burger and
fries along with another plate of fries in front of me. Only when the waitress
says, “Enjoy your food, boys,” do I remember that Matt said he was paying.
Sheepishness bucking to the surface, I venture a guilt-laden look at him. His
expression isn’t unhappy, but his eyes are wide. “You’re really going to eat
all that?”
    Shaking the red plastic
ketchup bottle nozzle-down, I squirt a huge swath into the corner of the plate
of fries until the stream sputters to an airy end. I hate that sound, but I
love ketchup. “Definitely. I feel like I’m always going hungry.”
    “If you have enough room
inside to put all that away, I believe