"Pretty is such a weak word. People think that the view from the pier is pretty or the reflection from the sun on the sea is pretty." Stone scoffed "You...You are fucking enchanting."

The waiter's complement felt like nothing. Not compared to that. His was everything.

Once I could say for certain that my face had lost its redness, I teased "Do you want me to call over the waiter again and you can explain that to him?"

"Fuck no." He snarled.

I got back to trying to eat the content on my plate. The portion was large, but I was going to give it my best shot. Just because I was small did not mean that I could not eat a lot.

Stone was smirking at my determined face and the size of my pizza.

"What are you so smug about, Lurch?" I asked

"Medusa, there is no way you are finishing that."

"I can handle a twelve inch." I defended.

He rose a brow as his lip moved up infinitesimally.

"Oh no." I covered my face in embarrassment "That sounded so bad."

A deep chuckle was heard from him.

"Shut up!" I replied and pouted "I was talking about my ability to eat the pizza which on second thought, I might not be able to."

Chuckling was heard again from the other side of the table.

"Just because I am not a massive giant with a massive appetite." I said back lamely while pointing to his own banquet on his plate "I hope you lose all your muscle and let yourself go when you are older."

"You would think you would be nicer on our first date."

"This is not a date." I scoffed and crossed my arms "This is like an anti-date. If this was a date between us, which I am not saying that it is, I would have ordered garlic bread with garlic sauce just so my breath was so bad that you would not attempt to kiss me."

Shrugging, his face was full of amusement "I would just order it too so we would not have anything stopping us."

"How charming," I remarked while holding back a laugh "Speaking of charming. If this was a date, I would be expecting to be wooed with some great pick-up lines."

Stone had nothing to say to that

I waved him off before assuring "It is fine, Lurch. I have some amazing nerdy pick-up lines and lucky for me, you are a book nerd."

He gave me his undivided attention as I cleared my throat and smiled at him.

"Are you a library book?" I asked before adding "Because I can’t stop checking you out."

Silence filled the air.

"It is fine. I have got more." I finished a bit of pizza before saying another "My favourite place to be is between the covers. Join me?"

He looked to be containing a laugh "These are getting worse."