Free Together We Heal by Chelsea M. Cameron Page A

already had a reservation, so we were seated right away. The place was pretty casual, so I didn’t feel like I was on display. We both ordered Cokes and then perused the enormous menus.
    “So I was thinking that we should get the crispy calamari to start, followed by the lobster roll and then dessert.” That sounded like a lot of food, but I was hungry enough to eat the chair I was sitting on. We ordered and the calamari came. I nearly burned my fingers in my rush to get it from the plate to my mouth.
    “Easy there,” Max said, laughing at me.
    “Well, if we hadn’t had to drive so far, I wouldn’t be so hungry,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.
    And then the lobster roll arrived and I almost started laughing. It was fucking huge. There was no way the two of us could finish it, as well as our salads and dessert on top of that. No freaking way.
    “Just think of it as an adventure,” Max said as we stared at each other over the behemoth bun filled with several lobsters’ worth of meat.
    “You know after we eat this, neither of us is going to be able to move. They’re going to have to roll us out to the car.” He just shook his head at me and dug in.
     

     
    SO, THINKING YOU can eat a foot long lobster roll and then actually doing it are two different things. We did pretty well, but we both hit a wall and even though there was only a little bit left, neither of us could do it.
    “I think I’ve gained ten pounds tonight. I hope you don’t mind,” Trish said, rubbing her stomach.
    “I’d love you if you were a thousand pounds,” I said and she gave me a look.
    “No, you wouldn’t. Besides, I’m not sure if it’s actually possible for a person to weigh that much.”
    After sitting and resting for a while after our marathon eating session, we got the rest of the roll wrapped up to go.
    “Maybe we should get dessert to go?” Trish said, but I shook my head.
    “I have a better idea.”
    After a fight over me paying the check, which I won, we waddled out of the restaurant.
    “Oh my Goooodddddd,” Trish said as she got into the car.
    “Okay, on our next date, no giant food items,” I said.
    “Agreed.”
     

     
    WE GOT BACK in the car and I kept driving south. I knew somewhere along the line we’d reach a late-night diner where we could get milkshakes or sundaes or something. I hit the jackpot an hour later and I escorted Trish in.
    “We’re going back after this right? Because we’re going to have to drive over two hours to get home,” she said. I just shrugged one shoulder.
    “Wait, we’re not going back after this?” she said, tugging on my sleeve. I ignored her and told the waitress that there were two of us. Trish kept talking to me as the waitress showed us to our table.
    “Max, we’re not seriously going to keep going, are we?” I had to admit, I was enjoying seeing her so wound up. It was a shame that I hadn’t done this sooner. It was way too much fun.
    “Just go along for the ride, hun,” I said, remembering not to call her baby. She started to protest, but I held one finger up.
    “You said you were going to work on trusting me. This is one of those times when you’re going to need to trust me. I know it’s hard, but I’m not going to take you somewhere in the middle of the woods and chop you up with a chainsaw and then bury the pieces.”
    “Gross.”
    Because we were both feeling a little silly, we ordered one giant strawberry milkshake and two straws.
    “I feel like I’m in a movie or something,” Trish said as we leaned forward and drank the thick deliciousness with our individual straws.
    “Golly gee, you’re sure looking keen tonight,” I said with a wink.
    “Oh, why Max, you sure are sweet. You know just what to say to a girl. Maybe later we can drive out to the sock hop.” She fluttered her eyelashes and we both burst out laughing.
    “You’re such a dork,” she said.
    “Dork is the new black, sweets,” I said, straightening my bow