Free Nic's Devotion: An Endless Series: Book One by Sara Hess Page B

Nic stared intently at me with an amused twinkle as my
rambling sputtered out. “You are too cute.”
         I gave him a mystified look at his brief
out-of-the-blue observation, but at least he wasn’t looking at me like I was a
dork. Mercifully, Tina stepped up to the table interrupting the disturbing
moment. She had impeccable timing. “Here are your drinks and your chowders. The
burgers should only be another ten minutes. Can I get you anything else right
now?”
         I shook my head as she distributed the food and drinks.
         “Thanks, Tina.” Nic said. She gave a wave as she walked
away. “God, this smells good.” He inhaled over his bowl and his stomach growled
loudly.
         I laughed. “It does that a lot.”
         He picked up his spoon with a smirk. “I’m a growing
boy,” was all he said before digging in.
         Picking up my spoon I took a cautious taste. It was
good. I’d eaten some fish and tasted shrimp before, but no other kind of
seafood. It was just as Nic described; thick and chunky and with a kick.
         “Mmm, you were right; this is the best chowder I’ve
ever tasted.” I said after the second bite. “And although it’s the only chowder
I’ve ever had I can’t imagine any other tasting better.”
         “You’ll be hooked for life now.” He stated with a
smirk, taking a big bite. He reached for his chocolate milk and drank half the
glass. I couldn’t help my grin at his appetite.
         We finished the rest of our soup in silence finishing
at the same time even though he had a bowl and I had a cup.     
         “Well, that took the edge off.” Nic said, setting down
his empty milk glass. “So, we need to get the preliminaries out of the way.
What’s your major? Mine is Business.”
         “Marine Biology.” I rejoined spiritedly, not having had
this much fun in months.  
         His eyes lit with surprise. “Really, that’s
interesting. Do you know what you want to do with it?”
         “Anything that allows me to be in the water. I would
love to work with marine animals or even studying the coral reefs would be
great.”
        “I didn’t think your eyes could get any brighter, but
they did when you talked about water.” Nic said leaning forward. “What do you
like so much about the water?”
         How could I articulate my feelings about being in a
body of water? “Being in the water makes me feel both lighter in body and in
mind. It’s almost like a Zen feeling. All my feelings get washed away and everything
feels right in the world.” 
         His eyes studied me silently for a moment. I tried not
to twitch.
         “I feel a little bit like that when I play lacrosse.
Any worries or problems I’m dealing with are pushed away and all think about is
the game. But instead of feeling weightless I feel like a warrior taking on the
world.”
         “To each their own.” I said softly. A warm glow spread
through me that he could relate to my reasoning.
         A smirk emerged. “Should I feel bad that I made you eat
clam chowder? You weren’t like a seaterian or anything, were you?”
         I chuckled at his backward analogy. “I’ve eaten fish
and shrimp before so I jumped that hurdle a long time ago.” I assured him.
         He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Whew,
I was worried I’d made some kind of marine biology transgression.”
         Tina walked up to the table with our entrees. Nic and I
stacked our empty bowls together and helped her with the exchange of plates.
She had drink refills for both of us then she was gone again.
         We each took a bite of our burgers and moaned at the
same time in appreciation. Our eyes met over the buns and we made laughing
noises in our throats because our mouths were too full of food. Nic looked like
he’d eaten a forth of his burger in that one bite.
         “Do you know what you want to do with your