The White Queen (S.Rogers)

Chapter 24

He ended up choosing a Denny's he had seen the signs for, on the way home, swinging off the freeway, and into the truck stop style restaurant. They were somewhere in Pennsylvania, with still almost two hours left in the trip, the sun starting to finally go down.

Brooklyn looked at it, then at him with both eyebrows raised.

"Is this our date?" she asked.

"No." He chuckled, shaking his head. "This is just food. What we picked up at the gas station was not enough for me. So I doubt it was enough for you. Especially considering you are healing from that wound."

She rolled her eyes, while unbuckling her seat belt. "Truck stop Denny's, huh?"

"It should be good food. Truckers are rarely wrong." Steve smiled at her. "And at this time of night, we can't be too picky. It's either this, or drive thru."

She scrunched her nose. "No, thank you. I'm not even sure how close to food that is classified."

He rocked his head. "I'll agree. Although some of it isn't half bad."

She laughed.

The waitress at the front was able to sit them immediately, more than happy to seat them in the back of the restaurant, as Steve had asked. Brooklyn slid into the booth, taking off the oversized shirt she had slipped on over her tank top, with Steve sitting across from her. The waitress slapped the menus down in front of them, and pulled out her pad, waiting for their drink order.

"Coffee. No cream or sugar." Steve smiled, before looking at Brooklyn. "What do you want, Babydoll?"

She was biting her lip, looking over at the drink section, when he grinned wider, and turned to the waitress. "Do you have chocolate shakes?"

"We do." She nodded. "I'll go get your drinks, give you a chance to look over the menu."

She shuffled off as a batch of laughing truckers entered the front door.

Brooklyn laid down the menu and folded her hands on top of it. "What was that?"

"I ordered you a chocolate shake." He was looking over the menu. Was he in the mood for breakfast food, or a burger?

"Maybe I didn't want a chocolate shake." She sniffed.

Steve realized she was going to be stubborn. "Brooklyn. You like chocolate. And a chocolate shake has a high caloric value."

Her eyes got wide. "Are you trying to tell me something, Rogers?"

He reached out and took one of her hands, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. He had not known how much he had missed touching her, but the feel of her bones under his hand was very concerning to him. "I noticed it, this morning. You have lost weight. Which means, if I am not wrong, that you haven't been eating regularly, since the last time I saw you. I'm not trying to be mean. But you are too skinny. There was hardly any meat on your bones, to begin with. And I also know this is your first winter in New York. The winters can be bitterly cold. The wind cuts right through you. If you aren't up to a healthy weight, that cold is going to go right to your bones. Please, let me feed you? Let me help get you back up to where you should be?"

Brooklyn sighed. "Do you want to order for me, as well?"

Steve tried to keep from smirking. "Don't' tempt me, Babydoll."

She smiled, and rolled her eyes. "Getting pretty demanding, there, Rogers."

"When are you going to call me by my first name?" He asked, sitting back.

Brooklyn frowned. "Does it bother you, that I don't?"

"A little bit." He really didn't look forward to her calling him by his last name, when they were in bed together. "You called me it, once."