Stolen Heart

Chapter 16

Lana arrived at Night+Market about twenty minutes early. She scanned the sidewalk where Grayson said he'd meet her, but no single-looking and supposedly handsome male had arrived yet. She poked her head into the restaurant, and the only man who seemed to be alone was a greasy guy talking to the hostess. His "Dungeons & Dragons" shirt had a hole in the armpit and was tucked into beige cargo shorts.

God, I hope that's not him.

Thankfully, Lana heard the hostess say, "Sorry, sir, the restrooms are for customers only," right before the man walked out of the restaurant and past Lana, grumbling gibberish to himself. Lana let out a deep sigh of relief.

She glanced at the group text that she, Chloe, Jeremy, and Jack had going and giggled to herself re-reading some of the text chain. The heated debate on the best restaurant in LA was still going strong. Her phone vibrated as a new text popped up.

Chloe: Your private chef's food doesn't count!! Oh also, everyone I'm running a taaad late! Sorry! Hopefully, traffic won't be too bad.

Jeremy: Yes it does! Oh, also I'm running late too. Chloe, I can pick you up since you're kind of on the way?

Chloe: That would be amazing, thank you! I just finished getting my nails done so walking back to my place soon. I'll text you my addy.

Lana smirked and rolled her eyes. She could just imagine the excitement Chloe would be in right now for some alone time with Jeremy, even if it meant she was going to arrive even later at the restaurant.

"Having fun yet?" said a familiar deep voice that made Lana jump.

"Jack! You scared me!" She clutched her hand to her chest, and a big smile appeared across her face. He looked freshly showered and was in a crisp light button-up and black pants.

"Whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to." Jack laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Where's your, uh...  friend? Is she on her way?" Lana fidgeted with her crossbody purse and shifted on her feet.

"Yep, she'll be here soon. What about your date? Did he end up bailing?"

"Oh God, I hope not! I'm so nervous. I can't stop moving."

Jack gave Lana a sincere smile and placed a hand on her shoulder, gripping it tenderly. "Lana, it'll be fine. We'll all be close by in case anything weird happens."

Lana took a deep breath, and her nerves steadied. The warmth from Jack's hand was spreading throughout her body. "Thanks, Jack. I appreciate you all being here. Well, hopefully, you all will be. I don't know if you read that Chloe and Jeremy will be late. So I appreciate at least you being here."

"Of course. I'm happy to help. It's the least I can do after everything," he said, shifting on his feet. He looked down with an expression on his face that Lana couldn't quite read.

"Okay, what should my signal be?"

"What signal?" Jack looked up and raised his eyebrows.

"Like, how should I signal to you to help me out if it gets too weird?"

"Oh, yeah! The signal..." Jack put a hand to his chin and held his elbow in his other hand. "Maybe you can start singing 'Hakuna Matata' out loud? And then when we hear it, we'll save you!"

Lana rolled her eyes. "I'm serious! I need a real signal!"

"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding," Jack said, laughing. "I don't know. What feels the most natural to you?"

"How about I put my index finger on my eyebrow and smooth it out really slowly, like this." Lana brought up her index finger and demonstrated the motion.