Holy fucking shit. It's Colton. Oh, God. This can't be happening.

He seems to recognize me too. And he just smiles and turns to the woman he's with. She looks at me. It's Alex, his mom. Of course they'd go out for dinner at the same place that we went. Colton says something to his mom and she nods.

And then he and his mom start walking towards our table. I shake my head at Colton, but he just smiles. In a matter of seconds they're standing right in front of me. "Hi," Alex says with a smile. Dad and Mom both look up. "I'm Colton's mom, Alex. I think you've met my son."

"I'm Christopher," Dad says with a smile, "This is my wife, Brittney." Mother isn't really smiling. "Are you two dining alone?" Dad asks.

"Yeah. It's just the two of us, right baby?" Alex says to Colton. She swings her hip into his and he grins, shaking his head.

"You can join us, if you'd like," Dad says. I can't tell if he's just being polite or if he wants them to join us. This can't be happening.

"Sure," Alex says. Colton looks at me.

"Scoot over, Mo," he says. I roll my eyes and scoot over. He slides into my side of the booth and then his mom squeezes in next to him. It's pretty cramped, but still comfortable. Colton's leg is pressed to mine and so is his side. I reach for my iced tea and take a drink, I choke a little bit when I catch his scent and am reminded of my dream.

I set down my tea. "So," Alex says, "Christopher, what do you do?"

"I'm a surgeon," Dad says. Alex laughs.

"Of course you are," she says. I shoot a glance over at Mom and she's on her phone still. She hasn't seemed to have noticed Alex or Colton.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Colton murmurs to me. I look at him.

"You were a total jackass," I say to him.

"Yeah, and you punched me in the throat," he says. "That hurt."

"Whatever. No one wants to hear your sob story," I tell him. "And don't you play a lot of sports? I thought you were supposed to be tough." He shrugs. I looks up and Alex and my dad are talking animatedly.

"Your mom's not very social, is she?" Colton asks. I shrug. Alex is smiling. She's really pretty. Her smile lights up her entire face and her eyes are bright. She's wearing barely any makeup, if any at all.

Mom on the other hand has thick eyeliner and dark lipstick. She's not nearly as pretty as Alex.

"Do you guys come here often?" I ask Colton.

"Kind of," he says. He shifts a little bit closer to me and I'm acutely aware of everywhere we're touching. "It looks like our parents are hitting it off." I nod.

The waiter comes by with our food. He sets down our meals and the says, "And what can I get for the two of you?"

Alex grins. "I'm having what she's having." She points at my plate. I grin back. There's something infectious about her energy. "And a Pepsi."

Colton says, "The roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and then a Pepsi," he says. The waiter nods and walks away.

Alex frowns at Mom's dinner. "Is that all you're having?" she asks Mom, and points at the spinach leaves. Mom looks up.

"Me?" Mom asks. Alex nods. "Yes, it's all that I'm having."

"Yeah, that and a bottle of Scotch," I mutter too quiet for anyone to here, except Colton, who smiles.

"Honey, you need to eat more. We're not in junior high or high school," Alex says.

Two seconds of silence. And then Dad bursts out into laughter. Colton, Alex and I all join in. Mom gives Alex a cold look and then gets up and excuses herself. Dad doesn't notice her absence. He's still chuckling.

"I can't believe you just said that," I tell Alex.

"What? I was being honest," she says. Alex and Dad go back to talking.

"Was that really all your mom was having?" Colton asks me quietly.

"I guess. She doesn't eat much," I say. I take a bite of my pasta. "Your mom's really funny."

"I know," he says. "No offense but your mom's a straight up bitch."

"That's an accurate description of her," I say. "Did you see her dress?" I ask him. He grimaces slightly.

"She does realize that this isn't a club, right?" he says. I laugh softly. Alex has on a white blouse and dark rolled up jeans with a pair of strappy nude heels. And then I look at what Colton's wearing, which is probably a mistake given what my dream was.

He has on a grey dress shirt and jeans. His hair is messy but somewhat organized. Damn, he looks good. And he smells good too. Plus he's sitting really close to me. I scoot over a little bit and he scoots too. Fuck.

The waiter comes by and drops off Alex and Colton's drinks. Mom comes back and sits down. She downs the rest of her Scotch and then eats. Colton and I exchange a glance. His eyes are too pretty.

"What's your name again?" Mom asks in a bitchy voice. Alex looks up.

"Who? Me?" Mother rolls her eyes. "I'm Alex," she says.

"And what's your job?" Mom asks. I shoot a panicked look at Colton. My mother's a real bitch.

"I work as a waitress at a diner," Alex says slowly.

"Oh, so you're a high school dropout?" Mom says. Dad meets my eyes. This isn't going to end well.

"No," Alex says. "I'm not a highschool dropout."

"What then? Finished high school and got pregnant?" Colton and I look at each other.

"Do something," I mutter to him.

"What am I supposed to do?" he murmurs back to me.

"Something," I mutter.

"No," Alex says, taking her time. "I finished high school and got two Bachelor's degrees. One in creative writing and the other in Psychology by the time I was twenty. And then I got pregnant. Not that this is any of your business, but the reason I choose to work part time is for my son."

She handled that well. I would have unloaded on my mom. Moms lips are pressed together. I look at Colton out of the side of my eye. He's looking at me.

"Ugh, I need another drink," Mom says and gets up.

"I'm uh...I don't really know what to say," Dad says. Alex waves him off.

"You don't need to apologize," she says. The waiter comes and drops off Colton and Alex's food. We eat in silence.

God, Mom's such a bitch.