“He belong to you two?” the bartender asked hopefully.
“Ew. Gross,” Jasmine said, covering her mouth to dry heave.
Riley sighed. “Yeah. He’s ours. Do you know who he’s talking about?” she asked, trying to sound casual. Even if Sesame wasn’t in danger anymore, she probably wouldn’t appreciate spoilers before her big reveal.
“It’s always a woman,” the bartender said wearily.
“On behalf of my sex, I apologize. Did he close out his tab?” Riley asked.
“I don’t wanna close out my tab. I wanna drink until I don’t feel stuff,” Kellen announced.
“Feeling stuff is overrated,” Riley agreed. “How about we go drink our feelings away someplace else?”
He looked at her with one eye open and one eye closed. “You’re not just tricking me, are you?”
“That depends,” she said, helping him off his stool. His suit jacket was missing, and his tie was loosened to reveal two open shirt buttons. It was as disheveled as the detective got.
“Depends on what?” he asked.
“Jasmine and I wanted tacos. Can you switch to margaritas or beer for a bit?”
“Jasmine?” Kellen snorted, then hiccupped. “She’s so mean.”
“That’s because you’re an uptight asshole,” Jasmine pointed out.
“See?” Kellen turned to Riley and nearly went down. “Mean.”
“A little help here,” Riley begged Jasmine as she supported his weight.
“Ugh. Fine. But you owe me,” her friend said, sliding an arm around the man’s waist.
“Grab his wallet,” Riley insisted.
“I’m not going through his pockets. That’s penis territory,” Jasmine hissed.
“Since when are you afraid of penis territory?”
“Riley Middle Name Thorn!”
“Sorry, Jas. I didn’t mean it. You know how I get after being accosted by a teenage sociopath and then crushed under the weight of a drunk homicide detective.”
“Apology accepted,” Jasmine said, taking more of Kellen’s weight. “Listen, Detective Assface. I need to put my hand in your pocket and find your wallet. But before I do it, I’d feel better if I had your consent because I don’t know what I might accidentally grab in there. Got it?”
“You’re trying to get into my pants,” Kellen snickered.
“You’re the worst.”
“Everyone says that. I promise to be consensual,” Kellen said.
Jasmine squeezed her eyes closed and reached into his front pocket. “Ugh. I really don’t want to do this.”
“Look at it this way. The sooner you find it, the sooner we can get out of here and you can draw that mustache,” Riley suggested.
“I found it! Oh. Whoops. No. That isdefinitelynot his wallet. Well, that’s a pleasant surprise.”
Kellen made some kind of noise that skirted close to giggle territory. “That tickles!”
“Moving my hand immediately,” Jasmine said, narrating her movements. “And nope. That’s still definitely not wallet. Wow, you really don’t have much room in here, do you?”
