“You said that already.” It was possible my tact filter was still out of order.
Three pairs of female eyes shot me daggers, and I quickly retreated. “Sorry. Go on. You were saying California?”
“He moved here to take a job at the college as an associate professor in graphic design while he goes for his doctorate in anthropology. He’s been studying at Espresso Wishes for the last couple of weeks, and sometimes he stays really late, like after everyone else has left, and we’ve been chatting. A couple of nights ago, he asked if I might want to go out with him . . . and I told him I would.”
“That’s great, Sophia!” Vivian enthused. “And if—what’s his name?”
Sophia took a deep breath. “Zeke.”
“If Zeke comes to Friendsgiving, we’ll have a nice round six at the table, not counting Gus, who isn’t sitting up yet and can’t have real food for another three months.”
“You’ll have to tell us about the date afterward,” my mother interjected. “I want all the details.” She cast me a long glance. “Isn’t it great, Harry?”
“Yeah. Totally.” I tried to rustle up some enthusiasm. “Really, totally awesome.”
Inside me, though, an unhappy, restless sense of outrage churned. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t plan to examine it closely enough to find out.
“There could be more of us for Friendsgiving.” I spoke without thinking it through. “I’m planning to ask out Faith Two, and if that goes as well as I expect, I might invite her. Also, maybe Preston will finally get a name for his yee and ask her for dinner, too.”
“FaithTwo?” Vivian rested her chin on her hand. “Oh, I have to hear about this. And tell me about Preston’s yee, too.”
Charlie groaned. “You do realize you’re starting to talk like them now, right?”
His wife waved him off. “Shhhh. As Preston might say, I don’t give a bunny about your negative talk. Let me have my fun.”
“Of course, you can invite Faith Two for Friendsgiving, Harry.” Sophia’s voice was even. “It would be just perfect if all three of us had dates that night, wouldn’t it? It would be the true culmination of the cuffing season. All three of us . . . cuffed in time for the official launch of the holidays.”
“Perfect,” I echoed. “Absolutely perfect.”
6
“There she is.”
Preston hunched over the counter, his voice low as his eyes followed the movement of the woman who’d just walked in the door of Juicy Times. Sophia and I both started to turn around to look, just as Preston whispered furiously.
“No! Don’t look. She’ll see you. She’ll know I’m talking about her.”
“Isn’t that the point?” Sophia whispered back. “You need her to know you’re interested so you can, you know, find out her freakin’ name and then ask her out.”
“I’m not ready yet.” Panic fell over Preston’s face. “What if she’s not really the one? What if there’s something wrong with her, like she hates Christmas or wearing clothes?”
“My boy.” I reached up to grip his shoulder. “There’s no time like the present. Go for it. Bring it. Do the right thing. Ask her—”
“Hi. Can I get a coconut acai bowl? Oh, and can you make it with extra kiwi and coconut milk?”
I held my breath, sensing Sophia was doing the same, as Preston stared at this paragon of beauty in front of him. For a long, scary moment, I thought he’d lost the power of speech.
And then my boy came through.
“And hold the chia seeds?” He smiled at his yee.
“Oh, geez.” The woman blushed, smiling. “I guess I’m too predictable, huh?”
“No.” Preston reached for a bowl to begin the order. “I just happen to have a good memory for a pretty face and an interesting person.”
I couldn’t believe the game my boy had right now. He was flirting with the object of his affection as though he did this kind of thing every day.
“What’s got into him?” Sophia nudged me, her eyes wide. “He’s, like, possessed by a different energy.”
