“Do you serve drinks out of this?” he asks.
I eye him, realizing that if I said that in front of a health inspector, we’d be fucked. “No… I never said that,” I say, slowly sliding the statue back in my direction.
Nick’s jaw flexes as if he’s trying to hide his amusement. “I’ll fix it,” he promises, picking North up. “No more toxic drinks.”
There’s a stark difference in the way he looks at it versus the Blaze one. Enough of a difference that it makes me curious.
“You don’t like North?” I ask.
“I’ve always been more of a Blaze fan myself,” he says as he sets it back onto the counter. “What about you?”
“I don’t have a preference,” I reply.
“No? I thought everyone on this island had a preference.”
“Are you from here?” I ask, confused.
“Ah…” He chuckles. “Well, I?—”
The kitchen door swings wide, revealing Danielle and Jasmine, each one’s grin larger than the last.
They’re the fucking worst.
“Oh, Nick!” Jasmine announces. “Hi!”
Nick straightens upon seeing them. “Hey.”
Danielle holds her fist out for him to bump, which he does, and says a quick, “How’s it going?” to him before settling on the other side of me.
“It’s good. Juni was just telling me about the paint job,” he replies.
“Oh, you met our Juni then. That’s great. Great. So what else did you two talk about? Did she tell you she also enjoys art?” Jasmine asks him.
My face furls in her direction. “What, are you my overbearing aunt?”
Nick looks like he’s holding laughter. “So, you enjoy art?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Jeez, Jas,” I say, shaking my head. “Way to give everything away. Art. That was going to be our entire conversation. Now we’re back to square one.”
“Nothing left to discuss,” Nick jokes along with me. “I guess we could talk about music next.”
“Ah, well, it has to be the kind with a beat.”
“Of course. The foundation has to be there,” Nick agrees.
“And we’re officially out of things to talk about now.”
“You forgot weather,” Nick reminds me.
“Ah. Yes, the weather is nice today. A little chilly in the shade,” I reply.
“Up and down weather… Some might say the twins are in town,” Nick says.
“See?” Jasmine slaps my arm. “He believes in magic.”
I sigh as I peer across the bar at Nick again. “Now you’re part of the problem.”
Nick grins at me before shifting his gaze to Jasmine. “She doesn’t believe in them?”
