Neil was turning red, his eyes skimming over Natasha. “Not really. Someone as beautiful as you would be out of my league, though.”
I wondered if he realized what that implied about me, my heart sinking as they smiled at each other.
“I meant for her. What kind of guy would you pick out for her?”
Even his ears had turned red. “I’m not sure.”
I liked Natasha, and he was attracted to her. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You said you normally do casual. Would you be interested in something like this?”
Natasha studied me. “Depends. Are you really okay with it?”
I pictured the two of them together, and there was less swirling in my stomach. Somehow, that I had talked to her and liked her made the idea seem easier. “I think you’d have a lot to teach him.”
“And you would reap all the benefits from that.” She laughed. “I get it. That’s actually pretty smart.” She eyed Neil again. “Switch seats with me?”
“Sure.” It felt strange to sit in a different seat. Without my back to the door, I could see Sean at the entrance. His gaze was on Natasha and Neil, who were turned toward each other and leaning in. When Sean looked at me with his eyebrows lifted, I shrugged. He shook his head, frowning.
I finished eating all the pineapple chunks from the umbrella as I tried not to eavesdrop on my boyfriend with another woman. Listening to their soft murmurs was more awkward than I thought it would be. With nothing else to do, my drink was drained quicker than usual, and I sat there twirling the little umbrella between my fingers.
“Here, try this one,” Jack said, slipping a new drink in front of me. This one had a green umbrella poked through cherries instead. The yellow was a lighter color, and bubbles clung to the side of the glass.
“Thank you,” I said, straightening a little. I took a sip and ended up humming a little because it was so good.
“A winner, then,” Jack said, smiling at me. He glanced at where Neil and Natasha were talking. “You okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” I pushed the last of my unease down. Choosing someone for him made up for messing up his time with Lexi, even if it hadn’t been intentional, and I was fairly confident Natasha would make sure it was good for them both. “What band is coming in tonight?” I had to look over my shoulderto see the stage, which already had people setting things up. I missed being able to see it more easily, but I pushed the complaint down.
Jack leaned on the bar. “I think you’ll like them. The sound is similar to last week, but there’s also…”
I enjoyed listening to Jack talk about music. His cheeks would flush and his eyes got warmer. He talked with his hands when he got excited, and his quick air guitar riff made me laugh.
When I pulled off a cherry from the new umbrella and dropped the stem onto my napkin, Natasha pointed at it. “Aren’t you going to tie that in a knot with your tongue?”
I flushed at the suggestion, staring at the straight red stem.
“Hailey can’t do something like that,” Neil piped up.
“Well, not yet,” Natasha said with a wink. She gestured toward the umbrella I still held that had more cherries. “Give me one, and I’ll show you.”
I hesitated, my stomach swirling as my mouth went dry.
“No, I meant Hailey can’t physically do it. She’s tongue-tied.”
That he’d said it out loud made me wince. He knew I felt insecure about it. Heat spread along my arms and up my neck, and there was a clamminess to it that made my heart thud too loud.
“What do you mean?” Natasha asked with a frown.
“Go ahead, show them,” Neil urged.
Jack had been glancing between us and frowning. I shifted in my seat, all the joy from a moment ago flooding away.
Still nervous, I opened my mouth, lifting my tongue as far as I could so they could see. It wasn’t very far. A piece of tissue held my tongue down in the front, and it hurt if I stretched it too much.
“Show them how far you can stick it out, too,” Neil said with a laugh. “It’s hilarious.”
My mouth clamped shut. I swallowed, setting the umbrella with the cherries down because my hand was shaking. “It’s called ankyloglossia. Doctors normally look for it in babies and fix it, but no one caught mine. It can cause speech issues, but since it didn’t with me, it never came up, and I didn’t realize it was different until I was already an adult.” My shoulders hunched. I hadn’t realized until Neil had complained about my kissing technique.
“Huh. I thought being tongue-tied was just an expression,” Natasha said. “Does that mean you can’t give as much tongue action when you’re kissing?”
