“Come on, Mia. I know you got this. You think you already know it. Listen to it again.”
“What are the first words again?” I ask him.
“Lawyers and judges spend their days here,” he says.
“Wait, the courthouse. Lawyers and judges spend their days at the courthouse, right? You think it’s at the courthouse?”
“No, I don’t.” I feel slightly deflated. “But listen again, Mia.Lawyersand judges spend their days here. / Convicts and jurors don’t want to be near. / You don’t have to go inside.” He pauses. “So, I think it says we don’t have to go inside the courthouse. We just have to be in the vicinity.”
“Okay, that makes sense. And what’s the rest of it?”
“It’s a hot day, I fear. / Cool your mouth down and enjoy the ice. / That much is clear.”
“Enjoy the ice. That is clear. Say what?” I stare at him and rub my forehead. This feels like some sort of puzzle or brain teaser, and then it suddenly clicks in my brain. “Enjoy the ice. That is clear,” I repeat again.
“What are you thinking?”
“The shaved ice cart that’s near the courthouse.”
“Bingo,” he says with a grin. “I’m almost positive it’s there.”
I immediately jump into his arms in excitement, and he laughs as he grabs ahold of me. I suddenly remember I’m in a skimpy bikini, and I’m wet. His hands are positioned under my ass, and I feel them sliding inward, into dangerous territory, and I freeze and push back slightly.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot I was wet.”
“And we’re not even in the bedroom.”
I lick my lips and adjust my thong, trying to not think about how easy it would be to slip it to the side.
“Shall we go now?” I need to change the subject, fast.
“I don’t know that we have time. We have dinner with Rex and Andi and the grandparents in an hour or so.”
“Oh, yeah,” I say. “This is going to be interesting.”
“It’s going to be very interesting and boring.” Luke groans.
“You still haven’t made up with Rex, have you?” I say as we walk back up to the bookmobile so I can grab my clothes.
“He’s a douche, and he’s rude, and he thinks he runs the world, so, no, I am kind of over him.”
“I’m sorry. It’s really unfair how your parents have treated you.”
“It’s fine. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Shall we head back to the hotel and get ready?” he says as we see the bookstore. “I need a shower and a little break before we head out again.”
“Okay, so is everyone enjoying the oysters?” Bitsy beams as we all sit at the large, oversize table, eating our hearts out.
“Yeah, I love oysters,” I say, licking my lips nervously.
I feel like I am being examined by everyone around me, and they’re just waiting for me to mess up and give away that Luke and I are not really in a relationship.
I look over at Luke for encouragement and smile.
“Do you remember the last time we were here at Tide and Table?”
“I do,” he says, “and I remember that you accidentally ordered a two-hundred-dollar steak, and you were panicking because you didn’t have two hundred dollars, but you didn’t want to tell me that, and so we spent thirty minutes just staring at the bill.”
“I thought it said twenty dollars. In my mind’s eye, I could never have imagined that a steak would cost two hundred dollars.”
