I grabbed the scoop and started putting lids back on the ice cream bins, mostly so I had something to do with my hands.
Lark leaned in across the counter.“Tell me you’re at least a little excited.”
I snorted.“Lark.”
“What?”
“It’s one date.”
“With a hot guy.”
“With a guy.”
“With a hot guy,” she repeated, slower.
I gave her a flat look.
She sighed dramatically.“Fine.A guy.A guy who clearly likes you.”
I kept putting things away.“Maybe.”
She stared at me so hard I could feel it.“Maybe?”
I shrugged.“I don’t know.He asked me out.That doesn’t automatically mean anything.”
“It means he asked you out.”
“You know what I mean.”
She softened a little.“Yeah.I do.”
That made me pause.
Lark knew about Jude.
Not in a deep, tragic, confessional way.Just in the way friends knew things you never said out loud more than once.
She knew I’d had a thing for him.She knew it had never gone anywhere.She knew I didn’t talk about it because there wasn’t much to say.
I liked him.He didn’t like me back.End of story.
Lark folded the rag in half and set it on the counter.“This doesn’t have to be some big thing, Ever.”
“I know.”
“You can just go out with him.”
I nodded.“That’s the plan.”
“And maybe have fun.”
I snorted.“You’re asking a lot.”
She laughed and bumped my shoulder.“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
That got another laugh out of her, and then we fell into the normal rhythm of closing.
