“He’s not . . . what?” Finn called back. “I did catch him smiling a lot.”
“It’s more than weird smiling. This is full-body weird! Just look at him.”
Finn emerged, crossing his arms as he joined Benji in studying me like I was an exhibit at a zoo. I stood behind the bar, trapped between them and the wall of bottles, feeling my face heat under their scrutiny.
“Okay, this is ridiculous,” I said. “I’m in a good mood. People are allowed to be in good moods. It’s not a federal investigation.”
“You went to pick up Skyler from the airport,” Benji said, the pieces clicking together behind his eyes. “You texted me that this morning, said you’d be here by four-thirty.”
“I’m here now.”
“It was four-thirty-four when you walked in. You’reneverlate. You’re annoyingly punctual. You once showed up twenty minutes early for a shift and spent the whole time reorganizing the garnish trays because you didn’t know what to do with yourself.” Benji’s grin was turning feral. “So what happened between the airport and now that made you lose track of time?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not—”
“Your ears are red,” Finn observed. “They only get red when you’re lying or embarrassed. Which is it?”
“Neither! Both. Fuck it. I don’t know!” I threw my hands up. “Can we please focus on opening the bar? We have like ten minutes.”
“Plenty of time to spill the beans.” Benji hopped onto a bar stool, settling in like he was preparing for a long show. “Now spill.”
“There’s nothing to spill.”
“Jackson Michelle Obama Zeta Jones Smith.”
“Benjamin,” Finn added for no apparent reason.
“Yourwholevibe is different.” Benji gestured at me. “Your shoulders are different. Your posture is different. You’re standing like a person who got thoroughly kissed, and I would know because I’ve been thoroughly kissed many times, and there’s a specific post-kissing energy that you are radiating like a nuclear reactor.”
I opened my mouth to deny it.
But nothing came out.
My fucking voice betrayed me.
And Benji’s eyes went supernova.
“I KNEW IT!” He slammed both hands on the bar. “I KNEW SOMETHING HAPPENED!FINN, SOMETHING HAPPENED!”
“I gathered.” Finn’s expression was harder to read, caught somewhere between concerned and cautiously hopeful. “Jacks?”
My name floated in the air like dust motes in sunbeams.
My brain cycled through my options: I could lie. I could deflect. I could make up some story about traffic or errands or anything other than the truth.
But the truth was pressing against the inner wall of my better judgement, shoving against my ribs like I might explode if I didn’t let it out.
“He kissed me.”
The words came out in a rush, barely coherent.
“He kissed me. Skyler Shaw. The hockey dude. The Lightning captain. At his apartment.” I felt my inner self coil like a spring, hold, then bolt loose. “I helped him with his bag even though he didn’t need help because he only had one bag, but he asked me to come up anyway, and then we were in his kitchen, and it was super awkward, and he offered me water, and then offered to watch TV and play video games, and I was about to leave because the whole thing felt weird, and then he said he needed to try something and asked me to trust him, and I said okay, and then he walked toward me, and I backed up and hit the wall, and he brushed the hair off my forehead like hedid at the Taco Bus except this time he didn’t run away.” I sucked in a breath, then kept rattling. “This time he leaned in, and he kissed me, and I kissed him back, and then we were kissing against the wall for like five minutes, and then we moved to the couch and—”
“Slow down.” Finn held up a hand. “Breathe. You’re gonna blow something out.”
