“Cool,” he said, futzing with the garland of flowers again. He considered the cutout, then yanked the necklace off. With a grin, he stepped forward, draping the flowers over my neck. My breath caught in my throat as his fingers trailed along my shoulders, pulling away just as they landed on my chest.
“Look at that!” Ezra added. “Now you look festive even when you’re frowning.”
I glanced down, certain that my cheeks must be bright red. He must have realized he said something wrong because he practically fell over himself to start talking again. “Sorry, Irving! I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just not great at self-censoring.”
“It’s okay,” I said, waving my hand in the air. “I know I can come across like a downer.” Wanting to change the subject, I gestured toward the front of the store. “What’s with the spray paint?”
Ezra fussed with my garland for a second, sending another thrill down my spine. “You know how it is. Some asshole teenagers in the neighborhood keep screwing with us.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the large and messyX’s defacing the front window. “Oh, that’s horrible. I’m sorry that’s happening to you all. Have you identified who it is, at least?”
He shook his head, then tapped the Batman cutout on the chest. “Nope, but we’ve got a guy on the case. Kind of.”
The idea of working somewhere that was being vandalized regularly seemed distressing to me. It was the kind of thing that made me want to crawl back into bed, turning up my record and blocking out the rest of the world. But from the way Ezra talked about it, it didn’t seem like the stress was getting him down. He still seemed light, even happy.
I wanted to be like that, but as he stared at me with that easy smile on his lips, I felt my face fall.
“Anyway,” Ezra said, hoisting up a box of comics, “I should get back to work.”
“Actually,” I said, forcing the words out, “I wanted to ask you something.”
Ezra shot up an eyebrow. “Something I could help you find?”
I cleared my throat, then started talking about twice as fast as I intended to. “No that’s fine but thank you I was just wondering if you wanted to go out some time like you and me together go out.”
Ezra stared at me, his long eyelashes fluttering, then broke into laughter. “Irving, are you asking me on a date?”
I tried to will myself to disappear. I struggled to find a word, anything, but just stood there, my mouth opening and closing pathetically.
“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh!” Ezra leaned forward, fidgeting with the flowers around my neck again, and when I looked up, his eyes were shining straight into mine. “It was just a cute way to ask me out, that’s all.”
I swallowed. “Cute?”
Ezra winked. “Cute. Super cute, in fact. And sure! I’d love to go out with you sometime, Irving. That sounds fun!”
My head was spinning, and all I could think about was the fact that his hands were holding the garland and the way his fingers kept tracing my shirt, sending little sparkles of energy straight to my heart. “Cool,” I finally said. “Friday?”
“I’ve got a top-secret surveillance project on Friday, actually. But how about Saturday?”
“S-Sure,” I stammered. “I’m free on Saturday.”
And any other night you might suggest.
Ezra flounced the garland one more time, then let it drop against my chest. He grabbed a pad of paper, scribbling down his phone number and address, then folding it and placing it in my hand.
So, kind of, we were holding hands for a second. Or at least it felt like it.
Cool.
“Figure out something fun, I’m up for whatever,” he said. “You have a car?”
I nodded.
“Perfect. Pick me up at seven. Except for not actually at seven because I’ll be late getting ready, so more like seven-thirty.”
“Seven-thirty,” I confirmed. “Got it.”
“Now get out of here,” he teased, “because I’m not going to get a lick of work done with the cute grumpy guy staring at me.”
I floated out of the store and back to my car, still dazed by the whole thing. When I shut the door and hit the power button, a giddy, joyful wave crashed over me.
“I’m the cute grumpy guy!” I said, laughing to myself and drumming my hand on the dashboard. “I’m the cute grumpy guy, and I got a date!”
