Owen looks his way. “Oh yeah? Know a good store?”
I look up, already regretting everything. “Don’t.”
“What?” Ty holds up his hands. “I’m serious. I love a Benjamin fig.”
“I am begging you,” I say. “Do not show up there.”
Owen leans back against the lockers, clearly enjoying this. “Pretty sure he said it was called Leaf & Letter.”
“You’re both terrible,” I mutter.
Ty is already pulling out his phone. “Leaf & Letter,” he repeats, typing. “That is a terrible name for a bar.”
I grab the nearest item, in this case a discarded and sweaty T-shirt, and throw it at Ty’s head. “It’s not a bar.”
He keeps scrolling. “Shame.”
Owen peers over his shoulder. “I think I know where this is.”
My hands pause on my laces. “You do?”
“Same,” Ty says slowly, scrolling. Then his expression shifts. “Wait.” He squints at the screen. “What’s the owner’s name again?”
Something tightens in my chest. “Juliette,” I say. “Juliette Gianelli.”
Ty stops scrolling and frowns at his phone. “Huh.”
Owen glances over. “What?”
“I don’t know,” Ty says as he stares at a photo on his phone. “This place. The shop feels familiar.”
I tense without meaning to. “Familiar how?”
Ty shrugs. “Like I’ve seen it before. Not in person. Maybe on TV or something.” He scrolls again, thumb slowing over another image. “There was press here. I remember that much. Cameras, reporters camped out front.”
My hands still on my laces.
“Why would reporters be outside a plant shop?” Owen asks.
“I’m trying to find out.” Ty clicks into a link. “Hold on.”
He squints, then lets out a quiet breath. “Okay. Yeah. This is ringing a bell.”
“What?” I ask.
“Caps game,” Ty says, reading as he goes now. “Kiss Cam thing. The chief financial officer of a local company was busted on the jumbotron at a Caps game making out with a gorgeous blonde…” He pauses, then looks up. “The catch? They were both married, just not to each other.”
Owen gasps. “Dude.”
“Oh yeah,” Ty continues, showing me his phone. “Camera lands on this David Gianelli with another woman. The whole world, meaning the internet and most social media, thought it was funny until it was not. According to this article, she, being this Juliette, found out after,” Ty says. “Same time everyone else does. Clips everywhere. Internet went nuts.”
A locker door slams nearby.
“Oh wow, core memory unlocked,” Liam says, stopping short when he hears us. “I totally remember that story.”
We all turn, as if we were perfectly synchronized (which,after time on the ice with this group, we should be), and wait for Liam to spill more.
“My mom knows Juliette from shopping at her store.” Liam drops his bag, eyes wide. “The press wouldn’t leave her alone. The shop was in every shot they videoed or photographed, like they needed a backdrop.”
