Page 27
“I told Penny her next repair is on me,” Kevin said, lifting a hand and pointing at her face. “Also, stop being such a Debbie Downer. It’s depressing.”
“I’m not being a Debbie Downer, I’m being honest. We shouldn’t be frivolously spending on anything. We should be focusing on getting in the green as quickly as possible.”
Kevin groaned, tilting his head back. “Jess, working together is supposed to be fun.”
“If you wanted fun, you should have asked someone else to work with you,” she replied. “Now hand me those bags.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Now hand me those bags….?”
Jess frowned. “Kevin…”
“Manners are such an important life skill, Jessica.”
She growled at him, which only made his smirk stretch wider. He lifted the bags in front of her to make a point, swaying them back and forth. “Say the magic word, and they are yours.”
“You’re insufferable,” she grumbled. She rolled her shoulders, making sure to glare at him the entire time, she conceded. “Now hand me those bags, please.”
“So polite,” Kevin said, taking a step back from her, bags still in hand. “But no. You can have them after you take a break and eat a slice.”
“KEVIN!”
He pointed to himself. “Boss, remember? Now eat.”
She swore to herself, watching as he placed the bags on his desk at the opposite end of the shop.
“Fine,” she snipped, flipping open the box. When she noticed the toppings on the pizza, she paused.
“Veggie is your favorite, right?”
She glanced up, realizing Kevin was standing back at the counter, holding a paper plate in midair.
“Ye—yes,” she breathed, taking the plate from him. “How did you know that?”
“How could I not? I was at Scoops visiting Calvin one time and he had ordered pizza for lunch since you were both working a double. You stepped into The War Room to give him shit that he got you a slice of pepperoni and not veggie.”
“And you…remembered that,” Jess said. It wasn’t a question, more of a statement. That somehow Kevin remembered such a small detail about her from years ago.
He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“You’re willing to…eat a vegetable pizza with me? Literally no one lets me get it because there’s broccoli on it.”
“I don’t mind broccoli,” he continued, lifting a stringy slice and setting it down on her plate. “Believe it or not, I actually order the veggie sometimes myself.”
“Yeah right,” she replied. She pulled a slice of mushroom from her pie and popped it in her mouth. “You’re probably saying that to be nice. Just like you were about my favorite band.”
“Definitely Maybe? Oh but I wasn’t lying, they are my favorite band,” he said, placing his half-eaten slice down on the counter before pulling out his phone from his back pocket. “‘You and Me’ is an absolute bop. Should we listen to it now?”
Her mouth fell open. “You looked them up?”
“You + Me” blasted through the speakers at Port Wheels at an ear-piercing volume. Kevin grinned, his eyes not leaving hers.
She shook her head at him and bit into her slice, watching as he bobbed his head. He danced with his slice of pizza dangled between his fingers, lifting his hand to pull the cheese with each bite.
At some point, Jess found herself on the other side of the counter joining him, another slice in her hand as they danced along to each song in the plastic-covered bike shop, not minding that she was sweating through her ratty Haverport High varsity field hockey shirt.
When the last song of the album came to end, Jess found herself laughing as Kevin dipped low into a curtsy like a ballerina at curtain call.
He popped back up and grinned at her laughter. “That has to be the most beautiful sound,” he said.
