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She rolled her eyes and pulled him back up. “Stop, I was kidding. You can come.”
He kept his hand clasped in hers and squeezed. He stepped closer. “Tell me, are you allowing me to come because you saw me get hit on and you don’t want me to go to the bar?”
She scoffed. “No.”
He booped her nose. “Jess, I thought we promised each other we wouldn’t lie.”
“I am not lying!”
He laughed as he walked away from her, his head held high.
Following their usual tradition, Jess showed up to Scoops, this time with Kevin in tow. After much back-and-forth debate between Calvin, Jess, and the rest of the Scoopers, Kevin was formally invited to join in on the bonfire. It only seemed fair at that point to invite Zach. On the verge of a hissy fit, Jay said he should be allowed to bring someone if they were all coupled up—despite Jess’s insistence that she and Kevin were not a couple—and stepped aside to call some girl named Vanessa. Whoever that was.
Then they got to work. Calvin and Melanie continued to serve customers at the windows as she and the rest of the Scoopers cleaned and closed up the shop for the night. Kevin chipped in, drying the dishes Jay washed and singing along with him—both of them poorly out of tune. Tyler, home from football camp for the weekend, assisted Rory with restocking the candy, cones, syrups, fudges, cups, and spoons. She only had to pull them apart once from their aggressive make out in the walk-in fridge, which felt like a victory given the two never stopped touching each other. Blake and Zach cleaned and vacuumed, the former looking sunburnt and utterly elated after spending the day with his boyfriend, stealing longing looks at him like he was the moon and the stars.
Jess smiled to herself as she opened the freezer and picked up her cake, the rest of the Scoopers surrounding the desk in The War Room, waiting with bated breath. She may have discarded many of the traditions that mattered to her most as a kid, but at least she had this one to look forward to every year. At least she had these people she considered family.
She placed the cake down and with a smirk, lifted the lid.
The dramatic inhale was collective. No one spoke.
Compared to last year’s cake, made with the atrocious Blue Bombshell ice cream Ron insisted on selling that season, this cake’s flavor was obscure. Mysterious. And completely covered in black frosting.
“It looks like death,” Blake gasped as Zach slipped an arm around his waist.
“Is the secret ingredient…poison?” Jay chaffed.
“Oh my god,” Rory coughed, “don’t tell me you put squid ink in the frosting.”
Tyler bent over. “That’s it, this year I really am going to get sick from this thing.”
Jess kept smiling at them, not revealing a thing.
“Jess, I’m dying, please just tell us the flavor,” Blake cried.
She cocked a brow, crossing her arms. “This year we’re going to do things a little differently. You won’t know what it is until you cut into it at the beach.”
Jay frowned. “Not even a hint?”
“Let’s just say the theme is…savory.”
Rory covered her face with her hands.
“This is so intense.” Kevin clasped his hands together, looking giddy. “I love it.”
“I kind of feel like we should leave the top blank,” Melanie chimed in. “I know Calvin and I are supposed to add whatever gross topping we want, but…”
“I agree,” he said. “It looks like the depths of hell already.”
Jess nodded, closing the lid. “Off to the beach we go.”
The group piled into cars and drove to Scallop Shell Beach. Jess parked her car at the dirt lot across the street, a bonfire already blazing in the distance. Kevin sat in the passenger seat, the cake box in his lap.
“Do you ever miss driving?” she asked as she unbuckled her seat belt.
“Honestly? No. Taking the bus is easy, and I like to walk. I also have my bike.”
She held the box as he unbuckled his belt. “You know, if you ever need it, you could borrow my car.”
