“Uh… yeah.” Jack hasn’t seen me yet. He’s more gorgeous than I remember, and in my memory, he’s the love child of Keanu Reeves and Jason Momoa.
He’s alone. Is his girlfriend meeting him here? I watch as he heads to the cashier, who turns behind her to pour him a cupof coffee—to go. He must be on break. Margo’s is just down the street.
“I’m serious, Sora,” Stella continues. “You might really be onto something here. Something good.”
“Yeah. I probably am…” When Jack turns around, there’s no way he won’t see me. We’re sitting right by the door. The cashier hands Jack a receipt and his to-go cup. Should I hide? I don’t know what to do! Jack turns. We make eye contact. Jack’s gorgeous face breaks into a smile so perfect and sexy and stunning that I can’t actually breathe for two whole seconds. He closes the distance between the cashier and our table in two long strides.
“Sora?” he says in his stupidly deep voice.
“J-Jack!” I sputter, just as Stella swivels to eye Jack, who’s standing over our table. The to-go coffee cup looks like a tiny toddler sippy cup in his massive paw. “Uh. How are you?”
“Good. Better now that I’ve run into you.” He grins at me. Stella clears her throat.
“Uh… Jack, meet my friend Stella.”
Jack grins. “Oh, nice to meet you,” he says, offering up his strong hand. Stella takes it cautiously, a gleam of “who the hell is this man” in her eyes as she glances at me, eyebrow raised.
“How do you know Sora?” she asks, the question laced with about a dozen different meanings.
“We went to elementary school together.”
“Oh. Really?” Stella can’t contain her surprise, likely because I never mentioned that I shared a classroom with a Greek god.
“In fact, I know all of Sora’s secrets,” Jack teases. “She made a paper fortune-teller in third grade that predicted she’d own aVolkswagen, have four children, and be president of the United States. All by age thirty-three.”
“Cootie catchers are notoriously accurate,” I agree, loving the way I fall into easy banter with this man like a pair of comfortable slippers. “It’s why I’m getting my presidential exploration committee together now.”
“Oh, good, and I assume you’ve already got the Volkswagen.”
“Plan to purchase one next month. And the quintuplets will be on the way. Any day now.” I pat my stomach. We grin at each other. Stella coughs. Right. Solo February. And the fact that Jack has a girlfriend.
“Listen,” Jack begins. “I just wanted you to know that Mal—”
Ugh, the girlfriend. “You don’t have to explain,” I jump in, quickly. Please don’t. I already have terrible nightmares of them wearing matching heart underwear as they tickle each other in their swinging bear piñata.
“I feel like I have to. I mean, we’re not dating. We used to date, but, uh…” This is becoming awkward. “I mean, we’re not. Dating, that is…”
“What?”
“We’re not dating. We used to. But we’re not now. I know she made it look like we are, but we’re not.”
Stella makes a snorting sound. Probably because that’s exactly what Terran would say.
“You’re not dating.” I still can’t believe it. Mal seemed so cozy and territorial when she called him “Jack-a-boo.” Which… gross.
“No. Absolutely not. We broke up a year ago.” Jack rubs his neck in discomfort. “She’s just not over it.”
Given how his bicep is so large when flexed that I can seethe impression of the muscle through his wool peacoat, then, yeah, I get why she’s not over Jack.
“So, listen, before she interrupted us yesterday, I was going to see if…” He starts talking a little bit faster. “If maybe you wanted to go out sometime? Grab a drink? Coffee?”
Stella’s eyes widen as she looks at me. She’s as surprised as I am. Neither one of us has probably been asked on a date in person in years. Usually, the ask comes in the form of a vague text message, hinting about a possible, theoretical date, likeBeen meaning to check out that new bar in River North.
“Or, you know,” he says, a gleam in his eye, “we could just find a playground and race to the swings like old times.”
“Yes!” I cry, but just as I’m about to jump up and down like I’ve wonThe Price Is Rightshowcase showdown, I see Stella’s disapproving face. Crap. Solo February. “I mean, yes, I’d love to do that, but…”
Stella raises both brows.
