I start to skate off, but Ryan pops up beside Bridget. “Where have you two been?”
“Applying body glitter,” she tells him. “Want some? It’ll pair well with yourverycool scarf.” He levels her with a look as she pulls the glitter stick from her overalls pocket and tips off the lid, smudging it on Ryan’s cheeks.
He scrunches up his features. “Man. Sure missed you guys.”
The song ends, and Theo taps the mic. “Last call at the bar, party people. And we’ve only got a few more songs before we wrap up the night.”
“One more drink,” Ryan shouts at us from inches away. “Tequila shots! Let’s go.”
The parallels between this moment and my last night in reality leave me itchy. I slink out from under my brother’s arm and wave them away. “You guys go ahead. I’ll find you soon.”
Ryan nods, then turns to Bridget. “Alright, B.O.B. It’s you, me, and my boy Ethan.”
She rolls her eyes at him, then she whispers to me, “Go get him.”
I feel like I’m skating upstream as the crowd pushes toward the rink. I don’t find Penn helping with the bar, or at the merch table. He isn’t in the men’s bathroom, either, outside of which I wait for a reasonably long but embarrassing time.
I’ve all but given up when I carefully skate out the front door, desperate for air.
And there he is. Helping Mrs. Baker into her car, then closing the door behind her.
He turns and stills, and at the sight of him, I nearly topple over, my skates sliding up beneath me. Penn lunges forward to help me stay steady, his hands bracing my sides.
“Whoa there, Tiger.” His laugh is a low rumble. “You okay?”
I meet his eyes and nod, my heart still battering in my chest.
It’s dark. Penn’s wearing three glowing neon necklaces, another over his backward hat. He looks ridiculous, and so handsome, and so himself. I feel my eyes well up. It’s been such a special night, but it doesn’t mean half as much if I’m not celebrating it with him.
“Is something wrong?” he asks. “What happened?”
I have so much to tell him. Everything. All of it. The truth.
He waits, his lips parted.
“Mangoes can get sunburnt,” I whisper, wiping my eyes. “Did you know that?”
Penn huffs out a small, surprised laugh. “No, Wynne. I didn’t know that.”
I take a breath. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Penn.”
He nods. “I’m sure there’s plenty I don’t know. But as much as I’d love to learn some more exciting fruit facts from you tonight, we need to get you back in there.” He steps toward the door. “You’ve got a whole party waiting for you.”
“I don’t care about the party,” I blurt out. “I care about you, and whatever you were about to say to me the other night when I cut you off.”
His head tilts. “Ruby…”
My name. I love so much how he says my name.
“You told me it wasn’t the right time, Penn, or the right place. But you know what? There’s never a right time, or a right place. But there is a right person.”
His eyes soften. A hint of a smile plays on his lips, and as he inches toward me again, the lights inside begin to flicker. So does the glowing Disco Diner sign above us. We both look up, then at each other, before we’re shrouded in darkness again.
Penn’s hands reach for mine. “I can’t let you miss the last song. And I sure as hell can’t skate. But…” He laces our fingers together and starts rocking back and forth. “Maybe we can dance?”
I snort out a laugh. “This,” I whisper, “is the cheesiest shit you’ve ever done.”
He lifts a shoulder. “I mean, if you’d rather give me a lap dance…”
