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Shit, she was fucking magic.
“I don’t know what to say now,” Halley whispered, her voice scratchy and broken.
“Don’t say anything,” I said back, my voice just as low. “I said I wanted to kiss you, and I have. That’s all there is to it, okay?”
She nodded, moving back from me. Her lipstick was smudged, and her eyes were bright, shining with the aftermath of emotion of our kiss.
I reached up and wiped my thumb at the corner of her mouth. I didn’t want her to leave this tent looking like she’d just had a huge make-out session, even if she had.
I knew her well enough to know she’d go home and feed the raccoons and ignore everyone else.
She stepped back, smiled, and wiped the other side of her mouth. It wasn’t perfect, but she dipped her head as she turned and pulled her compact mirror out of her purse.
She’d be fine now.
I blew out a long breath when the curtain swished shut. I still had to compile all today’s money and take it to the bank—and get rid of some kid’s churro in my bucket.
How did she do this every year?
I shook my head and got to it. It didn’t take me long to compile all the money on the stage. When I was done, and I’d removed all traces of churro, I put it in the pink safety deposit box Halley favored and tucked it into my backpack.
I tossed it over my shoulders onto my back and made sure to tie the tent up behind me. That always amused me—there was nothing of value left inside, and anyone could break in and steal our stools and tally charts.
I bit back a laugh and quickly darted behind some stands when I caught a glimpse of Lindsay and her friends. She was perfectly put together as she always was and holding court as if we were all back in high school.
I’d never been one for the prom queen or even the head of the decorating committee.
Apparently, I liked the bookish girl with an affinity for snarky comebacks.
I dipped behind my parents’ stall. Mom and Dad were hard at work. Dad was seeing to the customers, and Mom was bundling cooking herbs in the back—she loved to sell packets of basil and thyme and other general spices. She beamed when she saw me, but I held up one finger for her to keep quiet.
She winked, blowing some of her bangs out of her eyes with one puff of breath.
I waited until I knew that Lindsay and her friends had passed and left with a wave in my mom’s direction. It took me a few minutes to get to my car, then a few further to make it to the bank. I got there with literally seconds to spare, but Tish only grinned at me.
“Halley called and said you’d probably be late. I was going to give you until a quarter to.” She took the deposit box from me under the window. “Did your fan club waylay you?”
“Ha, ha, ha,” I replied dryly. “No, I avoided them.”
Tish’s powder-creased eyes wrinkled when she laughed. “Smart kid. Is this all today?”
“Yes, ma’am. She beat me today.”
She grinned, her clumpy mascara making her eyes look almost totally black. “Doesn’t she always?”
“Hey, I won yesterday.”
“Who’s winning overall?”
“Halley,” I admitted begrudgingly.
She laughed again, handing me both the box and the receipt for the deposit. “Make sure you give her that receipt and don’t lose it, all right?”
“You’ve got it, Miss Tish. Wanna join me for dinner?”
“If I were twenty years younger, I’d still say no.”
“You wound me.” I clutched my chest.
She waved a hand at me from behind the glass. “Away with ya. I’m not here for your flirtin’!”
I laughed, bidding her goodbye, and left the bank. I climbed into my car and drove back to my apartment block. The traffic was light since everyone was at the fair, and unlike the kissing booth, everything else went until eleven.
Fair rides were fun in the dark.
Kissing booths weren’t.
Well, they could be…
I shook off all the thoughts of Halley before it went too far. The two of us in a kissing booth in the dark was a recipe for disaster.
And temptation.
Definitely temptation.
I put my car in park and grabbed my backpack from the passenger seat. It was easier to keep my wallet and phone and shit in a backpack when I was at the booth, so I slung one strap over my right shoulder and headed up to my apartment.
It was so fucking quiet when I got there. I turned the TV on just to break up the silence and dumped the bag on my large kitchen island. After grabbing a beer from the fridge, I pulled my phone out of the backpack and checked it.
It took me minutes to catch up on the sports headlines, which was all I really cared about. I was halfway through my beer when I opened my messages app and tapped ‘new message.’
