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Just so long as he didn’t slip up and let himself look at Zoe’s chest.
Crap. Too late.
He jerked his gaze away. “Maybe some water, too,” he croaked.
Zoe nodded. “Probably a good call.”
“Whatever he’s having, put it on the house.” Clay Hawthorne, owner and proprietor of the Junebug, wandered over. He clapped Devin on the shoulder, then shot a narrow-eyed glance at Han. “Not this guy, though.”
“Hey,” Han protested. “After all the free food I give you.”
“Fine, fine.” Clay held his hands up in front of his chest. “It’s all on the house, but, Zoe, don’t give them any top-shelf stuff, you hear?”
“Only the worst for my brother,” Zoe agreed. “Got it, boss.”
“You know I’m just giving you free stuff because it means I don’t have to write a receipt, right?” Clay told them.
Han shook his head. “You have really got to figure that stuff out, man.”
“I know.” Clay scrubbed a hand through his red-brown hair. “But math is hard.”
Devin gestured around. “When you get to big numbers like this it is.”
“Doomed by your own success,” Han sympathized.
Clay was a relative newcomer to Blue Cedar Falls, but you’d never know it. Devin didn’t make it out to Main Street all that often, but whenever he did, the Junebug was hopping, drawing in the tourists that flocked to the area and locals alike. Clay seemed to know everybody on a first-name basis—or if he didn’t at the start of the night, he did by the end.
He’d become good friends in particular with Han, which was great to see. Han had been Devin’s best friend since they were kids. He was a good guy—maybe the best. But he was so serious, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn’t get out a lot. The guy could use another friend in his corner.
“Tell me about it,” Clay grumbled. “This place was supposed to be small, you know. Just a hole in the wall for me and maybe ten other people.”
“Guess you should have told June that.” Han tipped his head toward the front door, which had just swung open to reveal the lady in question.
Clay’s complaining ceased, his whole demeanor changing as he lifted a hand to her in greeting. She smiled, too, broad and unreserved, as she crossed the space toward him.
Devin shook his head, rolling his eyes fondly as Clay swept June up in his arms. He’d never get over a big, gruff guy like that turning into a teddy bear whenever his girlfriend was around.
As they kissed, Devin looked away, because wow. They were really going at it. He happened to meet Zoe’s gaze, and they shared a stifled laugh at the PDA.
Then Devin had to look away all over again, because sharing anything with Zoe—especially something related to kissing—was a terrible idea.
“Get a room.” Han threw a napkin at Clay and June, and they finally broke apart.
Zoe swatted lightly at Han. “Don’t listen to my brother,” she told June. “He’s just jealous.”
“Ew.” Han recoiled. “I definitely am not.”
And okay, yeah, considering Han had dated June’s sister May for approximately all of high school, that made sense.
“How’s it going?” June asked, ignoring him.
“Fine,” Zoe told her. “Just commiserating with Clay about how you ruthlessly turned his dive bar into the most popular spot on Main Street.”
June shook her head and patted his arm. “Pretty sure that was mostly your doing.” She gestured around. “Everything here was your idea. I just helped you put it all together.”
“Okay, fine, it was a group effort,” Clay said, his smile wry. He then pointedly steered the conversation away from how business was booming—and, Devin noticed, away from the jabs Han had been making about how he needed to get his accounting figured out.
If anybody else noticed, they didn’t make a big deal of it, so Devin kept mum, too. They all made small talk for a few minutes. Inevitably, Zoe had to excuse herself to go check on her other tables. “You got everything under control?” Clay asked.
