He washes out the jar and dries it, and then we start dumping jelly beans into the empty container. Bag after bag goes in. When it’s full, I look at Logan and say, “How many is that?”
“You weren’t counting?” he asks.
“Was I supposed to?”
“Shit,” he says. Then he dumps them onto the bed, and we start to count.
I’m going to win this contest if it’s the last thing I ever do. “If I buy twenty numbers, ten before and after our count, do you think I’ll be safe? I only have twenty dollars left after the pickles.”
He points to my phone. “You have FaceTime on that thing?” he asks.
I nod and pass it to him. He opens it up and props it on the desk in front of him. It rings, and finally, Logan’s oldest brother, Paul, answers. He stares at the screen until he recognizes Logan.
“What the f**k do you want?” he asks. “And whose phone are you calling from?” He’s signing while he talks out loud.
Logan laughs and pulls me into the frame. “It’s Sean’s.”
“What up, Sean?” Paul asks.
I wave.
“You got any cash?” Logan asks.
Paul’s eyes narrow. “Why?”
“Sean needs to buy a kiss from his girl.”
Paul’s brow rises. “You paying for sex now, dude?” he asks. He holds up his hands when I start to protest. “Not that I think that’s a bad idea or anything. Man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. “I can’t ask you for money, man. Don’t worry about it. Logan shouldn’t have called you.”
But Logan rushes on. “So, you got any money?” he asks.
Paul heaves a sigh and empties his pockets. I see a few dollars float around. He yells toward the back of his apartment. “Sam! Matt!” Both brothers walk into the room.
“You bellowed?” Matt says.
“Asswipe there needs some cash so he can buy a hooker.” He points toward me.
“She’s not a hooker,” I protest.
But Logan’s laughing like hell by now. And Matt and Sam look amused, too.
“Cash?” Logan asks.
“Some,” Paul says.
“Can you bring it?”
“Where?”
“To school. To the kissing booth. In the quad.”
Paul heaves a sigh. “I’ll be there.” The phone goes dead.
“Do you think we’ll have enough?” I’m getting anxious now.
“You’ll have more than you thought you did.” Logan claps a hand onto my shoulder and squeezes.
God, I hope this works.
Lacey
I groan loudly as soon as the door closes behind Sean and Logan. “Aghh!” I want to hit something. I want to scream. I want to…kiss Sean. I want to kiss him so bad.
“Spill it,” Friday says as she sits down beside Emily and props her head in her hand. She doesn’t say anything more. She just waits.
“I don’t even know where to start.” My voice cracks, and I hate that it does.
“Start at the ending,” Emily says. “What was happening when we barged in?”
“Nothing,” I grunt. “Not a thing. Just like always.”
“There was something going on. Something more than the usual sexual tension between you two. Did he finally make a move?”
I shake my head. He didn’t. Not really. “He hinted that he might make a move. So, I gave him an opening. That’s all.”
“He was taking it,” Friday says. “The opening that is.”
Emily grins. “He wanted to take her opening, all right.” She snorts.
I throw a pillow at her, but she just catches it.
“I thought this kissing thing would make him step up. But I guess he just doesn’t care as much as I thought he did.”
“He cares,” Emily says.
I shake my head. “He doesn’t.”
“He does. He told Logan. Logan told me.”
My belly flutters. “Logan must be hearing things.”
Emily snorts again.
“I mean…”
“I know what you meant,” Emily says, smiling. “Logan can be pretty intuitive about some things. And he feels certain that Sean wants you. Bad. And Sean said as much.”
Friday bites her lip, then adds, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but…”
“What?” I ask.
“You know how he got a new tattoo last week?” she asks.
I didn’t know so I don’t answer. “What did he get?” I ask instead.
She inhales, weighing her decision to tell me. Then she blurts out, “It’s a honeybee.”
“Oh shit,” I say.
“What?” Emily asks. “What did I miss?”
“He calls me honey when he’s being all sweet.”
Friday nods.
“I blew it when I told him I just want to be friends.”
“Logan says boyfriends are friends that get to make girls come.” Emily snickers. She gets this dreamy look on her face and sighs. “Over and over and over.”
“What if I blew my chance forever?” I ask. Tears sting my eyes.
“Oh, don’t cry,” Friday says. “You’ll mess up your makeup.”
“You look hot, by the way,” Emily says.
“Thanks,” I murmur.
I adjust the top of my dress. I never show this much cle**age. “I better get down to the booth. The sale will only last an hour, and then the kiss happens.”