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“I don’t have feelings for Tanner.”
“Yes, you do. I saw it when you were dancing with him the other night.”
“Tanner is not good for me. You said it yourself—he’s a bad boy. I don’t need someone like that in my life … and I am not forcing myself to go out with Gabe. Gabe is nice.”
“Just because he’s nice doesn’t mean you have to date him, Char.”
“I’m not dating him. We’re just hanging out.” I vigorously cleaned the countertops, wishing I could scrub everything out of my mind just as easily.
She walked closer and pointed at me. “If you kiss him tonight, and you don’t feel sparks fly, you’ll have your answer.”
“Sparks don’t actually fly in real life. You know that, right? That’s not a thing.”
“It’s your first kiss with him! There absolutely should be fireworks and explosions going off in the background!”
I shook my head. “First kisses are awkward. You have to get past all of that to get to the good stuff.”
“I do not agree,” she said. “First kisses are the best, and if it’s not, then it’s the kiss of death.”
I was not about to broadcast it to Mallory, but I had only kissed one boy. Kyle Tomlin. We dated senior year of high school. He was a football star and I was a cheerleader. I thought we were a match made in heaven; I thought we were in love. That’s why I gave him my virginity. Then, he let Angela Coolidge give him hers in the bathroom on prom night, and that was the end of that. That was one memory I was happy to leave in Florida.
“Have you never experienced a magical kiss like that?” she asked.
“Guess not.”
“Well, take it from me.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Life is too short to have mediocre make-out sessions.”
I smirked. “You should get that printed onto a shirt.”
* * *
“You look beautiful.” Gabe’s eyes sparkled in the candlelight coming from our table.
“Thanks. You look great, too.” He did. He was wearing a crisp white polo with dark jeans. His nose and cheeks were slightly red from his softball game this past weekend, giving his face a sun-kissed glow.
“How’s work? Opening week must’ve been busy.”
“It was insanely busy. I’ve had to put my feet up at the end of every shift.”
“Busy is good though.”
“It is.”
“Do you plan to take over the shop when you’re older?”
I shook my head. “I want to open my own business.”
“Is that what you’re going to school for?”
“Yup. Business major. What about you?”
“I’m a computer nerd. I want to design video games.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Do you play any video games?”
“I used to love Super Mario when I was a kid.”
