My wine glass wobbled a bit as I lifted it to my lips for a sip of liquid courage. “I have to admit it shook me up,” I admitted with a self-deprecating snicker.
Caro smiled victoriously. “Yes!” she exclaimed.
I frowned when she didn’t say anything else. This was because she had picked up her cell phone and her thumbs were moving furiously across the small screen.
“Excuse me,” I said sternly, “but I thought we had a no-screen-time rule during meals.”
She shot me a look while she wrapped up what she’d been typing before she set the phone down on the table. “Sorry—I was answering a text from Alec.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “Alec Travers?”
Caro looked at me like I’d lost some of my marbles. “Of course, Travers,” she said, like I was crazy for asking. “He’s the only Alec in Bliss, babe.”
It was true. There were a bunch of Alexes in town, but only one Alec—and he happened to be Jackson’s best friend.
There had only been one hundred and eleven kids in our graduating class, so it wasn’t as if Alec was a stranger. Still, the fact that he was Jax’s best friend generally meant that we didn’t interact on anything other than a surface level. That Caroline was texting with him was news.
“Is something going on between you two?” I asked.
She blushed and shook her head as she lifted her wine glass. “I don’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model, so no.”
I narrowed my eyes and pinned her with a glare. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that since I just polished off seventy percent of the tour of Italy plate along with two breadsticks and some salad while the girls Alec goes out with don’t eat that much in a week, when he looks at me he undoubtedly sees a heffer.”
Caroline was five foot ten with green eyes, glossy auburn hair, and a body that stopped traffic. I’d always been envious of her curves and ample cleavage. That she was using the word heffer in association with herself set my teeth on edge.
“Cut that out,” I snapped. “You’re a size freaking eight and you’re hot as hell. If Alec doesn’t see that, he can go pound.”
She shrugged like it didn’t matter, but the fact that she’d said what she had meant something. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way—I was just saying he and I are never going to happen.”
I opened my mouth to say something but stopped when I realized the classic music Olive Garden normally favored was being drowned out by something completely different. I looked across the table and saw Caroline biting her lip to hold in her laughter.
“Who is blasting Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up?” I asked.
Whoever was doing it was Rick-rolling the entire patio. I knew the song would be stuck in my head for days. I grimaced as it got louder. Across the table, Caroline was laughing out loud.
“What the hell?” I mouthed.
Instead of answering, she doubled over and laughed harder. I started to ask her what was so funny but was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I gasped when I turned and found myself looking up into Jackson Howell’s dark blue eyes. My jaw stayed open when I realized he was holding an inflatable microphone and singing along to Rick Astley.
Holy crap—Jackson was Rick-rolling me. What’s more, he was really going for it. He bopped along and executed a white guy shuffle like he’d been studying Rick Astley’s moves for an uncomfortably long time. I was vaguely aware that Alec was standing behind him holding up a small Bluetooth speaker, but I was too focused on Jax to give Alec more than a cursory glance.
I’d just started breathing again when Jackson crouched down and sang the chorus directly to me. My cheeks heated at the way he looked at me, like he was seriously trying to get my attention, and not in his usual I’m-about-to-do-something-that-will-piss-you-off way.
I was sure I was having an out-of-body experience until the song ended and the other diners started applauding. Startled, I looked around and realized the other people on the patio were laughing and smiling, and several had their cell phones out to video it.
The sound of the laughter around us along with the cautious yet hopeful expression on Jax’s face clued me into something I hadn’t noticed before. It was clear he was prepared for me to freak out, but the truth was that I found the Rick-roll funny. Granted before my two years away from Bliss I’d have flounced out of the restaurant in high dudgeon, pissed as hell at Jackson for drawing unwanted attention my way, however, I wasn’t that insecure girl anymore and I felt more comfortable in my own skin. Therefore, I was able to see the humor in it.