Her eyes widened. “No.”
“Yup.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“But, how? How did that happen so fast?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But it did.”
“What does this mean for you guys?”
“It means whatever it means.”
“That’s so stupidly vague.”
“You’ve been in love with Zip for years, right?”
“Don’t remind me,” she grumbled.
“Sorry. I just mean, you’ve had years to think about what a life with Zip would look like. You’ve explored every avenue, you’ve grown up in this world, you understand what you’re getting into.”
“Yeah, so?”
“I love Colt,” I said slowly, finding it a miracle I didn’t trip over the words. “But that doesn’t mean I have it all figured out. You know?”
“I get it. Sorry if I’ve put any pressure on you to decide anything. I’m just glad he found you—and you found him.”
“You’re kind of amazing, you know that? I think you’d get along really well with my best friend.”
“I’d love to meet her. Why don’t you invite her out to join us?”
“Another time. I don’t want to have to explain the tattoo. She tried to warn me away from biker guys…”
Joni laughed. “Then she’s going to be in for quite a shock.”
A terrible new country song came on the jukebox. I jumped up from my seat and said, “I have to change it or I’ll go crazy.”
Joni pulled out her phone. “Okay, but you’re not allowed to playJourney. That’s my only stipulation.”
I wandered past the tables. Most were occupied by people laughing and having a good time. It wasn’t too crowded yet, and I was contemplating ordering a burger. I stood in front of the jukebox, sorting through the albums.
“Hi,” a guy said from behind me.
I jumped, startled out of my music perusal.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He held up his hands in an obvious show of apology.
I noted his sterile, clean-cut good looks.
“It’s okay. I just didn’t hear you approach.” I turned back to the jukebox and kept sorting through songs.
“Not a fan of country?”
“Nope.”
“Me neither. I like punk.”