“Do you want to get something warm to drink?” he asked, pivoting his torso toward Life’s A Beach.
She hesitated, torn. She wanted to be with him some more but knew she probably shouldn’t.
“You don’t still … because of Josh?” he asked, cocking his head and looking at her with a grin. But it was such that it made her feel like that thing with Josh had been a shared experience and not something she had done and he had witnessed.
She didn’t reply, just pressed her lips together in a tight smile and rolled her eyes up.
“Come on; you’ll have to go in sooner or later. Living in Riviera View, you know that.”
When she rocked undecidedly on her feet, Jordan smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her to go and evaporating what was left of her resistance. “He might not even be there,” he added.
When she walked beside him, he let go of her hand, and they crossed the sand and went up to the place.
The bar was right next to the entrance, and Josh was definitely there, taking out clean glasses from a large, plastic tray and placing them on a shelf under the bar.
“Come on.” Jordan put his palm between her shoulder blades for the brief moment she hesitated at the door. “Like ripping off a Band-Aid.”
He approached the bar with her in tow. “Hey, Josh. What’s up, man?”
“Hey, Delaney, good seeing you. How are the bride and groom?” He then noticed Hope and nodded at her in recognition.
“My sister? Great. We’re having another wedding soon. Luke and Libby.”
“Congratulations.”
Hope looked at them. Josh was probably fifteen years younger than Jordan, but it wasn’t just the age gap that made him look like a boy next to him.
“Thanks. But listen, if we do the bar with you, we’ll want the cocktails festive. You know, with foam and spheres and all that. I did it for their engagement party, based on advice I got at my sister’s wedding, and it was a hit.”
“Sounds good,” Josh said, looking between them.
“Great. I’ll see you around. Can you bring us two coffees, please?” Jordan turned to look at her. “How do you take yours?”
“Black, please.”
“One black, one double espresso. Thanks, man.” He reached his arm out, and the two shook hands.
“He’s a good guy,” Jordan said as they made their way toward a window table.
“And you’re good at diplomacy,” she said.
The place was rather empty, as most of the town was at the fair, and the music in the background was 90’s rock.
They sat down. It was now or never, and so she just let the words roll out of her lips. “What about you? Are you seeing Avery?”
“No.” If he was surprised by her question, it didn’t show.
“Are short replies recommended in politics?”
He chuckled. “Sometimes. But no, I’m not seeing her. Never have. We were in high school together, but we didn’t go out then, either. Ran into her at Ava’s wedding. She offered a coffee, so we had coffee and that was that.”
“And the Model UN.”
“Yes. That was what she wanted to have coffee about,” he said, and she could tell he knew that Avery didn’t offer a meeting just to discuss it. “And I’m glad I did that.” He held her gaze, and she could hardly hear the music anymore.
“Me, too,” she said honestly, feeling her earlobes burning. She was pretty sure he could see her flushed skin. “So, you grew up here, huh?” she added, bunching her shoulders and clasping her palms between her knees, though she wasn’t cold.
“Yep.”