“Okay, okay. So we all know about Andrew Young busting into the store, right?” Even though most diners opted to sit in the air-conditioned restaurant instead of on the patio, I still drop my voice to a juicy gossip-worthy whisper.

“Yesss . . .” Elsie is also whispering as she draws out the word, and Daisy nods along.

“Okay, well, that sucked, obviously, but Jasper showed while it was all going down.”

Daisy sucks in a sharp breath. “Oh, wow. Dad left that part out of his story.”

“I bet he did.” I don’t bother to bite back my grin. “Anyways, after he left, Jasper walked me back to Gran’s office—”

Elsie cuts me off to correct me. “You mean your office.”

“Fine, my office.” Now I’m the one rolling my eyes. “If you two keep interrupting me, we’re going to be here all day, right?”

“Honestly? That’s what I’m hoping for.” Elsie picks her glasses off the table and slides them back on her stunning face. “Did you not hear my story about being stuck in a house with four sick children?”

That seems fair.

“Whatever.” I hide my grin by taking another sip of my drink. “So Jasper comes with me to my office and ends up asking if he can kiss me.”

Across the table, I watch as Elsie actually, physically swoons. Her eyes flutter closed as she slides down her chair until I can only see her sunglasses and the top of her head.

“Oh my god.” She pushes herself up, and when she takes her glasses off again, I swear I see hearts in her eyes. “He asked if he could kiss you? That is so Jasper.”

One of the things I love most about Elsie is that she’s the total optimist to my pessimist. She can find the best in any person she meets, even the totally shit ones. She’s the first person I turn to when I have a problem because her brilliant mind—literal rocket-science smart—can attack any problem with logic and reasoning, but in the next breath she can point out all the bright spots and how I can overcome whatever challenge is plaguing me.

And she’s a total romantic.

“You’ve only met him once. How can you say that’s so him?” I pretend to be annoyed by her statement of fact, but she can see through my lies.

“Because we’ve read his books,” Daisy answers for her.

“His fictional books.” I remind them both of something they should be well aware of, since out of the three of us, they’re the only two who have read his work. “But whatever, he’s an amazing kisser. Top tier, actually.”

“Oh yeah he is.” Daisy nods, a shit-eating grin spreading across her face.