I can see Zoey blush a little, but she waves it away. “Who can ever really know why Mary does what she does? But anyway . . . thanks. For bringing me all the way here.” She holds the box up. “Looks like I’ll live to be on the outside for another day.”

I point to the box. “Does it reek?”

She sniffs it. “Hmmm . . . not really. Actually it smells like . . .” She peeks inside. “Sugar. Damn it, Mary! It’s brownies.”

“Brownies?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure they’re pot brownies.” She sniffs inside the box. “They definitely are. But I wouldn’t have thought it was that urgent if I didn’t think there was an enormous lump of marijuana just sitting here!”

I laugh. “You know what, I’m glad you did. This was fun.”

She smiles at me. “Yeah. It was.” She opens the box up and holds it out to me. “And one of these for your troubles?”

I look at the tempting little squares. “Why not?” I take one and bite into it. “Wow, these are good,” I say in surprise. “A little herbal but almost . . . I don’t know. Like it could be a fancy mint flavor or something. Nothing like the atrocities my roommate used to make for parties back in college.”

“Well, we are refined potheads, Mary and I.” Zoey takes one too.

I can’t help but realize that she hasn’t called down the elevator yet so we’re both just standing there, chewing, the scent of chocolate hanging between us.

I’m hit with this overwhelming urge to kiss her, to see if she tastes different from me even though we’re eating the same thing. Something tells me she does. And the way she’s looking at me, I wonder if she would want me to.

Then she reaches out and touches my bare arm and keeps her hand there as she says to me, softly, “Thanks for making this fun for me today.”

I look down at her arm. It doesn’t move. And then I look up at her face, at the tiny bit of chocolate stuck in the corner of her lips. Our kiss at the café was sugar-tinged, too, as though our kisses make up for the way we scrape and fume at each other. If I kiss her right now, it could be a continuation of that sweetness, of being good to each other. I want to show her we can be good to each other—that I can be good to her.

I bring my hand to her face and my lips down to hers.

CHAPTER 28 - ZOEY

CHAPTER 28

ZOEY