“So, what time were you thinking for tonight?”

Her eyes narrow. Mine plead with her.

“Um, well…” She shrugs daintily. Compulsively. We’re a couple of bobbing ducks over here, and I pray Emily isn’t watching closely. “I was thinking eight, but whenever you get off is good.”

“Eight thirty okay? I have to check inventory.”

“Of course! I can’t wait?” she says, like she’s checking.

“Me neither,” I say, and feeling a little bold with Emily’s eyes on us, I add, “I’ve been thinking about it ever since I left you at the point.”

Meg turns a furious red, and I almost take it back, but she tucks a magenta stripe behind her ear, revealing a row of cuffs and piercings starting at her cartilage and working down to her lobe, and I’m distracted. I’ve always had a thing for girls with ear piercings. Lots of them. I don’t know why. Duke calls it my “pirate chick” thing, but …

“Awesome. Me, too. Maybe you can take me to the ice cream place you were telling me about!”

Yup. Nodding like an idiot.

Emily clears her throat behind us. “Well, I have to get going. My mom’s bugging me to stop at Econo to pick up some hamburger buns.”

“Okay, I’ll see you, Em.”

“You, too.” The back door closes with a thud a few seconds later, and I release my breath.

“Is she gone?” I whisper.

Meg’s dark blue eyes sparkle with mischief. “I’m not sure. She might be lurking in the dressing rooms. Better check.”

I step back and run a hand through my short hair, feeling it stick up with sweat.

“I’m so sorry about that,” I say.

“Please tell me she was an ex and not some girl asking you out?”

“Ex. Why?”

Meg’s shoulders relax. “Because it takes so much courage to ask a person out, and I would feel terrible if I were part of a brush-off.”

“Oh.” Wow. That’s … actually, that’s super nice. “No. Nothing like that. An ex who, um, wants to be friends. But with benefits.”

Meg smirks, crossing her arms over her overalls with a little clink of the fasteners. “Go on.”

“She’s my kryptonite,” I say.

“Ah. Well, Mr. Kent, you’re safe with me. No benefits here.”

“Perfect,” I say quickly. Meg’s eyes seem to dim, and I feel the urge to backtrack, but her teasing smile returns, and I let it go.

“Actually, I did come in here for a reason,” she says. “They told me next door that this is where I can get a bathing suit, even late in the season.”

“Oh! Yeah.” I direct her to the women’s swimsuit rack. “We’re running a sale on them, actually. Fifty percent off all Speedo brand.”

She flicks through the smalls, barely looking. “Something wrong?”

She bites her lip. “I was hoping for a two-piece.”