Jacob reappeared carrying three cups.

He handed me one and I tilted it back. I downed the whole thing in four gulps.

Jacob was staring at me when I lowered the cup.

All I had to do was stand up on my tiptoes, grab the back of his neck, and kiss him. Easy. So why couldn’t I do it?

I’d dreamed of my first kiss being with Axel my whole freaking life.

But Axel had already kissed a million girls. He didn’t deserve to be my first.

“Here, you look like you need this,” Sophie said and handed me her drink too.

I nodded and downed it.

Okay. I’ve got this. It was just a kiss. I’d built it up in my head so much, but it truly was just a kiss. People did it all the time. I stared at Jacob. My eyes fell to his lips. And I had the oddest sensation that I wanted to know what his lips tasted like.

I was just about to make my move when someone yelled, “Ladies and gentlemen!” in what could only be described as a ringleader voice.

I turned to see Billy O’Reilly with a megaphone standing on the center ring. The spotlight grew brighter. “The main event starts in half an hour!”

The main event?

“Grab your drinks. Dance. Get drunk!”

A few people cheered and whistled.

“You can place your bets in ring three.”

Bets for what?

“Now let the party begin!”

As soon as he said it, the spotlight cut out, almost making it look like he disappeared. And then the lights streaming along the ceiling cut out too, bathing everything in darkness.

There was a roaring noise and I jumped. “Are there actually animals here somewhere?”

“Probably,” Sophie said.

As long as there weren’t snakes. I really, really hated snakes. “And what are people betting on?”

“You’ll see,” Jacob said.

“I can’t see anything.” I reached out in the darkness and my hand collided with Jacob’s hard bicep. I swallowed hard.

“Wait for it,” he said.

I laughed, remembering RJ’s silly texts earlier. “Or you could just tell me.”

“Or you could dance with me.”

“What?” I wasn’t sure he heard me over the beat of the bass that just dropped. The fairy lights turned back on and everyone gasped.

I looked up at the trapeze artists who were now swinging above us. There were suddenly dancers in cages that I was pretty sure were supposed to be for the lions I’d just heard. And there was someone breathing fire dangerously close to the bar. I was a little worried about that. And definitely worried about where the lions currently were if they weren’t in their cages.

But instead of voicing any of my fears, I just laughed. I looked down at my second empty cup. I probably drank those too fast…