“Gosh, I don’t know,” she finally said.

“Me, either.” Maddie agreed. “They’re both really good.”

“Should we flip for it? I even have a quarter from yesterday—I stole it from Jos.”

Maddie grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Heads is the red one, tails is the pink.”

“Agreed.”

She immediately fumbled the quarter, nearly falling off her stool trying to grab it before it went rolling away. Maddie laughed, jumping up and off her seat lightly and with smooth agility. She found the quarter and walked it back, handing it to Erin.

“How about you do it? I think butterfingers here might need some help.”

Erin flipped it easily, slapping it on the back of her hand before announcing, “Heads.”

“Yeah!” Ryann said. “That was one of my favorites.”

Maddie and Erin laughed and shared an amused glance.

“Hey! I saw that,” she said. “You guys think I’m getting drunk.”

“Getting, or…” Maddie said.

“Hey!”

“Maybe a glass of water for both of you wouldn’t be a bad plan,” Erin suggested. She tried one of the spouts behind her and cursed. “Oh, yeah—these are turned off when it’s closed back here. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared through a door to the side.

When Ryann glanced her way, Maddie was smiling at her, the expression soft, still a little amused, and Ryann pushed her shoulder, lightly.

“I’m really not that drunk. I’m feeling a little…I don’t know—relaxed?”

“You weren’t before?”

She shook her head. “No. Not at all. This kind of thing,” she gestured, vaguely, “makes me nervous. Meeting new people, joking around. It doesn’t come naturally. I can do it for work, I guess because I have to, but socially, not so much.”

Maddie’s smirk widened. “That’s kind of hard to believe.”

“Why?”

“Well, you just seem so confident, so put together, you know? You live in New York, you have a really powerful job, and you’re gorg—” She chuckled. “Anyway. Most people would be thrilled to be like you.”

She’d heard her near slipup, and a wave of heat flashed through her. This time, however, she kept her eyes rooted on Maddie’s, not looking away. Maddie’s eyes widened slightly, and when she leaned toward her slightly, Maddie moved to meet her.

“And here we are,” Erin said, backing into the room before turning with two glasses of water.

She and Maddie had jerked away at the sound, so that when Erin was facing them, it was as if nothing had happened. Her heart was still racing, however, and Maddie was fidgeting a little next to her on her stool.