“You don’t have to say anything.” I sigh. I’m flushed, face on fire. Embarrassment envelops me in its sweaty embrace. “Look, I can prove it. Leon is going to come out of the bar in about ten seconds. He’s going to call you Pickle Juice, then he’s going to cross the street and nearly get hit by a car. He’s going to tell you he booked another gig next month.”

He’s silent for a second, processing. “I don’t think—”

“Hey, Pickle Juice!” Leon jogs out of the bar. The car honks.

He throws his arm around Alex’s shoulders. “We got another gig booked next month.”

Alex stares at him, mouth open. Then his eyes flash to mine.

I shrug.

Silence descends.

“What’s going on?” Leon asks.

Alex coughs. “Nothing. Uh, are you . . . okay? Because of the,” he gestures at the road, “car?”

Alex has never been this discombobulated. Did I break him?

He blinks rapidly, his eyes moving from Leon to the ground back to me. He frowns.

Yep. I broke him.

Leon waves it off. “People don’t know how to drive.”

Alex nods, distracted.

“Okay, well,” Leon glances back and forth between us, from Alex’s befuddled face to my sheepish one, his brows lifting. “I’ll just leave you two alone. Nice to finally meet you, Jane.”

“You too,” I call as he jogs back across the road.

Alex faces me. He regards me in silence for a long moment.

I twist my hands together. My heart is beating so loud, it can probably be heard down the block.

Wait. I haven’t felt this way in a long time.

Shock slips in as I wait for Alex’s reaction. I haven’t really been anxious in a long time. Not like before. How did I not notice?

I don’t have time to linger on the realization because he starts talking.

“Okay. My rational mind doesn’t think a time loop is possible, but I also can’t figure out how you knew Leon was going to say all of that or how that car was going to come around the corner at that precise moment. I would think you were playing some kind of prank, with Leon’s cooperation, because this is absolutely something he would set up, but I also know you don’t know Leon and wouldn’t have had the time to arrange it all so perfectly. So . . .”

I wait for the gears churning in his mind, analyzing every possible conclusion.

It takes a while. “If you’re not sure, I have more,” I offer.

His brows lift. Then he nods.

“You told me about naked lightsabers.”

He releases a bark of surprised laughter.