Page 34 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“Oh,” Dani said. She was reminded of what Oliver had said about plants being more alive than people realized. She wondered if Kass’s mom had been inadvertently practicing telepathic arcanobotany. “That’s cool. I wish my parents would have been into something like that.”
“Something like what?”
“I dunno,” Dani said around the straw in her mouth. “Something real? I guess I wish they’d been more practical.”
Kass studied her, gaze soft. “You’repractical.”
“Ha,” she said, “I know. That happened as a reaction to them, though, not because I take after them.”
“I get that. My dad probably wishes I took more after him, too. So whatdoyour parents do?”
“Oh, um.” Dani never knew how to answer that question. “My mom thinks she can read the stars, and my dad’s a passable clairsentient. They’re not really career types. I don’t even know where they are right now, or what they’re doing.”
“Don’t talk to them much?”
“Not in years.”
“Years?”Kass repeated. “How could they be okay with going years without talking to their daughter? Especially when she’s so—” He gestured at her, apparently at a loss for words. “Soyou.” Dani laughed, ready to ignore the ripple of turquoise in her brain and play his oversharing off in her usual way, but he wasn’t quite done. “Do they even know what’s going on in your life? Do they know you’re in school?”
She took a long swig, taken aback by the route this had taken, and so fast.
“Sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No, it’s okay,” Dani said slowly, gathering her thoughts. “It’s just kind of a long story.”
“Another drink?”
Dani looked down at her glass, whose level had lowered considerably without her noticing. “Another drink,” she agreed.
Kass steered her away from the orange tree. She felt a crackle of energy as his fingers grazed her elbow but managed to keep her cool. The music washed over them as they stepped into the hall. Dani looked at Kass. “Don’t you want to go dance or something?”
He made a face. “Hard pass.”
“Why is there a dance floor if you don’t want to dance?”
“My dad arranged this party,” he said in a low tone, moving closer as a couple passed them on their way out of the speakeasy. They waved, and he did the dude-nod back. “I don’t know any of these people. I mean, I know a few, but the majority are kids of my dad’s friends or colleagues. We have different opinions about how someone should turn nineteen, I guess.”
“He thinks you need a debutante ball, you mean?”
He rewarded her with his barking laugh, and her pleasure showed in her smile. “I don’t know, that might be more fun than whatever this is. I’ll just dash in and grab us another round. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Twelve
Dani bounced on her heels while she waited for Kass, processing the fizz of infatuation like soda in her veins. She hadn’t gotten further than identifying the feelings when he popped back into the hall.
“I forgot to ask if you wanted the same thing again,” he said, “so I erred on the side of caution.” He held out a third White Russian.
“It’s all fine,” Dani said as she took it, flushing when she realized she was a little past tipsy now. “I mean, it’s all good. It’s fine.” Kass made a valiant attempt at not laughing at her and ended up with a hearty dimple in his left cheek. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not. I would never make fun of you,” he said seriously. “You’re just really cute, that’s all. Hey,” he added, stepping closer as some people shuffled past. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Out of your house? But we just got drinks.”
“I was thinking more of a local move. Like, upstairs. There’s something I want to show you.”
“It’s not your bedroom, is it?”Shit.She was drunker than she’d thought.
