Page 64 of Nacho Boyfriend

My heart pounds and I want to tell him I’ll never say no to him—but I dare not interrupt his thought.

He continues on. “Abuela expects me to go to Arizona for a few days—and demands I bring you with me.”

High fives explode in my chest. He’s not fake dumping me. Yet.

“Oh. Well, if she demands it,” I say.

“She does. Absolutely.”

“Who am I to refuse the matriarch of your family?”

He bounces his head energetically. “I’m glad we agree on that.”

“Great. We do… agree on that. For sure.”

“And don’t worry about work. We’ll cover your shifts.”

Oh. My shifts. Potentially a few hundred dollars.

“Uh… how many shifts are we talking about here?”

“You can make them up the following week if you really want to. Or you can take vacation pay.”

“I thought vacation pay only kicks in after a year.”

“Hey.” He grazes a thumb over my chin. “I happen to know the boss, and I’m pretty sure he’s sweet on you.”

I try not to read more into that statement than was meant. Still, I can’t help it when my words come out shaky.

“Sw-sw-sweet? The boss doesn’t like sweets.”

His eyes sparkle. “You know what? I think I’ll have that shake now.”

He clears up all the trash from the table, not allowing me to do any of the work, and helps me up by the hand like a proper old-fashioned gentleman.

“You’re not going to drink any of it. Are you?” I say.

“I’m just trying to butter you up because I have another favor to ask.”

“Oh really? Do you need a date for a wedding? That’s textbook fake girlfriend right there.”

“Not a wedding. A concert. And I’m not asking you as a fake girlfriend. I’m inviting you because I think you’ll enjoy it.”

Oh. Alrighty then.

I beam at him, not only because he’s buying me another milkshake, but because he’s inviting me somewhere. Because… he wants to spend time with me?

“Don’t get too excited,” he says. “My brother, Mateo, is playing with his sea shanty band. The city has free summer concerts in the park. And his band is not even headlining.”

“That’s okay. I like sea shanties. Who’s headlining?”

He shrugs. “Abba tribute band or something.”

“Abba?! I love Abba.”

“Of course you do.”

Abba and sea shanties in one day. Amazing.

“Can I ask you something?” he says.

“Anything.”

“Is there anything you don’t love?”

I don’t even have to think about my answer. “Yes. Broccoli.”