Page 11 of Things I Read About

She bows her head and puts a hand on her very low-cut shirt. “Doc, for you, I will dim my light.”

I squint at her, unsure.

“She will,” Janie says as she also stands. “And I will be cheering you on from my bed.”

Kat’s face snaps up to give Janie a death glare. “Do not text Theo. I will be checking your phone when we get in!”

Janie yawns. “Yes ma’am. Happy hunting, Sal.”The phrase is actuallygood hunting.1937 German U-Boat Book.I don’t correct her, I just nod.

I look back at Kat.

“Lead the way.” She giggles.

But I can’t move my feet.Am I really about to just walk up and start talking to the hottest guy I’ve ever seen? Who does that?

Samantha.

Samantha would do that. She’d breeze up and introduce herself. Sit down and make a joke or something. It’s not rocket science.Another WWII idiom. Weird.

Focus! Move your feet!

Hi, I’m Sally. Hi, I’m Sally. Hi, I’m Sally.

I slowly make my way through the crowd. I continue to practice saying my own name in my head. I can do this. Finally, I reach the bar and manage to wriggle through the bodies until I’m next to him.

He’s even more gorgeous up close. He’s like Channing Tatum’s darker, grizzlier brother. He has a tiny scar on the side of his headabove his ear, exposed in his short haircut. I want to rub my fingers along his buzzed head. I bet it feels like velvet.

Kat nudges me.

“Hi, I’m Sally,” I say, soft and rushed.

He turns his handsome faceto look at me head on. My heart begins beating so hard, I’m anticipating an alert from my smart watch any second. He furrows his firm brow above deep, brown eyes. He’s about to look away. Either he didn’t hear me or didn’t understand what I said.

I lean closer to him, feeling heat radiating from either his arms or mine, maybe both. “H-hi. I’m Sally,” I say, much louder.

“Hi?” He says, as if he’s still not sure I mean to be talking to him.

“Are you an assassin?” I blurt out, because I do, in fact, read too many mafia romances. This is now clear.

“Oh, no.” Kat whispers behind me.

And the possible assassin? He chokes. He’s choking on his drink.

“Sorry! Sorry, it’s just you look like you could be an assassin. Or a mob boss? Or an enforcer, maybe. You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever seen outside of books.”

“Get the man a new drink, Sally,” Kat says beside us.

“Oh, yeah, let me do that.” I wave and smile at the bartender. For the first time in my life, the bartender immediately comes over to me. I have his undivided attention. This is new. I like it. “Another one of whatever I just made him spill, please.”

My assassin clears his thick, stubbledthroat before finally speaking again. “Outside of books?”

“Oh. Right. Yes, I… I read a lot of thrillers.”

“Huh,” he says, wiping his chin.

I watch the napkin go over his firm, scruffy jaw. I’m jealous. I am jealous of the napkin.

“Oh, Lord have mercy,” Kat says under her breath. She pops up beside me. “Hey, I’m Kat, her cousin. And you are?”