Page 4 of When Ben Loved Jace

“So maybe he’s not the one for you,” I say casually.

She raises her eyebrows at this. “You’ve seen him, right?”

“Point taken.”

Ken is breathtakingly hot. When he walks down the street, women get wet and men get hard. I certainly did the first time I met him.

“Speaking of cute guys,” I say leadingly. “Guess who came into the store yesterday?”

“Rainbow Sprinkles.”

“No! Well, actually, yes, but that’s not his name.” I slide the fortune across the table.

“Persistence holds the key to—” she begins to read until I flip it over with a huff of impatience. “Jace?” Allison looks up. “You got his number?” The weariness recedes from her features. “You’re actually going on a date?”

“I don’t know,” I say, recoiling slightly at the idea.

She slaps the table. “Donottoy with my emotions! I’ve been trying to get you to step out of your shell for months now, and this guy has been the only glimmer of hope.” She holds up an index finger and takes a deep breath, as if to steady herself. “Okay. Let’s start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”

I do so gleefully, sharing any detail I can dredge up. By the end of my story, I’m grinning from ear to ear.

“So what’s the problem?” Allison asks.

“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “The fantasy never lives up to the reality.”

“Never?” she asks with enough emphasis that I don’t need her to clarify who she’s referring to. “You don’t get to be a PGA champion by giving up after the first hole.”

I snort. “That sounds like something your dad would say.”

“Because it is. So you didn’t get married straight out of high school. Big deal! And yes, you’ve dated a bunch of lowlifes since then. Even better, because now when the right guy comes along—” She taps the fortune for emphasis. “—you’ll actually be able to tell if he’s the one for you. And you’ll have enough experience to be the right one for him. Maybe it isn’t this guy. Worst case scenario, you learn a few lessons while fine-tuning your love maker.”

“My what?”

“You heard me.”

We stare each other down before laughing.

“You either call him or I do,” Allison says. “You know I will. I have no shame.”

“Fine,” I say, swiping the fortune off the table. “I’ll do it. But um… When?”

“How should I know? I can only tell you when a woman would expect to be called.”

“Pretend you’re a gay man.”

“Youarea gay man!” Allison shakes her head and laughs. “Ihaven’t seen you this flustered for ages. You really do like the boy.”

“I don’t know the first thing about him.”

“Then find out,” she says softly. “Sooner rather than later. Don’t keep me in suspense.”

“All right.” I bite my bottom lip. “Ben and Jacedoeshave a nice ring to it.”

Allison snorts. “Sounds like a brand of ice cream. And the initials are a littletooon point.”

“How about Jace and Ben?”

“Mmm. That’s better. Now get me a couple of aspirin and don’t talk for the next hour, okay?”