Page 54 of Always Been You

"You are trouble." There was a seriousness in her tone that if he'd had a moment alone with her, he'd have followed up on, but he didn't get the chance.

As soon as rehearsal was over, Jess hightailed it to her car. He followed behind, giving her the space she wanted but he’d expected her to stop at some point. Once they made it to the parking lot, Miss Penelope joined them and asked if Ethan would escort her to her house two blocks away since he was a man of the law.

He agreed, of course, and asked Jess to wait for him. She didn't. Before he made it back to the parking lot, she'd texted him that she was tired and they could talk later.

Thankfully, he was a patient man.

18

"One dollar." Jess held out her hand, collecting the money at the Kissing Booth, that as per Whisper Lake tradition was manned by a dog. This year's pooch of choice was Ali and Kade's dog, Dumbass.

Chrissy Caldwell's daughter, Kimber, handed Jess a dollar and giggled as she walked up and leaned forward. Right on cue, Dumbass leaned forward and gave her a big, juicy kiss across her cheek. The giggles continued as he gave her three more.

Ali tugged on his leash, pulling him back after a few moments. This wasn't Jess's first trip to the Dog Kissing Booth. She'd been in charge of it for the past five years, and Dumbass was turning out to be a breakout star. He was made to give people kisses.

In years past, every other dog had required them handing out treats to the patrons to entice the dog to give a kiss, but not Dumbass. Ali had to hold him back from slobbering over the entire town.

As much as Jess was enjoying being stationed in the shade with her best friend and the best canine kisser in Whisper Lake, Jess's mind kept wandering to the best kisser that walked upright in Whisper Lake.

It had been two weeks since their trip to Chicago. Over that time they'd texted, had two dance rehearsals, and even talked on the phone a couple of times. But there had been zero lip-locking. And none of their talks had been about the huge elephant in the room with the Flavor-Flav-sized clock around its neck counting down the minutes until their fake relationship expired. It was the fourth of July. Tomorrow was the Battle of the Badges. It would also be their one-month anniversary.

"Thanks, Dumbass." Kimber giggled some more.

"Kimber!" Chrissy snapped from a few feet away. "What did I tell you about that."

"But that's his name, Momma."

Kimber made what Jess felt was a very good point, so she backed the seven-year-old up. "Yeah Priss—I mean Chrissy. That's his name."

If looks could kill, the one Chrissy shot Jess before calling Kimber over and hustling her away would’ve done the job that her old ticker hadn't been able to.

In school, Chrissy had earned the nickname Prissy Chrissy, and it had stuck.

"Are you ever going to give Chrissy a break?" Ali asked as she filled Dumbass's bowl with fresh water.

"Yes. Just as soon as she removes the stick that is currently residing up her butt."

Ali smiled but rolled her eyes. Then she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was around. Everyone at the festival had already migrated down to the shore to get the best seats for the fireworks.

"So, how are things going with, you know who?"

"You can say his name, Ali. Remember, he's my boyfriend?"

"Oh right, Sorry. It's confusing."

"Yeah, it is." That was the understatement of the century.

At Jess's answer, Ali's expression turned from curious to sympathetic. "So things aren't great?"

"They're not anything." Jess could feel the frustration that she'd been feeling for the past couple of weeks boil up in her. "It's like nothing happened in Chicago. We don't talk about it."

"Well, what about after tomorrow?"

"We don't talk about that either."

The plan had been to split up after the talent show. Not immediately, but soon after. That was what they'd agreed on. But that night on her couch felt like a lifetime ago, and neither of them had brought it up.

"We don't talk about anything. We haven't seen each other."

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