Page 10 of Firecracker

“Maybe next weekend I can make you all waffles,” Arden said. “I make pretty good waffles, if I do say so myself.”

“You can cook?” Mila and Jamie both said at the same time, staring at her as if she’d just announced she’d cured cancer.

“Yeah. I like cooking.”

“Me too,” Tyler said. “I cook for the guys at the station all the time.”

“You don’t cook forus,” Jamie complained.

“You candefinitelymake us waffles next Sunday,” Mila said to Arden.

“I’ll drive to the beach,” Jamie offered. “There’s room for all of us in my Jeep, and since you have tomorrow off, Ty, that means you can drink.”

“Hey, how was your date Friday night?” Tyler asked Jamie as he too carried dishes into the kitchen.

Jamie’s lips thinned and his gaze slid away. “Uh. I had fun.”

Mila started choking and leaned against the counter. Was she laughing?

“Do I need to Heimlich you?” Tyler asked her.

She waved her hands and shook her head. “I’m okay,” she wheezed.

“What’s so funny? And why are you looking so weird?” he said to Jamie.

“The date didn’t turn out like he expected,” Mila said.

“You met this chick on Spark, right?” Tyler said, naming a popular dating app. “You thought she was amazing.”

Mila collapsed onto the counter in a fit of giggles.

“What?” Tyler demanded, grinning too.

Arden looked back and forth among the three of them, wide-eyed. “Oh wehaveto hear this. Come on, Jamie.”

“Tell them, Jamie,” Mila choked out.

“Okay, okay. This chick seemed really perfect on Spark—hot, fun, a little geeky. Sounded perfect. So we met for a drink on Friday…turns out she’s a drag queen.”

“You mean he,” Mila corrected.

“Well, he’s Honey Deville onstage, but he introduced himself as Danny when I met him.”

Tyler and Arden burst out laughing at the same time.

“How did that even happen?” Tyler asked.

“It was totally my bad.” Jamie waved a hand. “That’s the embarrassing part. I’ve never used Spark before, and I didn’t read the whole bio or swipe through all his pictures, so I just saw the Honey picture.”

“But here’s the best part.” Mila waved a hand at Jamie to go on.

“He was a really nice guy,” Jamie said. “So I stayed, and we had a few beers. It was a fun evening.” He hitched one shoulder and shut the door of the dishwasher, looking around at them all earnestly.

Tyler laughed. “Are you seeing him again?”

“Not on a date. But we might hang out and play Call of Duty sometime.”

“Oh, Jamie.” Arden shook her head, an affectionate smile brightening her face.

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