Page 107 of Behind the Bars

“And your voice, Jasmine!” Kelly squealed, sighing in pleasure as she poured more of Jason’s spiked eggnog into four shotglasses.

“Yeah, yeah! That voice,” Jason agreed. He lifted his shot in the air. “To Jasmine and Elliott!” hecheered.

We all lifted our glasses in theair.

Jasmine smiled my way and gently nudged me in the shoulder. “To yourmusic.”

I tilted my head toward her. “To yourvoice.”

We took the shot down and before we knew it, we were having drink after drink, shot after shot, celebratingChristmas.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d celebratedanything.

Every now and then, Jasmine would check her cell phone. I’d noticed her checking it religiously all evening. Whenever she looked away, a flash of sadness would hit her, but she’d shake it off fast. Only I noticed, really, because I’d been spending the past weeks noticing her all thetime.

I wondered what she was searching for on thatphone.

Jason and Kelly did most of the talking. I’d never taken the time to really get to know Kelly, but the more I learned, the more I saw how the two were a perfect match. They thought the same way, laughed the same way, and loved each other out loud. They were the definition of a public display of affection, and they displayed itnonstop.

“If you guys were wondering,” Kelly said, pouring herself and Jasmine red wine, taking a break from the eggnog. “Planning a wedding is the most stressful thing in theworld.”

“Do you know how many different types of vanilla frosting there are at Cake & Pie Bakery?” Jasonasked.

“Oh, oh!” Kelly laughed, tossing her hands up in the air. “You have no clue how many different types of vanilla frosting there are at Cake & Pie Bakery! Should we tell them howmany?”

“Let’s tell them howmany.”

“Thirty-four different types of vanilla frosting,” they said inunison.

“And we tried every single one,” Jasonsaid.

“Even though we knew we were getting chocolate, but free frosting samples aren’t something anyone should pass up,” Kellyexplained.

Jasmine laughed, and I loved the sound. “I’ve always wanted to pretend I was getting married so I could go eatcake.”

“Ohhh, do it! You have not lived until you’ve tried thirty-four different types of vanilla frosting,” Kelly replied. “But you know the worst part about planning awedding?”

“The seating chart!” they said, again speaking inunison.

“Betty can’t sit next to Nancy because they both dated Eddie, and Eddie can’t be at a table that has seafood. Jackie can’t be near her sister, Sarah, because she got the house after their mom died, even though Sarah took care of the mom. Mark fucking hates Eva, and Eva’s awkwardly in love with Mark. Jane wants nothing to do with Rob because he voted for Trump, and Rob wants nothing to do with Harley because she’s still ‘feeling the Bern’ and has Vermont bumper stickers on her car. Don’t even think about putting the twins at the same table, because they are their own people and don’t want to be paired together for the rest of their lives.” Kelly talked and talked, and it was possible that she spoke even more than Jason did, which wasshocking.

“It’s pretty exhausting, and not cheap at all,” Jason said, pulling her closer to him. “Let’s justelope.”

She laughed. “Yeah, my parents wouldlovethat. They are alreadysuperpumped that I’m marrying ademocrat.”

“True, true. Okay, noeloping.”

Kelly pressed her hands to her cheeks and shook her head. “Oh gosh, we’re talking too much about boring basic people stuff. Sorry, youguys.”

Jasmine just giggled, because Jasmine was drunk. It seemed that every time she didn’t see what she was hoping to see on her phone, she’d take anothershot.

Blame it on theeggnog.

“Okay, okay, no more wedding talk. Let’s do something fun! Let’s play Never Have I Ever,” Kelly said, clapping her handstogether.

“What’s that?” Iasked.

Jasmine’s eyes widened. “You’ve never played Never Have I Ever?” she asked,stunned.

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