Page 29 of Give Me a Shot

“Iknowyou’re not weird,” she said. “You’re a kind person who wants to help others. Even if it makes you uncomfortable. You’ve proven that to me, to that woman at your shop, and you’re proving it by doing this Ren Faire. I appreciate you telling me not to take it personally if you’re quiet on the ride, but I’m not going to sit here and listen to some crap about you being weird.”

Then she was certain she heard him gulp. Slowly, he turned to face her.

“You don’t think I’m weird?” he asked, incredulity etched around his eyes.

“Would you feel better if I did?” she asked. The laugh that shot out of him, and the smile that spread across his face, warmed her to her toes.

Fine, Alice. Maybe you can kind of be right.

He started the car, and they set off. Jess was happy to sit in silence the whole way there if it would help him be more relaxed. However, she also wanted to be sure she could support him during the meeting.

“Mo, just so I understand how to help, the ‘picking up from other people’ and being uncomfortable when they’re in your space—is that what makes participating in a Ren Faire challenging for you?”

He nodded.

“It’s the energy of a lot of people, their emotions. I can feel it in my body, and it drains me. Having to use a lot of my own energy to stay steady, and even more toperform? Plus all the noise and changes to my schedule.” He shrugged. “I can understand that an event like this is very exciting and a lot of fun for other people. For me, it’s the opposite. I know I’m going to need days to recover afterward.”

“Hmm…thanks for explaining,” she said.

“Thanks for trying to understand. What about you?”

Of course he would ask about her. She hadn’t anticipated the logical next step in their conversation. And she didn’t particularly want to touch on it. Giving voice to herwhymight bring up too much. However, Mo had been vulnerable; it would be wrong for her to refuse to do the same.

“My sister,” she said. “She adored Ren Faires. I even let her drag me along a few times. It was never my thing. I’m a stickler for historical accuracy, and it was sorely lacking in the Faires I attended.”

“I get it,” Mo said. “Cosplay blacksmiths are a danger to themselves and others. They like the look, but they aren’t respecting the craft. Just playing around.”

Jess nodded.

“About your sister…” He paused, sighed. “That makesa lotof sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“That participating in this Faire would be difficult. Having that connection, Faires being linked to her—I’m sure everyone would understand if you don’t want to do it. If it’s just too much. And if they don’t want to understand, I will make sure that they do.”

There was something in his enunciation, in the way he slowed down and dropped the tone of his already deep voice as he finished his statement…a wave of heat cascaded up her body and cut off her ability to breathe again. The skin-tingling thrill of letting herself be attracted to Mo was alluring. But she had to fight it. Being attracted to Mo, to anyone, wasn’t what she wanted or needed. Keeping her composure, her control, was always the best, safest option.

“That’s kind of you, Mo,” she said. “But I’m sure it will be okay.” She gave him a friendly smile when he glanced at her then turned her attention out the window, letting the silence settle between them.

—

Thirty minutes later, Mo pulled into a space in front of the School. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Here we go,” Jess said, reaching for her door handle.

“Wait. Almost forgot,” Mo said, opening the center console and handing her a small, brown paper pouch. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

Confused, Jess opened the pouch and tipped the contents into her palm. A small, wrought piece of dark metal fell into her hand. It was a particularly serpentine S, the curlicued ends looped around small keyrings. She’d never seen anything like it.

“What’s this?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“You said your keys kept popping apart. The two rings. It seemed like you chose to keep them separate. So I put one ring oneach end of this keychain. That way the two groups of keys don’t mingle while staying linked together.”

Jess’s heart dropped and then took off.

“Youmadethis?” she asked softly. “For me?”

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