Page 71 of With a Little Luck

Pru frowns at her, and I know how much she hates that she might not be there for Ari on such a momentous night. “What about your parents?” she says. “They would take you, wouldn’t they?”

“My mom is taking some client out to look at a bunch of houses that day. I guess they made an offer on some mansion that overlooked the water, but got way outbid, and it was, like, a whole thing. But Dad could take me. Maybe. Or what if …” She tugs on a strand of her hair, something she always does when she’s thinking hard about something. “I mean, this might be a really terrible idea … but what if I asked EZ to go with me?”

My chest tightens like it’s just been struck with a phaser set to stun. “Ezra? Are you kidding?”

“He knows cars, right? And every time he sees the wagon, he makes some comment about wanting to look under its hood, and I’m starting to think he means it literally, not suggestively.”

“Almost certainly both,” says Pru.

“Could you stand to be in the same car with him for that long?” I ask.

Ari laughs, like I’m joking. “He can be a bit much, but I don’t mind.”

I bristle some more. “But he’s so … irresponsible.”

They both look at me.

“He’s been working at the same mechanic shop since he was, like, twelve,” says Pru. “That seems pretty responsible.”

“Yeah, but he’s so …” I struggle, searching for the right word, but nothing is right.Obnoxious? Ridiculous? Flirty?Finally I give up. “I just think that one of us should be there, too. Me or Pru. We’re your best friends.”

“I would love that,” says Ari, “but I know this zoo transfer is a really big deal for the center, and you usually work on Sundays, and—”

“Dad will cover for me. You know he’ll be ecstatic when he hears about this. It’s fine.”

Ari goes still. “Do youwantto come?”

“Of course I do!”

She looks briefly surprised, but then flashes a grateful smile.184

“I do, too,” moans Pru. “I’m so bummed to miss this!”

“I’ll record the whole thing,” I tell her. “I promise.”

“What about Maya?” starts Ari, picking at lint on her pajama pants. “Do you want to invite her to come with us? You, me, Ezra, and Maya?” She inhales sharply. “Could be fun. Right?”

The question hangs between us. When she says it that way, it seems obvious. The four of us. Ezra, because he’s good to have on hand if a car breaks down. Maya, because I want to spend more time with her. And I can be there to support Ari.

It’ll be a win-win.

But it also sounds an awful lot like a double date.

And that’s the part that has my stomach roiling as I smile and say, “Yeah. That sounds perfect. I’ll ask her at D&D tonight.”

185

Chapter Twenty-Five

The week passes quickly. I sleep in Sunday morning, exhaustedfrom a night of questing that ran way longer than they usually do, but only because we were having so much fun that every time I suggested we wrap it up, the group insisted that we keep going—Maya the loudest of all.

“We’re so close to finding this temple!” she shouted, as the clock ticked past eleven. “We can’t stop now!”

“We might have to stop now,” I said. “If we finish the adventure tonight, what are we going to do next Saturday?”

To which she shot me an unimpressed look. “You’re the Dungeon Master. You’ll figure something out.”

But when I reminded her about the festival, even she had to concede that we’d better call it a night.

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