Page 70 of Guy's Girl
“She doesn’t look at me like anything.”
“She looks at you likeeverything, my friend. Listen.” Jozsef leans in. “I’ve known you since we were in diapers. I know you aren’t one to chase girls. I mean,szar, you could have any girl you wanted in this club. But that’s not your style.”
Adrian looks down at his shot. The liquid inside is a light yellow, almost gold.
“But that girl? Ginny? She’s special.”
He meets Jozsef’s gaze. “You barely know her.”
“Ah, but I knowyou. And I haven’t just seen the way she looks at you,haver.” In one clean motion, Jozsef downs his shot. He sets the empty glass back on the bar. “I’ve seen the way you look at her, too.”
***
Ten minutes later, Ginny and the boys spill out of the crowd. Jozsef has spent most of the time leaning over the bar, deep in conversation with the bartender; Adrian gets the feeling that whatever he ordered is going to be extravagant.
He isn’t disappointed. As his friends catch their breath, the drinks arrive. The bartender sets them down on the mottled wood: six tiny tubular spirals made of fluffy cake, toasted until golden brown.
“What the hell are these?” Tristan asks.
“Hungarian chimney shots!” Jozsef looks twice as ecstatic as normal, a true feat. “They’re a classic Hungarian dessert: tube-shaped cake, toasted over an open fire and filled with ice cream. I asked the bartender to fill them with alcohol instead.”
Tristan leans over the bar. “But these are empty.”
“Not for long,” says their bartender. In his right hand is a handle of vodka, which he pours down the line of Hungarian chimneys, filling each to the brim. “Better take them now before they melt.”
“Onward!” Jozsef scoops up his shot and jams it into his mouth, cake and all.
Adrian glances over at Ginny. Her hand hovers just above, as if she cannot decide whether to take it or not. Her eyes dart back and forth. She seems to be looking for somewhere else to put it, but then Jozsef elbows her in the side and says, “Bottoms up.”
Resolution snaps into place in her eyes. She stuffs the shot into her mouth. As she does, her body tips backward, her shoulder accidentally bumping into Adrian’s chest.
“Well?” Jozsef hops back and forth. “Do you like it?”
With effort, Ginny swallows. Her tongue moves about, licking her bottom lip. “Wow.”
“I knew it!” Jozsef claps. In Hungarian, he shouts, “Two more, good bartender.”
Adrian watches as Ginny and Jozsef do two more chimney shots together. With each mouthful, Ginny grows looser, more bubbly. Her cheeks redden. Jozsef throws an arm over her shoulder and laughs, turning to Adrian. “This one can drink.”
“Let’s do another,” Ginny says.
Adrian puts a hand on Jozsef’s arm. “That’s probably enough.”
“Oh, is it?” Ginny narrows her eyes. Her words don’t slur, not yet, but they seem to slope downward at the ends, like lazy penmanship. “I wasn’t aware that you were entitled to an opinion over what goes into my body, Adrian.”
“I’m not. I’m just watching out for you.”
“Well, don’t.” Ginny turns to the bartender and says, “Two more chimney shots, please. And an extra chimney. Just for fun.” When the shots arrive, Ginny drains the liquid first, then eats both cakes in quick succession. She eats them with aggressive enjoyment as if making a point.
“Looks like we’ve found a new chimney cake fan,” Jozsef says.
“Sure have,” Ginny says. But as Jozsef turns away from her to chat with the other boys, she doesn’t look happy. She looks... lost. Her eyes are withdrawing again, sinking into themselves the way they did when she finished eating back at Karaván. As Adrian watches this change take place, the same sense of panic rises within him, as if she’s traveling to a place from which he can never bring her back.
“Bathroom.” She mumbles the word almost inaudibly, like she doesn’t think anyone cares. Then she’s gone.
For a full minute, Adrian doesn’t move. He stares into the crowd at the gap into which her head just disappeared, debating. Does he go after her? Does shewanthim to go after her? Should he just leave her alone, the way she asked?
“Dude,” says Finch, peering around Adrian’s head. “Are you good?”
