Page 23 of Punchline
“Okay, that’s fair.”
“Mmhmm. Thought so.” Carson leaned over, kissed Marek lightly, and then got up.
“Hold on, hold on.” Jake put a hand to his chest. “You’re sitting in the bougie box, but you’re going to getpeasantsnacks? What the fuck?”
Carson rolled his eyes and kicked Jake’s shin. “No nachos for you, then.”
“I’ll take thebougienachos, thanks,” Jake said in an exaggeratedly haughty voice.
“Suit yourself,” Marek said. “The nachos from downstairs are pretty fucking good.”
Once again, Jake looked at me for confirmation.
I shrugged. “I’ve never met a nacho I wouldn’t eat, so… ”
Jake glanced back and forth between me and Carson. Then, “Okay. Okay, I’m convinced. I’lltrythe peasant nachos.”
“That’s what I thought.” Carson stepped past me, then gestured for me to follow. “You can help me carry them.”
I kind of wanted to get irritated that he was pulling me away because,hello, I was on adate? At the same time, I was relieved at the chance to step out and get my stupid head together. I had all evening ahead of me with Jake, and the less I made an ass of myself, the better.
So… nachos it was.
I got up and said to Jake, “I’ll be back. Do you want anything?”
“I’m curious about these nachos, so… split one with you?” He quirked his lips. “But if you’re going down to get them… ” He reached for his wallet. “You fly, I’ll buy?”
I waved that away. “I got it. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure? You already bought the tickets, and?—”
“And I asked you out, so it’s on me.”
I liked that bashful smile a little too much. And that hint of a blush.
Definitely the right moment to follow Carson out of here before I actually swooned or something.
God, I was a dork.
At least I’d be out of Jake’s sight for a few minutes. Maybe that would be enough time to get my head together and?—
“So, hey,” Carson said, pulling me out of my thoughts as we walked through the thin crowd toward the escalator. “I didn’t just ask you to come with me to help carry nachos.”
I blinked. “Oh. Uh… Okay?” Carson and I weren’tsuperclose, but we were friendly. I had no idea what this could be about.
We stepped onto the escalator, and he turned to me. “I want to propose to Marek.”
I straightened. “Ooh. That’s awesome, man! Congrats!”
His lips pulled into a lovesick smile, and he blushed, reminding me of the man who was waiting for me to come back with nachos. Unaware of all my mental roads leading back to Jake, Carson said, “Thanks. I’m, uh… I’m still trying to figure out what to do, but I kind of want to do it at a game or something. Or a practice? If that’s allowed?”
“Hmm. I guess it depends?” We stepped off the escalator and into the denser crowd on the lower-level concourse. As we shouldered our way through, I had to raise my voice a bit to be heard. “Do you want to do it on the ice or something?”
“Maybe? I hadn’t gotten that far yet. I didn’t want to plan something elaborate and then find out it wasn’t allowed.”
“Fair enough.” I thought about it as I followed him through the crowd. About the time we’d stepped into the long line for the nacho place, I said, “I can talk to the staff. You’ll probably have better luck getting on the ice during practice than during a game, but… I mean, maybe?”
“Practice is fine. It doesn’t have to be… ” Carson circled his finger in the air to encompass the building we were in. Then he chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I’m probably overthinking it. I could just propose at home or something, you know? Not make a big public spectacle out of it?”
