“That makes it even cuter,” she said.
“I never said anything because?—”
“You don’t have to explain,” Jason said. “I kissed Tony.”
All eyes turned to Jason. He couldn’t possibly mean the Tony from the calendar? The married man with the adorable kid? I thought Jason had been brave coming out of the closet, but that? I guess we all had little moments we kept secret.
“He politely said he was straight.” Jason cracked a smile. The memory held a spot in his heart. “Then he hugged me.”
“You two are sickeningly cute.”
“Just because we’re not on the prowl?” Jason said.
“Amanda? She’s not on the prowl anymore.”
“What?” Jason gasped. “Say it ain’t so.”
“You can stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
“I witnessed it myself. Our little Amanda is smitten.”
Amanda pointed at me, her lip curled in a snarl. She might think of herself as this cat ready to pounce, but based on what I saw at the photo shoot, she had a secret. If she wasn’t going to share during our revelation, I’d gladly fill in the blanks.
“She might think she’s being coy, hitting on Tessa.” My eyes narrowed at her. “But I caught the casual touching. That wasn’t a move to add her to a list of conquests.”
“I hate you both.”
Jason put a hand over her mouth. “Which one of us will be the best man?”
I laughed. “Forget best man. Which one of us will be the ring bear?”
Her arms crossed over her chest as she pouted. If I wasn’t sure before, her determination to keep it a secret toldus everything. They were the first to say that there were no secrets in Firefly. If I were being mean, I’d grab my cell phone and alert the masses.
“So.” Jason turned to me. “The carnival?”
“The carnival,” I repeated. We were no closer to a solution. If we couldn’t tap into the community aspect of Firefly, I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. Yes, I wanted it to happen to relive a big moment with Tyler, but I’m sure there were others who experienced a first kiss under those fireworks. Families brought their kids, and memories were made. I could pretend I wanted to make it happen for selfish reasons, but I wanted to pay back Firefly for all it had done for my family.
“I can still call Tessa,” Amanda said.
“Give me the night. I don’t want to abuse your relationship.”
“What happens between us is anything but abuse.”
Jason snickered as I shot her a dirty look. She shrugged before spinning her legs around and sitting upright. I appreciated the offer.Them, I appreciated them and all they did to support me. The people under this roof were my family.
“Anybody up for a drink at Spectrum?”
Jason shook his head. “Simon’s expecting me. I’m on dad detail tonight while he takes Lucy to the airport.”
“Amanda?”
“Sorry, I have some lingerie and a video call scheduled for tonight.”
I couldn’t blame her.
“I’ll keep brainstorming,” Jason said as he got up. “If anything comes up, I’ll text you.”
Amanda gave me a hug, and a moment later, they were out the door. I let out a long sigh. Being the hero of my own story wasn’t going according to plan. I need to get out of my head, out of this house, and see the problem from a different perspective. A cocktail or two wouldn’t hurt either.
