Jon: He sounds like a tramp.
Unknown: A sexy tramp.
Mister McHottie gave me a wink. Me, with a mouthful of donut, looking like a starved chubby child let loose in the candy store. My cheeks went from warm to hot. If he thought this was sexy, wait until he saw me with a whoopie pie.
I got up from the table and weaved my way toward him. Jeans and a checkered short-sleeve button-down, he reminded me of a lumberjack with a little sophistication. His dark brown shoes were fancy but comfortable. Would it be wrong to ask if his underwear matched? No, I needed to save something for later.
As I approached, he stood, holding his hand out. Be still my heart, a true gentleman. He used just the right amount of cologne, musky vanilla, enough I wanted to lean in and sniff him. I went to shake his hand and realized too late it was covered in gooey honey. He flinched but didn’t stop his handshake.
“Tyler, and you are?” With the pristine shirt, complete with iron creases, he struck me as a Tyler.
“Jon.” I let go, and he licked his finger. Instant erection. “Pleasure to meet you.” He grinned before gesturing to the chair opposite him. If he opened a door for me, I’d propose.
We took our seats, and he grinned, his eyebrow inching its way up. He looked like the cat who caught the canary. Even with his name, I couldn’t place him. I knew a dozen Tylers, but none of them were nearly as handsome. Something about the baby blue eyes was… fireworks? Cotton candy? My brain had gone on the fritz.
“You still haven’t figured it out, have you?”
“I’m a horrible person.”
He laughed. “Twenty years is a long time to remember somebody.”
Twenty years ago, I spent my last summer with Mimi. The carnival. The kiss. Oh. My. God.
“Tyler Bailey.” He had been going into his junior year at Firefly High. Before they revitalized downtown, the green had been nothing more than a couple of picnic tables. While trying to catch up on my summer reading, this cute boy with a round face sat down, interrupting my poor attempt at being a good student.
“You’ve… matured.” By mature, I meant he had gone from an awkward, chubby teen to a beautiful, thick man. Even with the beard, I could see those cheeks turning red like they had all those years ago.
“I never found out. Did you finish your book?”
“Great Expectations. Not that year. I hated it so much.” Did I admit I only got a C- on the essay? Nobody would have described me as a model student back then. “I read it again as an adult. I… hated it less.”
Tyler chuckled. He reached down to a bag on the floor. I gasped when he pulled out a copy and set it on the table. He flipped it open to the back, where students had to sign their names. At the bottom… Jon Olsen.
“Hard to finish a book when you left it behind.”
I hadn’t thought about that book since I had to pay the fine for losing it. By the end of the summer, I had such acrush on this cute local to where I tried avoiding him. The last thing I needed was a scandal in Firefly or Mimi finding out she had a gay grandchild.
I had kept the secret to myself the entire summer. For two months, Amanda, Jason, and I had been inseparable, bonding over terrible movies and yard work. Jason didn’t have any problems admitting he liked guys. For years, I had a crush on him but never wanted to violate our friendship. It’d have been a cliché for the only two gays to wind up together. I had yet to come out of the closet, even to my closest friends.
“The last time I saw you was at the carnival,” he said with a sly grin.
Oh. My. God. The shock must have shown on my face as he snorted. Each year, Firefly wrapped up its summer with a carnival. The center of town turned into a circus with vendors selling slushies and cotton candy. It concluded with fireworks lighting up the sky. I attended every year, and the next day, I’d pack my bag and head home to start the school year. That last year ended differently.
It was the first time I kissed a boy.
“Now he remembers,” he joked. “I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two.”
“Yeah. I’d say so,” I mumbled. “What are the chances?” Honestly, pretty good. I should have guessed my first kiss had stayed in Firefly. How hadn’t I bumped into him during my visits since? That was the real conundrum. Did the kiss flip his world upside down like it had mine?
I glanced down at the ragged copy ofGreat Expectations. “I can’t believe you kept it.”
“Books are kind of my thing. This one holds a special place in my heart.” As did that first kiss. His lip raised in a smirk, the same one I saw years ago before he kissed me under the flare of fireworks. “Want me to show you?”
Yes. Yes, I did.
WHEN IN FIREFLY…
“So you’ve been stalking me?”
