He shrugs. “Unless you don’t want it.”
“I definitely want it.” I take the latte from him. “Did you just get off work or something?”
The tips of Cooper’s ears turn pink. “Uh, yeah.”
“Well, where’s mine?” Sloane asks.
“I had to come see what Ellis is planning to carve into this ugly pumpkin, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be over here,” he says.
Sloane purses her lips. “Where else would I be?”
“With Asher,” Cooper and I say in unison. We look at each other and laugh.
Sloane’s cheeks turn pink, and she mumbles, “I’m meeting him in an hour.”
“My point exactly,” Cooper says. “But do you want me to run back in and get you something?”
Sloane sighs. “No. That’s okay.” She reaches her hand into her pumpkin and scoops the guts out, then drops them into the tin.
I hold my green cookie out for her to take a bite, since her hands are covered in slime, and she gives me a close-mouthed grin as she chews. Then I take a bite, and my tongue is immediately hit with the sweet taste of sugar and… cherries? “Holycrap. Fruity Pebbles and cherries? What is this bizarre but heavenly concoction?”
“Which is better, the red or the green?” Cooper asks.
“How dare you try to make me choose,” I say. “That’s just cruel.”
“Have you tried the lemon one yet?” Sloane asks.
“No! Where’s my lemon one?” I ask Cooper.
He chuckles. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Where’s your pumpkin, by the way?” I ask, chewing the remaining piece of cookie.
He nods to my right, where Chloe is sitting with Slug and Jake. “You should come carve with us. Sloane, you can come too, obviously.”
Sloane looks at me, waiting to see what I want to do.
I don’t really want to watch Chloe and Cooper being all cutesy together—though I’m refusing not to think too deeply about why—but if I join them, at least I won’t be sitting here alone after Sloane leaves.
“Yeah, okay,” I say.
Cooper picks up my tray. “You two carry your pumpkins. I’ll grab the rest.”
Sloane and I head over to the group, with Cooper carrying the tins, tools, and my latte behind us.
“Ellis!” Jake yells when he sees us coming. He pats the spot next to him. “Come sit with me.”
I glance at Sloane, and she winks. I roll my eyes just before catching Cooper eyeing us.
I set my pumpkin on the plastic tablecloth and take my latte from Cooper.
“Thanks.” I sit next to Jake, and Cooper puts our tins down and sits next to me so that he’s between me and Chloe.
“So, you’re going to homecoming with Jake, huh?” Chloe asks, leaning forward to talk around Cooper. “Brave girl.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jake asks.
“It means you’re a handful,” Chloe says. Her face turns bright red. “And I donotmean it the way you’re thinking.”
