Chapter 40

Andy wondered what it meant. If it meant anything. Scooter hadn’t kissed him again—not that he expected it, of course—but Scooter dropped an arm across his shoulders even more frequently, leaned into Andy’s space when they drank their coffee in the morning, and saved Andy a seat when they all went out to breakfast or for midnight pancakes at Denny’s.

They were well into June when the first really slow day hit. It was a Thursday, and it had been raining cats and dogs all day, keeping everyone indoors and drowning the sidewalk in a slurry of sand. The rain beat a comforting patter against the tin roof, but it was still so hot that on the rare occasions someone opened the door, a wave of thick, sticky heat roiled in. It was like trying to breathe under a wet blanket, and Andy had learned from the occasional brief squall that it would be even worse once the rain had stopped and the sun came out again. So, of course Kat threw an umbrella at him.

“Come now,” she said. She’d pulled off her sensible waitress shoes and was wearing a pair of hideous orange flip-flops that displayed her painted toenails and the cat tattoo on her ankle that matched the one on her surfboard. “I need ice cream. It is required. Mandatory. I will die. Or kill someone. If I don’t get ice cream.”

Andy squinted at the sheets of rain and gave her a disbelieving scowl, but her eyes were narrowed in that “don’t you dare cross me” look.

Jason, who’d peeked out from the kitchen to see what the yelling was about, blanched. “We have an ice cream emergency, Scooter.” He backed away slowly, as if there was an angry bear in the dining room and he didn’t want to risk attracting its attention.

Scooter leaned against his office door and threw the deadbolt. That…That couldn’t be a good sign. And Kat was still staring at him.

Andy sighed. His cheap sneakers were going to get soakedand be unpleasant to work in all evening, but apparently that was going to be the lesser evil. “Fine,” he groaned, pushing through the door and holding it for her the way people did down here. “Ice cream. Sure.”

The water was ankle-deep on the sidewalk. Umbrella or not, they were soaked to the skin in moments, Kat’s shirt sticking to her, the water plastering her hair across her face. They were about a block away from Dockside before she linked her arm with his and started laughing. “Oh, God, did you see Jason’s face?”

Andy tried to frown sternly, but she looked half-drowned, and all he could do was laugh along with her, helplessly. “What the hell, Kat?” he complained, not able to put any force into it. “You just wanted to play hooky ‘cause it’s a slow day? If I get fired, I’m going to move into your apartment.”

Kat kicked at one of the puddles, splashing water on pretty much everything of Andy’s that wasn’t already wet. “I want to spend some time with my best friend,” she said. “I want to breathe air that doesn’t smell like egg and cheese and grease. I want a huge ice cream and not be able to eat all of it. I want to remember that I’m alive and free. Don’t you want those things, Andrushka?”

“I’m—Sure, but—I thought Scooter was your best friend.” He winced immediately. Stupid thing to say; it didn’t matter, did it? “I mean…You’re a very confusing person sometimes, Ekaterina,” he huffed.

“Me?” Kat was shocked, hand pressed against her heart, like he’d said something beyond the pale. “I’m honest. I’m open. I don’t pretend to be anyone I’m not. I’m simple. It is the rest of you who are complicated.” She hugged him, wet hair getting in Andy’s mouth, and then kissed his jaw. “You see, here?” She held up one hand, fingers spread. “You. Scooter. D’ante. Jeff. And Jason.” She touched her thumb. “It’s good, right? No one is less than. Or better. You are all my best friends.”

Andy honestly wasn’t sure how he’d wound up on that list, but it made him feel warm through. “Okay, but you just pretended to be someone who was going to kill somebody for ice cream so you could kidnap me and leave Jason and Scooter at the Dockside,” he pointed out. “Miss Simple-and-Honest.”

“They know better,” she said, waving a dismissive hand. “No one can prove that I’ve ever killed anyone. And Jason hates getting rained on. Scooter would fuss and worry that we’d miss a customer. They would talk logistics. There aren’t logistics involved in ice cream. I did them a favor.”

Andy laughed outright. “How do you figure that?”

She leaned closer, conspiratorially. “They think they escaped. Jason will be extra nice to you, because he thinks you cheered me up. And Scooter will want to hug you and make sure I did not sharpen a knife on your bones. They will feel good about themselves, and then they will make us feel good. And we get ice cream. Everyone is happy.”

“You,” Andy said firmly, trying not to think about Scooter hugging him, “are a very manipulative person. But I’ll allow it, since there’s ice cream involved.”

“Does it count, if they know that’s what I’m doing? I give everyone what they want, without them having to ask for it. I work hard.” She was actually pouting, although it fell away as soon as they walked into the Baskin & Robbins. It was so cold inside that Andy was shivering by the time they reached the counter, where Kat was already getting a little too much attention from the server. Seriously, she could cut glass with those things.