past. “Who’s on your To Kiss list?”
“Shhh,” I say, glancing around. “Don’t tell all of Butterfield what I’m up to.”
Mel waves her hand dismissively. “They’re too busy buying souvenirs to pay attention to what a couple of townies are talking about.”
I eat a few cucumbers out of my salad. “Am I really going to do this? Pick a guy and go after him just because of the first letter of his name?”
“Yes,” Mel says, in her no-nonsense voice. “And it will be totally worth it in the end.” She tips an ice cube into her mouth and crunches down on it loudly, making me wince. “There are going to be bonfires and beach parties all summer, plus the usual Butterfield tourist trap festivals, so getting out and seeing guys won’t be a problem. And you have K all lined up, obviously.” She smiles suggestively.
I shake my head, even though something tells me I wouldn’t have much trouble getting Killian to kiss me if I wanted him to—but there’s no point in obsessing over that right now. “I think I have J figured out too.” I bat my eyelashes as Mel leans in eagerly. “Jeffrey.”
“Ugh, gross, Vee.” She wads up her napkin and throws it at me. “That doesn’t count.”
“My dad counted for B. And F can be Fat Snacks. . . .”
“No!” She laughs. “You’re not allowed to just kiss all the male members of your family.”
“Well, what about—” I’m about to bring up Seth for letter S, but I catch myself just in time.
“What about what?” Mel narrows her eyes at me, almost as if she knows what I was about to say.
“Um, what about my stepmom’s big party my dad told us about? It’s this weekend. Maybe I can get a kiss or two there.” The transition is pretty seamless.
Her expression clears. “That’s a great idea. I’ll ask around and see if anyone we know has been invited. It’s supposed to be for her work friends, right?”
“Yeah, and I think they mostly live in Grand Rapids.”
Mel shrugs. “Someone we know has to be there. And if not . . . you’re getting good at making new friends.”
“Why does Vee need new friends?” Seth appears from nowhere, a black shadow against the colorful small-town backdrop. He leans over the railing separating the café patio from the sidewalk and grabs a fry from Mel’s plate.
“I don’t,” I say, giving Mel a warning look. There is absolutely no reason Seth needs to know about the Twenty-Six Kisses thing.
“What are you doing down here?” Mel asks, guarding her remaining fries with her hand.
“Lesson.” Seth pulls out his phone. “I’m late. But do you want to work on the album later?”
I smile blandly, trying to ignore the twinge of jealousy that shows up whenever Mel and Seth talk about “the album.” They’ve been writing and recording songs for a couple of years and will spend hours at a time locked away in Seth’s basement, working on them. If Mark was at a cross-country meet or something, I used to occasionally tag along and pretend to read a magazine or whatever while they talked about chord progressions and fiddled with the temperamental knobs on Seth’s ancient four-track recorder, but there was nothing lonelier than watching the two of them get totally in the zone and forget I was even there.
“Sure.” Mel swirls a fry through the puddle of ketchup on her plate. “I’m not working tomorrow. Text me.”
“See you later.” Seth bops me on the head as he turns to leave.
Mel watches him go and then focuses her eyes on me, the devious look returning to her face.
“You’re not working tomorrow?” I stick out my lower lip. “I thought we were supposed to have all the same days off.”
“Yeah, Dad messed up the schedule. Can you get a ride with your mom?”
“Probably.” I sigh and put on an exaggerated sad face. “But the Float & Boat just won’t be the same without you there.”
Mel laughs. “Stop trying to distract me. Let’s focus on letter D. We have options.” She waves her phone at me and taps the screen, studying what I can only presume is a list of her nine hundred Facebook friends. “Danny Bridges . . . he has a girlfriend. Darren Peters . . . I think he’s working as a camp counselor this summer.” She scrolls, her eyes whipping back and forth as she scans the screen. “Dexter Claybourne?”
“Dexter?” We’ve been going to school together since second grade. He’s nice. The