Page 5 of Hot Mess
My stomach twists for a moment when she runs over to a tall blonde walking by. The woman doesn’t look like she recognizes her, but Jessie seems to know her. They talk quietly for a moment before she returns.
“I thought you were making a run for it,” I say.
“Me? Leave after that valiant attempt to not shudder violently after taking the shot to keep me from leaving?” She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
I’ve never been so turned on while being mocked to my face. Who is this girl? And what is this power she’s got over me?
“I’ve got an idea for what our next wager can be.”
"What's that?" Jessie asks, almost breathlessly, as I lean closer to her.
“Not here,” I say, taking her hand in mine and leading her away from the bar. “Do you trust me?”
“I don’t know you.”
"That's not what I asked," I say, looking at her seriously. It's unfair of me to ask her this since she has no reason to trust me, but I'm banking on the fact that I'm not the only one feeling the connection we share.
"I shouldn't, but I do," she finally says.
Without another word, I take her hand and lead her outside. The club music can still be heard on the sidewalk, but I also hear the echo of it in my head. Jessie’s hand is small in mine, but it feels like it’s meant to fit there.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
I glance down the block towards the street corner and see the same mime I passed earlier on the way here, working the crowd waiting to cross the street.
“Do you see the mime?”
Jessie follows her gaze to where I’m pointing. “Yeah. Why?”
“I want you to find a way to get him to say something or—” I pause dramatically.
“Or what?”
I smile. “You have to kiss me.”
4
JESSIE
Years of “Messy Jessie” has trained me for this day. He thinks that acting a fool in front of a group of strangers I’ll never see again will deter me from winning this bet. No way. I'm used to unwanted attention when I'm doing something embarrassing—this is nothing.
Dylan smiles as I walk over and stand next to the mime as he pretends he’s guiding the pedestrians to stop and go at the stop walk.
At first, he doesn’t acknowledge my presence until I start to hand back the pretend coins he’s collected from the people as a token to cross the street. They begin to titter, and the mime works to collect more, but I keep the pace, handing them back just as quickly.
Dylan puts his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. He’s the only one besides me and the mime that knows I’m not a part of this routine. The mime tries to step in front of me, but I spin around behind him and move to his other side. I don't miss the annoyance that flashes in his eyes. He's not sure how to play this, go along and hope that I don't mess up his tips or tell me to get off his street corner.
Before he can get a chance to decide, I point to his cheek and frown. Many of the people that were waiting for the light to cross have stopped to watch. I pretend to lick my thumb and reach for his cheek like I’m going to wipe something off. The mime ducks out of my way and tries to lose himself in the crowd. Many of the people are laughing as I follow after him, trying to wipe the pretend speck off his face.
“Use your rope,” Dylan calls out.
I immediately pretend I have a lasso and toss it in the direction of the fleeing mime. Unable to turn off the performer in him, he pretends to get caught and walks back to me.
At this point, the crowd is eating out of our hands, so I know there is no way this guy is going to break and say anything to me. Together we’ve managed to double the tips that were already tossed into his top hat.
The mime makes kissy lips at me and turns his face so that I can kiss his cheek. The crowd turns on me and starts cheering him on to get the kiss. Dylan no longer looks happy in a sea of smiling faces. There’s no way I can get out of this without giving the mime something, so I kiss the tips of my fingers and press them against his cheek. He pretends to swoon, subsequently ending our shared performance.
“It was a noble effort,” Dylan says as I walk over to him. “I counted three times it looked like he was going to break.”
