Looking For Space // Josh Kiszka

XXIV

When Sam shot Josh a look that I deciphered as saying, "What the hell, man?" I really thought I'd made a mistake trying to set him up with Bev. It was just one date though--double date--and we would all power through it. Anyway, I didn't think things were going so terribly--Bev was clearly into Sam, laughing at his goofiness and his wise cracks, I figured it was just her way that might have been off-putting.

Which was completely fair--she never held back, and the night was no exception. She put her hand on his thigh, all of us sitting on the same side of the one-sided booth in the dessert bar, and looked at him like she was already ready to pounce.

Josh just snickered to himself and moved his hand to the inside of my thigh, squeezing, as if he was in on it. But I felt for Sam, since I could remember when Josh kissed me out of nowhere--twice--and left lingering touches on me that I couldn't comprehend.

"What do you think, darling?" Josh asked me, relieving my thigh to take a hold of the menu again. "The apple crumble? Ooh, it comes with homemade maple ice cream."

I glanced over to Sam again. At least his thigh was free again too, since Bev went and reached for her glass of wine. "We could do that," I said, bringing my attention back to Josh, who looked adorable as always in a plum velveteen shirt with a cherry patch sewn on one shoulder. "Sounds good. What are you guys getting?"

Sam looked down at the menu. "The brownie sounds good. Honey glazed walnuts?"

I wasn't sure if Sam was paying for him and Bev but, if he was I felt bad, considering he couldn't even drink and the glass of wine had been 10 dollars. Josh and I had already decided we were okay with dropping a good chunk of change on alcohol--well, I was driving, so I was content with my one (maybe two) blackberry gin cocktails, and Josh was already on his second Old Fashioned.

Bev had taken a minute to regale Sam with some background regarding her job in payroll--I found myself zoning, considering I had my own corporate droning to return to, so listening to other people talk about their white collar work usually went in one ear and out the other. But Bev was far more interested in hearing about Sam talk about the shows he'd been playing and what songs they'd all been working on. It was actually really cute: she was sitting up straight, looking at him intently, making subtle movements with her mouth and eyes as he went on, then eventually slumping down a bit with a big smile on her face as he told her about Jake falling on stage one night.

Josh seemed to be as entertained as I was. We were both observing them in between bites of dessert--the apple crumble had been a good choice after all--and sips of our drinks, intermittently looking at one another, speaking in our own silent language. It may not have been a true love connection but at least Bev was eating Sam up and he had seemed to warm up to her more as the night went on and we all had the desserts to sort of distract us.

"So where are Jake and Danny tonight?" I asked, scraping away the last remnants of the ice cream. "I could imagine Jake having a date, at least."

"Well, you know, Jake has many suitors--well, what's the female equivalent of a suitor?" Sam mused, looking up at the ceiling. "But he wouldn't go on a date on Valentine's Day. Too much pressure."

"Ah, I forgot," I replied with a chuckle. "Such a ladies man."

"I'm surprised you're not taken yet, Sam," Bev said to him, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, trust me, I get around," Sam quipped with a grin.

She leaned back, smiling in surprise, and laughed. "Is that right?"

"Yeah, I've actually got another date after this," Sam told her, still grinning at his own wit.

Bev laughed again and squeezed his arm. "You're too much. I guess I'm glad to be first."