Page 119 of Sunset Catchers

“Sit,” Junie orders, tapping the chair beside her. Ben obeys.

“Ben is Levi’s best friend,” I warn her. Junie ignores me, too busy gazing at Ben. Ben, who’s blushing?

“Junie,” I warn again. Junie flat out ignores me. “Juniper!” That finally gets her attention. She gasps and breaks eye contact to look at me.

“You did not just do that to your oldest friend, Winnifred.” I scrunch my nose. Ben almost chokes on his sip of beer while Levi’s jaw hangs open.

“Ladies, warn a guy or two before uttering these god-awful names.” My best friend and I break our staring contest to scowl at Ben. “Respectfully,” he adds, holding out his hands in front of his chest.

“Please tell me there’s an explanation behind these names,” Levi says while doing his best to tame down his grin. Junie and I wince at the same time.

“Actually, there is. Kind of,” Junie says.

“We were both named after our great-grandmothers. Bless their souls, but not their names,” I explain with a wince.

“What an unfortunate thing for both of you,” Ben says, laughing.

“I’m not so sure about that. It’s how Winnie and I became best friends at age twelve.” Junie smirks. “Some kids were making fun of Winnie because she was a twelve-year-old named Winnifred, and my girl right here was intent on using her full name and would not budge on it.” I shrug.

Oh, the quirky whims of a pre-teen.

“Of course, I couldn’t stand by and do nothing, so I went over there to introduce myself. The lot of them started laughing at both of us.”

“Is the sweet part coming?” Junie crinkles her nose at Ben.

“If you think bloody noses are sweet, then yes,” I say with a sickly-sweet voice.

“I did the only thing left to do. I beat them up.” Ben is in awe. “I did Karate when I was a kid,” she explains.

“Then, I had no choice to stick by Junie after that. Literally. She said I owed her a lifelong debt and could collect it at any time, so I’d better stay close to make it easier for her.” I gaze lovingly at my best friend.

“That is the best story I’ve ever heard.” Junie flips her hair over her shoulder, batting her lashes at Ben. “I think you might be my idol, Juniper,” he adds.

“Aww, thank you, Ben. But let’s make one thing very clear. You will never call me Juniper again, or I’ll have to beat you up too, ’kay?”

“I see my future, and it’s bright,” Ben says. We all burst out laughing.

After that, we have a good time. Levi and Ben tell us the story of how they met—because their grandmothers have been best friends since forever, which Junie and I deem the most boring story ever. Then, they spend the rest of the night rummaging through their memories to find the craziest ones to compensate.

Levi’s hand remains on my thigh. Ben is in the middle of a story when one of his servers drops by our table.

“Sorry to interrupt Boss, but we need you behind the bar for a moment.”

Junie’s brows fly up on her face. “Boss?”.

Ben bobs his head. “I own this place.” Junie purses her lips. She sighs loudly, then turns her gaze to me. I silently plead with her not to do what she is about to do.

“It’s not going to work out,” Junie declares. Ben’s brows bump together.

“Because I own this place?”

“Business owners,” she says wincing. “Very minimal financial security. And the crazy hours…”

“Junie, come on.” I shake my head. “That’s a bit harsh.”

“It’s on my list.” She’s unapologetic. She looks back at Ben with disappointment.

“It was fun while it lasted,” she says to him while standing up. We watch her walk away to the bathroom. Levi and Ben shoot me a quizzical glance. I give them an apologetic wince.