Gluttony

the back of her shirt. It seemed to take a very long time, and Harper spent it trying not to notice that his head was so close to hers that she could smell his shampoo. She didn’t want to meet his eyes-or worse, let her gaze travel down his body, lingering on her favorite parts-but she refused to look away.

“You’re free,” he told her. But she was still locked into place by his arms on either side.

She ducked underneath and escaped. “Let’s do this.”

“I’m Kane?” he asked, as she knocked on the window of the tiny booth.

“You’re Kane,” she confirmed, crossing her fingers. Adam’s idea of acting usually involved bad foreign accents and funny hats. This could end poorly.

The door swung open, and a bulky guy with acne and a shaved head beckoned them inside. “Yo, Jenkins, dude, how’s it hanging?” Adam asked, giving the guy one of those handshake/slap/snap things wannabe skater dudes exchange on MTV.

Harper tried not to roll her eyes. This could end very poorly.

“I’m Carl,” the guy said, extending a hand to Harper. “Carl Jenkins. Kane’s told me how much he likes beautiful women, but… wow.”

Harper knew she was supposed to be flattered, not grossed out. Fortunately, she was a better actor than Adam. Practice makes perfect, right?

“That’s so sweet, Carl,” she said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before dropping it (and resisting the urge to wipe the grease off on her jeans).

“You mackin’ on my lady?” Adam asked, wrapping an arm around Harper’s waist. Without warning, he began to tickle her side-she squealed and sprung away. “You know you want me, Mandy,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back against him. “I mean, uh, Sandy. I mean…” Adam gave Carl an exaggerated wink, and then shrugged. “Who can keep track? All I know is, she sure does come in handy!”

“I can imagine,” Carl said, with a low whistle. “You’re like my hero, man.”

“That’s why they call me LL-Cool K,” Adam joked. “Ladies Love Cool Kane.”

Oh. My. God. Harper buried her face in Adam’s shoulder as the giggles burst out of her, hoping Carl would mistake it for a sudden burst of affection for her man. She only wished Kane could be here to see exactly what Adam thought of him.

And imagining that, she began to laugh even harder.

Adam patted her heaving shoulders. “Her pet cat died this morning,” he explained. “Her name was Lady. So every time she hears the word, well…” He dropped his voice to a loud whisper. “You know girls.”

After a moment, Harper regained control of herself and looked up, her face stained with laughter-induced tears. Perfect. “I’ll miss her a lot,” she said, her breath still ragged and torn by the occasional leftover giggle. “But at least I’ve got Kane here to comfort me.” She patted him back. Hard.

“But there’s only one thing that would really comfort her, Jenkins, you know what I mean?” Adam winked.

“Oh… uh… I’d give you some privacy, but I can’t leave the booth-but there’s this storage room in the lobby where no one goes and-”

“Ew-no!” Harper shivered. She didn’t want any part of Carl’s gross fantasies. “I mean, that’s not what he meant. Tell him, Kane.”

“Tickets,” Adam said, and now he was the one choking back laughter. Harper could feel his body tremble. “For the Crash Burners tomorrow night-they’re her favorite. And when we talked on the phone, you said…?”

“Oh, yeah.” Carl rubbed the back of his neck. “Look man, I know I owe you, for that other thing you did.”

“Yeah, uh, that thing. That was rough,” Adam said quickly. “You definitely owe me, Jenkins.”

“And I thought I could deliver, but turns out these tickets are impossible to get.”

“There’s nothing you can do?” Harper asked, dropping the damsel-in-distress act. “There’s got to be something.”

“There’s one person who might be able to help you,” Carl said, giving Harper a shy smile. He tore out a page from his magazine-Guns and Ammo, Harper noted with displeasure-and scrawled down a name and address on the back. “She works at the Stratosphere, up top, on the coaster. Tell her I sent you, and maybe you’ll get what you’re looking for.”

Adam made another attempt at the lame handshake combo. “Thanks, dude. I’ll remember this.”

“So next time I need, you know… you’ll… you know?”

“Oh, totally.” Adam gave him a mock salute. “You’re my guy.”

“Awesome.”

“Yeah, yeah, totally awesome,” Harper added, impatient to get going. “Great to meet you and all, but we’ve got to…”

“Yeah.” Carl checked his watch. “Holy shit, it’s time for the eruption. I’ve gotta kick you guys out. But stick around, you’ll love it.”

Adam escorted Harper out, and, since the fence unlocked from the inside, they made it back to the tourist zone unscathed.

“What was that?” Harper asked, bursting into laughter once they were a safe distance away.

“What?”

“That! You were supposed to be acting like Kane, not like… like some Saturday Night Live lounge lizard.”

“He bought it, didn’t he?” Adam asked indignantly.

“Ladies love cool Kane.” Harper shook with laughter, and soon Adam joined in. “Seriously? LL-Cool K? I mean, seriously?”

Adam shrugged and gave a gee-whiz smile. “What can I say? The ladies love me.”

Something about the line stopped her cold, and her smile faded away. “We should get going,” she said, already feeling the distance beginning to grow between them. “We don’t have all day.”

“Wait.” He reached for her arm, but pulled back just as his fingers grazed her skin. “Wait,” he said again. “Let’s at least stay for the show.”

As he spoke, a loud rumbling began, deep inside the volcano, which looked even faker now that Harper had seen the switches, dials, and the guy who made it run. But it couldn’t hurt to stay for just a few minutes and see what the big deal was.

They inched closer to the front of the crowd, stealing a spot on the guardrail at the edge of the fountain pool, and waited. Soon the volcano began bubbling and burbling, and then a huge plume of flame burst out of the top, followed by a geyser of red water, arcing out of the crater mouth and out toward the crowd.

Harper leaped back. Adam, too slow on the uptake, merely stared slack-jawed at the sky as a wall of bloodred water crashed down on him.

Another burst of flame, a puff of smoke, and the eruption had ended. Adam rubbed the water out of his eyes and began wringing out his sopping T-shirt. “That was…” He looked down at himself, soaked to the skin. “… unexpected.”

Harper felt another surge of giggles rippling through her. It felt good to laugh again. “I don’t know why you didn’t see it coming,” she sputtered. “You said it yourself, LL-Cool Kane. Lava Loves Cool Kane!”

“Very funny,” Adam growled. “You know what’s even funnier?” He lunged toward