Page 33 of Love in Fine Print

“You don’t deserve a cupcake.” I tried to sound like I meant it before disconnecting the call, but the truth was being around Ben had deflated my rage balloon. After a night to sleep on it, not that I’d gotten any sleep, I’d still been fuming. So as soon as I got out of class this morning, I drove straight to Ever After Matchmaking. I had planned to give Ben a piece of my mind. Instead, I almost felt sorry for him.

When I’d left Ben’s office, which was adorable, by the way, I’d done my best not to get distracted by all the photos of happy couples with kids and dogs; my first order of business was to call Trevor and confront him about the profile he’d made for me.

But he hadn’t answered, so instead, I’d driven to my favorite parking spot in the city and filled out the profile myself. Then, I wanted to see my best friend.

Wedding season was officially winding down now that it was the first week of September, but for the past three months, I’d barely seen her. Bailey was always MIA from about April until September. She typically had weddings every weekend in the summer months, so she was slammed.

I hadn’t planned on stopping by to see her today, but I knew I’d feel better if I did. So once I’d finished the profile, I headed over to her shop Bliss Bridal, which happened to be across the street from the best bakery in San Francisco.

I hoped a little face-to-face with my bestie would set my world right again. I felt strange after my interaction with Ben this morning. He made me feel…off balance. I’d always been able to read people. It was a gift that I’d had since I was young. Ben really did want to help me; I’d seen that when he asked for a second chance. And he really loved and respected his grandma. He might be a shit matchmaker, but he was trying for her. I didn’t have high hopes that he’d be able to find someone for me. If I weren’t under such a time crunch, I wouldn’t even be stressed about it. But I was.

The bell rang over the door of Sweet Temptations as I walked inside and Sadie, the owner came up to the front. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

“Hi, Olivia!” Sadie beamed. “What can I get for you today?”

I put in my order, making sure to pick up two cinnamon rolls for Bailey’s youngest sister who ran Bliss Bridal with her. Birdie loved cinnamon rolls. “And one Sadie Special,” I added at the end for Trevor.

Did Trevor deserve the sweet treat? No. But, despite my reputation, I was a big pushover,especiallywhen it came to people I loved. Which, I feared, was one of the biggest reasons I hadn’t fallen in love. I was scared. Terrified, really, of ending up like my dad.

As Sadie grabbed a pink box to fill, I asked, “How are the babies?”

“Good!” Sadie beamed.

Sadie had taken one of San Francisco’s most eligible bachelors off the market. Not figuratively, either. Her husband, Alex Vaughn, was given that title a year before they got together. They made a splash together in the headlines when she’d attended the gala in which he was honored as SF’s MEB as his date. I’d watched their love story play out in the press because, sadly and against my better judgment, I was a sucker for true love.

No one ever guessed that about me, and I would deny it if asked, but the truth was, I was a hopeless closeted romantic. I loved love. I didn’t like to admit that was the case, but it was. Which made my day job pretty depressing. My career was spent with people fighting for things after they’d fallen out of love.

My affinity for all things L-O-V-E was probably why I liked trashy reality television. Even though I knew it was mostly scripted, I still bought into the fantasy that it was actually reality.

In real life, I could always tell if people had the real thing or not. And Sadie and Alex, from afar at least, seemed to have the real thing. They shared the sort of love that inspired songs and poetry and that people thought only existed in movies and books. I hoped one day I’d be lucky enough to have a man look at me the way Alex looked at her. Even in photos, it was clear how much he adored her. They hadn’t wasted any time, either. The two were married and had had two babies in the same number of years.

Married with kids. As amazing as that sounded to me, and as much as I’d always dreamed of it happening, it seemed about as likely as me riding a unicorn on a rainbow, which had also been my childhood dream growing up.

I turned my attention back to Sadie as she rang me up.

“Tell the Bees I said hi!” Sadie beamed at me as I placed a sizable tip in her jar.

“Will do,” I assured her before heading out, looking both ways and then crossing the street.

The “Bees” were the Bliss sisters Bailey, Birdie, and Billie. Bailey Bliss had been my best friend since kindergarten. Her grandma, Betty Bliss, had started Bliss Bridal in the forties and had passed it on to her granddaughters, who ran it now.

As I entered the bridal shop, I felt like I’d walked into a winter wonderland/high-class spa. The entire shop was decorated with fairy lights, candles, and flower arrangements. Last time I’d stopped by, the entire salon was decked out in a summer garden theme. The light oak, wide plank flooring, and white walls were the perfect non-descript backdrop for every season and occasion.

Birdie, the youngest Bliss sister, was behind the counter on the phone. When she saw me, her eyes lit up. To be fair, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the pink box of pastries I was holding or me.

As soon as she finished the call, she came out from behind the counter. “Ooh, I’m starving! Did you get cinnamon rolls?”

That answered my question.

“Of course,” I assured her as I lifted the lid.

That was all the invitation she needed. Her hand dipped into the box, and she lifted the sugary circular treat to her mouth.

Her eyes closed as her teeth bit into the donut. “Oh, my god. It’s better than sex.”

I wouldn’t know. Not that I was a virgin or anything. I’d handed in my V-card when I was sixteen in a dorm room filled with stinky socks. I’d figured since I was in college, it was a rite of passage. I was wrong.

Losing my virginity at a frat house got one star in my sexual Yelp review. It was over almost before it started. Tad lasted two pumps before his face distorted and his body tensed up. In fairness to him, he was a sweet guy. Unlike the horror stories I heard from other freshmen, following my sixty seconds of sex, Tad actually wanted to get to know me.

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