Page 56 of Sweet Rivals

“How could you having lots of large orders possibly be nefarious?” he asked.

I shrugged. He was right. I was looking for reasons to justify my pessimistic worldview, reasons that all of this wasn’t real. I had spent so much time in the waiting, hoping, dreaming phase that now, I struggled to accept that it was coming true. Or I was simply trying to pick a fight to get out of the awkward, confusing situation with Jared.

“I don’t know why you are doing this,” he said, grabbing the sheet from my hands. “If you don’t want to make out with me on the couch, then fine. But stop looking for reasons that you aren’t good enough.”

It was stupid, but part of me felt like he didn’t have the right to say that, the right to be my cheerleader. And another part of me wanted to fall back into his arms. Forget about the rigid rules I had built around myself to protect my heart from the vacationers and the disappointment of unrealized dreams and the crushing sense of failure. I wished desperately I hadn’t stopped him.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Can we get through this week?”

“I shouldn’t have tried to rush you with this,” he said, motioning between us to indicate the whole making out thing. “But maybe I should just forfeit now. Not sure I will be able to claw my way back to a victory after today.”

“No. I need to win fair and square. Today may have been a fluke.”

He nodded, the smirk returning to his face. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”

“As usual, I don’t think you take anything seriously enough,” I said.

“Like I said, we complement each other.”

I shook my head. “I’m going to go.” I walked toward the door.

“You know, Jenna,” he said. “You aren’t chasing me away.”

“I realize that,” I said with a glare.

“No, I mean from you,” he said.

My whole body went warm, then I wondered if I misunderstood what he was trying to say. I shook my head and hurried for the door. I had to get the hell out of there before I made more stupid decisions.

I practically ran down his front steps and started speedwalking in the direction of my apartment. What the hell had just happened? I didn’t know if I should be elated at my win or freaked out that I hooked up with him again or suspicious at the tallies. In the end, my brain couldn’t stop replaying his words over and over.

“No, I mean from you.”

I had dated smooth guys who had persuaded me until they lost interest. They were charming and flirty and complimentary. But in the end, the one common denominator was that they always lost interest. It made it impossible for me to make sense of Jared’s intentions.

I turned a corner and almost ran headlong into some poor woman.

“I am so sorry,” I said. “I am lost in my thoughts and not looking where I am going.”

“Oh nonsense, no worries,” she said. She looked at me more closely. “Oh, it’s you.”

As soon as she said that, I recognized her. She was one of the women that had purchased several large orders from me at the preview.

“I really enjoyed your bake sale today,” she said. She was in her mid-fifties if I had to guess and dressed in a flowing flora dress with a wide-brimmed sun hat. She looked like old money.

“Thank you so much,” I said. It was impossible not to smile at the compliment.

“Well, enjoy your day,” she said. She started walking in the direction she had been heading in. I should have let her walk on. She was just some random vacationer trying to enjoy her day. She had just complimented me. But I couldn’t let it go—because I’m me.

“Excuse me,” I said, catching up to her. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” she said with a big smile as if she didn’t have a care in the world. It made me feel like an asshole for prying.

“You bought several boxes at the preview sale. I was just wondering who you were buying them for?”

“Oh, a nice young man asked me to buy them for him,” she said.

My stomach dropped out, and I felt like my feet would sink into the core of the earth. “What … did he look like?” I asked, trying to keep my tears at bay.

---