Page 328 of Dark Love

“That’s never a good word.” He gives me a kind smile. “Did you not get along?”

“Oh no, nothing like that. I just don’t think I’m a ‘drinks after work’ kind of person.” Or a club person at all.

“You should come to dinner with us tonight then.”

I would. If I didn’t already plan to do something incredibly stupid. “Raincheck. I have plans tonight.”

“Sure. Next week we’re getting Thai food. This little place a few blocks down has the best Pad Thai.”

Pad Thai like with peanut sauce? “I haven’t ever had Pad Thai.”

“What? How is that possible? Your food education is seriously lacking. We need to remedy that.”

“I grew up in the burbs. There weren’t any Thai restaurants.”

“Why did you—”

The elevator door opens.

Mindy and Diane are standing right in front of us.

“Hey!” Mindy turns and smiles at Adonis.

That smile is different from any I’ve seen before, not that I’ve known her long—Mindy more than likes Adonis!

Does he know she’s interested?

Office place drama! The brownies were totally worth making.

***

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. Nothing even comes close. Not putting ketchup on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Not the time I tried to stand up on my bicycle while going down a hill. Nor the time I tried to do one of those fancy spins you see on the television after learning to skate two hours before. This single container of ‘thank you’ cookies takes the top prize in the stupidity games of my life.

All I need to do is tell the taxi driver to take me someplace else.

But I stay silent, watching the lights of Urbium streak by. The city is a different entity at night. It transforms from a hive of chaos to caverns of secrets that no one wants to be told.

Why didn’t I just go home? I could be curled up in a blanket with a book in hand.

But now I’m in the back of a cab, about to pull up to a club that I’m not welcome in… to give the man who threw me out, cookies.

Really good chocolate chip cookies. But still, he kicked me out, and I’m crazy.

The cab comes to a stop.

Get up!

Tell the driver to take you somewhere else!

Why am I even doing this?

Because it needs to be done. This has nothing at all to do with my inexplicable need to see Vex again.

With more confidence than I feel, I step out of the cab. There’s an endless line wrapping around the block.

I don’t want to dance. There’s no way I’m waiting all night to hand Vex a cute tin of cookies.

Tac is at the rope again.

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