Page 31 of Pitcher Perfect

Caleb’s shoulders drooped. I hated that I caused that. I didn’t know if he was sad I was bolting or sad I’d just taken a big dump on a piece of his childhood, but if I stopped to consider it or ask, it would lead to conversations I wasn’t prepared to have. Many emotions filled my head and not the right ones.

“No worries. I’ve got it. Let’s get together this week and make some decisions?”

“Sure. Yeah. Text me, and we’ll set something up at the brewery.”Nowhere near soft surfaces perfect for kissing.

I hurried away from Caleb’s sad puppy dog eyes and to my cold, lonely bed.

CHAPTER10

AUSTIN

Team Tap That Group Text

Dom:which one of you douchebags ate the rest of my artisan bread?

Ty:you sound so fucking pretentious every time you say “artisan”

Dom:coming from the guy who throws out “mouthfeel” as often as possible

Ty:…um I co-own a brewery?

Ethan:it’s okay, Ty. We’re all a little pretentious sometimes

Austin:I bet Ty ate your bread so you’d have to go back to the bakery. I’m sure Mrs. Miller misses you [smirk emoji]

Ty:lol it is pretty funny how much she hits on you

Ethan:didn’t she just get divorced?

Dom:oh god. I will pay someone to get me more bread

Ty:$10 and you’re on

Austin:you planned that all along, didn’t you, Ty?

Ty:[smirk emoji] [photo of a grilled cheese sandwich on the artisan bread]

Dom:remind me why I let you live with me, you fucker

Ty:because you love to vacuum up my pubes off the bathroom floor?

Dom:[link to apartment listings on Craigslist]

* * *

A bottleof my cardamom coffee stout sat untouched on my desk as I scoured through years of beer recipe ideas in my notebooks. It looked like I was cramming for a final with books spread all around me. That I’d let my favorite home brew sit untouched and rise to room temperature should’ve been a clue I was stressed. I pored through scribbles about flavors I’d loved from other beers, weird ideas that had come to me, plans for future releases, but nothing seemed good enough for the competition.

It didn’t help that I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened at Caleb’s earlier. I was mortified.Hi, I’m a mess with daddy issues. You should totally keep kissing me.I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to pretend the kiss never happened and keep a professional distance for the rest of the time we had to work together before he fled town.

I didn’t know what had come over me. That was a complete lie. Iknewwhat had come over me, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t—or wouldn’t—stop it, control it. I’d been attracted to plenty of guys over the years, but had always been able to hold back when I’d wanted. Then again, I’d never been so immediately drawn to someone. The months of thinking about that “cute guy who got away” must’ve fucked with my mind. If I hadn’t met Caleb and hit it off over a paper hobby I usually got teased about, spent the time after building him up as that guy who could’ve been, put him on a pedestal, jerked off over him, then it would’ve been easy to fall into a casual friendship with him like I had with other business owners in town.

Any vibe we’d cultivated was as good as gone, thanks to my little freak-out about seeing my dad’s stupid fucking cookbooks on Caleb’s bookshelf. Thousands of chefs were probably influenced by my dad’s work. Objectively, I knew that, but I’d never beenfacedwith it quite like that.

As soon as people found out my dad was a famous chef, they treated me differently. They expected amazing stories about my dad cooking elaborate holiday dinners or the celebrities I got to meet.Reality?I was lucky to get a call from my parents on Christmas whenever my dad was off cooking for someone famous.

I slammed my notebook closed and tossed it on my desk. No way would I get any work done. I should call it quits and sleep it off, then deal with the Caleb fallout tomorrow.

What if he asks me to introduce him to my dad? Or if he starts coming on super strong, like he thinks I can help his career?I never let myself get interested in anyone in the food industry for a reason. I would take a finance bro any day over a chef.

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