Page 21 of Perfect Blend

His smile soothed something deep within me. “See you there.”

I couldn’t wait to fall asleep so I could wake up and see Dave again.

CHAPTER7

DAVE

Bricker: Any chance you’re still awake?

JavaJackOfAllTrades: Yeah, can’t sleep. You can’t fall asleep either?

Bricker: Nope. Brain is running wild, but I don’t want to deal with it. Thinking about watching Schitt’s Creek.

JavaJackOfAllTrades: That’s a great idea. Maybe it’ll help me relax too. The usual start?

Bricker: Perfect. How would you define Patrick’s eyes when he meets David? A) Fond. B) Heart-eyes. C) Doe-eyed.

- - -

“You’re doingthe thing with your face again.” Izzy flashed a knowing smirk.

“What am I doing with my face?” I offloaded another tray of muffins into the pastry case. Thank the Costco gods for getting me through the Pride weekend crowds.

I thought of Mikey’s lips against mine for the millionth time that day and fought to stop myself from touching my mouth.

“That. The smiling. It’s gross.” Izzy’s tone was teasing.

“What can I say? Pride weekend makes me happy.” I closed the back of the pastry case while Izzy replenished the rack of clean mugs.

“Right.Pride weekend.Speaking of things that make you happy, where’s Mikey?”

“He’s coming in soon.” I felt my cheeks pull taut with another smile. The front door chimed. “Customer incoming. Better get to it.”

“Saved by the bell,” they said.

I laughed as I returned to the tiny kitchen to put away the tray and clean up the muffin packaging. I stopped and let myself feel all the goofy giddiness for a moment. That I hadn’t messed up something as simple as an Americano was an impressive feat with how distracted I’d been all day.

Sleep had eluded me most of the night as I teetered between undiluted excitement and trying to figure out what the kiss had meant. Had it been a one-off release of tension? The natural progression of our flirting? Fulfilling a childhood fantasy? Getting caught up in clicking with the first cute guy I’d spent any real in-person time with since my divorce? Or was there something real between us?My conversations with Bricker had made me ponder the possibility of dipping my toe into the dating pool for a while but kissing Mikey had me ready to dive in headfirst.

My mind wandered to Bricker, and I wondered how he was doing. I’d worried about him last night, but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it. That was part of what I appreciated about our friendship—how we could simply exist with each other with no expectations. I pulled out my phone and saw a message from him.

Bricker: How did it go with your “friend” and the “project?”

JavaJackOfAllTrades: Lol, really well. I had a good time.

Bricker: Yeah? That’s good. Patrick’s eyes lull you to sleep last night too?

JavaJackOfAllTrades: Of course, haha. How’d it go with your “business meeting” with the date-worthy person?

Bricker: Really well.

JavaJackOfAllTrades: That’s great!

I wanted to tell Bricker more but felt weird talking to him about a guy I was interested in. Ridiculous. I’d been able to talk to him about everything else. Hell, I sorta had feelings for him. I knew nothing would come of it, but he’d been instrumental in getting me to a point where I could kiss Mikey and be happy about it.

Bricker: I like him. [grimace emoji]

JavaJackOfAllTrades: Yeah? That’s a big deal. You’ve been pretty meh about dating.

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