Page 97 of 10 Ways to Accidentally Fall in Love

I pause, pulling the bag away from the cake as I face Brad. “The one time you don’t say cream…”

His brow furrows, but then he gets it. “Fuck! Okay, okay. Hey, Joey—”

“I’m back,” my mom calls, the door closing behind her.

Brad’s eyes widen. “Cream me, Chef,” he says quickly and quietly, leaving me to choke on absolutely nothing as he turns toward the front of the house. “Welcome back, Mama D! Don’t come in the kitchen, please. Not because we’re naked. Justbecause there’s a surprise we don’t want you to see. Promise, we’re not naked.”

My mom laughs softly while I attempt to get my lungs working again. “How about I leave my bag out here and you come grab it?” she says. “It needs to go in the fridge.”

“Will do,” Brad says, jogging off to intercept the crab.

“Good grief,” I mutter. “I guess I asked for it.”

Brad brings the crab into the kitchen, putting it in the fridge as my mom makes a show of passing with her hand over her eyes. It doesn’t take long for us to finish decorating the cake. Once the flowers are done, I pipe a border along the bottom edge, and Brad adds three candles on top, one for each decade of life, as he tells me.

“Because surely your mom can’t be older than thirty,” he yells.

“Number one, I doubt she can hear you all the way outside,” I tell him, carefully putting the cake under a large dome to help keep it hidden for now. “Number two, I’m twenty-nine. Which makes that entirely impossible.”

Hepshts. “Your mom is lovely, and she should know it. I’ll miss her when we go back.”

“Yeah,” I say, my chest feeling tight. Not only becauseyes, I’ll miss my mom, too. But because of the effortless way in which Brad adores her and has from the beginning, as if there was never any doubt. As if, maybe, he loves her simply because I do. “Why, uh…why don’t we let her know the kitchen is open?”

Brad nods, and, after one final check to make sure everything is put away, we head outside. As my mom makes dinner, telling us under no circumstances are we to help because we’ve done enough, Brad and I take a seat under the shade of the gazebo, him with an iced coffee, me with an iced tea.

“I always wanted to visit the ocean,” he says almost wistfully, the breeze ruffling his hair. “Thanks for making that happen, Joey-roo.”

“We can come back anytime you’d like,” I tell him, meaning it and hoping beyond hope there’s a reason for Brad to continue coming back with me after this. After we pass our one-month mark when Brad and I will decide whether or not this is working.

It has to work. It already is, isn’t it? I refuse to believe it’s only me.

My mom finds us out under the gazebo before long, dinner in tow. Accompanying the crab cakes is a lemon, feta, and tomato orzo dish. As always, the food is delicious, and Brad compliments my mom with genuine appreciation.

Once we’re done with our meal, Brad and I clean up the dishes and bring the cake outside. I leave the dome on and jog back into the house for the lighter I forgot. I’m rooting around in the kitchen drawers looking for it when my mom steps inside.

“I love him,” she says.

I close a drawer and try another, my heart beating fast. “So you told me.”

“And I’m telling you again. He’s perfect for you, Joey. He’s a light. He’ll make you happy.”

“He already does,” I admit, trying another drawer. “Where’s the lighter?”

My mom walks around the counter, opening a cupboard. “Here.”

“You moved it.”

She shrugs. “Reorganized. You’re in love with him.”

I nearly fumble the lighter at her blunt assessment, managing to catch it just before it falls to the floor.

“I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him,” she goes on, her voice soft. “When are you going to tell him?”

I let out a slow breath, holding on to the countertop for support. I could tell her it’s complicated, that Brad is more than a friend but not quite a boyfriend—which she knows, if not in precise detail. I could tell her this is new for him, and I don’twant to rush him in any way—a fact she also knows. I could try to deny her claim altogether, feign ignorance, but I know there’s no use.

The only thing I can say is what I know to be true. “Soon.”

She nods, an approving smile on her face. “Come on. Let’s not leave him waiting.”

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