Page 8 of Something Cheeky

“Look! A table opened up.” Zoe pointed and grabbed Derek’s arm.

Derek happily let her pull him to a corner near the front of the café. Once they arrived at the table, it was obvious why it was unoccupied. It was barely big enough to be a plant stand. Not only was it tiny, but someone had taken the chairs. At least the corner provided some privacy.

“This is weird, Derek,” Zoe said as she maneuvered herself next to the wall.

“No weirder than you ghosting me after graduation.” He slid in opposite her, their bodies only a couple feet apart. A whiff of her lavender-and-honey perfume transported him back to their late-night rooftop conversations during college.

“You could’ve tried harder,” she said, avoiding his eyes.

Derek took a step back to clear his nose of her sweet, intoxicating scent. A half-step was all the space allowed. He couldn’tbelieve she was still wearing the same perfume after all this time. He wanted to tell her everything about their time apart. But he had six weeks in DC. It was more than enough time to catch up.

“I did. I texted you every day during my first month in New York.” He bit his lip. Did he sound lonely or, worse, desperate for her attention? But that first monthhadbeen lonely. Everything he’d done for the first time in the city reminded him that she was supposed to be there with him.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I swear I read all of them, but I was working nights at my parents’ restaurant. By the time I remembered to respond to them...”

“It felt too awkward?” he finished for her.

“I’m a terrible friend.” Zoe grimaced in embarrassment. “I really meant to text you back, but after you stopped I thought you were mad at me.”

“Oh.” Relief flooded his body. She hadn’t completely abandoned him after all.

“You weren’t the only person I did that to,” she confessed. “I was burned out after school and it seemed like a good time to disconnect from everything. Everyone.”

“Even me?” He couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice.

“I hoped that you were killing it in New York. Which you are.” She smiled hopefully.

“I thought you were mad at me,” he said bluntly. “I wrote you that long email.”

“No,youwere mad withme,” Zoe said adamantly.

“Maybe a little,” he lied, but changed his mind. “I was angry. We were supposed to go to New York together. Start our careers together.”

“I’m sorry I let you down.” She looked straight into his eyes. “I felt horrible about ruining your plans and it was hard to face you. But I saved your long email.”

Derek studied her as her words sank in. All this time, he had felt guilty about pushing her to do something she wasn’t ready to do. It turned out they’d been so worried about their postgraduation plans that they’d failed to really listen to each other.

“I should’ve supported you better when you changed majors,” he finally said. “I was a jerk.”

“We were both jerks to each other. Senior year was hard.” She shrugged. “That’s in the past. I’m happy with my boutique.”

“I’m glad. You’re meant to do great things.”

“I don’t know about that, but I’m helping people.” Zoe shrugged.

Derek pushed his glasses up and stuck his hands in his pockets to keep himself from giving her a bear hug. He’d apologized and she’d done the same. Now they could try to mend their friendship. Maybe he’d convince her to let it grow into something more.

“How about we leave the past behind us and try again?” he suggested.

“I’d like that.” She smiled and nodded. “Now back to my question. What are you doing in DC?”

“Z, you haven’t changed. You look fantastic,” he noted, avoiding her question. The tingling of nerves crept back across his body again. He didn’t want her to think he’d only come here to ask her to work with him.

“You know Asian don’t raisin.” She placed her hands under her chin, kicked up her back leg like an anime character, and batted her eyelashes. Or at least as much as she could crunched into the corner.

Derek shook his head at her bad joke. Could she be any more fucking adorable?

“You look really good, too.” Zoe gestured at his head down to his legs. “Glad to see your fashion sense has improved.”

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