Page 114 of Friends Don't Kiss

Hey

I want your cupcake

I laugh despite me.

I’ll definitely bring cupcakes. Can you share?

Someone’s asking for trouble

Someone already found trouble

Damn girl, you’re making me hard

I didn’t do anything

…

…

I spend my day off baking for the meeting tonight, daydreaming about Colton. I hear his footsteps run up the stairs an hour before the meeting is set to start and decide to leave early so we’re not arriving together.

Town Hall is on Old Farmway Road, right off The Green. It’s a simple building with white clapboard siding, a central front door, symmetrical windows, a gabled roof and a belfry. Inside, there are two offices, and a large meeting room with exposed beams. The wooden floors, high ceilings, and simple architecture all contribute to a welcoming atmosphere. Rows of foldable chairs face a podium with a long wooden table where six people are already seated, shuffling papers, whispering among each other. By the time I have my baked goods set at the back of the room, the five selectpersons are facing us, shuffling through papers and whispering to each other, while Ms. Angela, sits at the top, a laptop open in front of her.

I slide in next to Chloe, who’s sitting next to Emma, leaving the chair to my right empty for latecomers.

Cassandra taps her microphone to bring silence to the room and calls the meeting open. “First order of business is to appoint our chairperson, since Stan, who left recently, filled that function. I’d like to make a motion to appoint Colton Harper.”

My heartbeat picks up. Colton stepped in to be on the board out of a sense of duty. I can’t see him happy to be in the limelight. Surely Owen wants to be the chair. It fits his personality to a T.

Colton’s head snaps up from his papers. Like I thought, he was not expecting that.

“I’ll second that,” Owen says.

Now here’s a surprise. I thought there was history between these two, and I didn’t think either of them was over it.

Looks like I’m wrong.

“All those in favor?”

Four ayes sound, and Angela types as fast as she can with two fingers on the laptop.

Colton won’t be happy to be on the forefront, having to lead discussions. But I’m happy. This will be great for him. And he’ll be great for the town. I’m so proud of him it hurts.

He scans the room and his gaze locks with mine. I give him a small thumbs up. One of his eyebrows shoots up while the corners of his mouth dip down in mock deprecation.This.This moment of silent complicity, of knowing I’m going home with him later. That I’ll be snuggling with him. That I’ll be telling him how proud of him I am, even if it annoys him—especially if it annoys him. These little things make the scariness of a relationship worthwhile.

“Next time you sit in the middle!” Nathaniel, an old man who does everything that needs to be done around town, bellows from his front-row seat. Colton’s gaze turns to him and he gives him a small smile.

Ms. Angela nods. “I was going to say just that.”

Chloe elbows me. “Look at that, your man is head honcho now,” she whispers, making me chuckle.

Colton clears his throat and reads from the paper he’s been toying with since he got here. “A’right, I guess I’m taking over.”

“Yeah!” someone behind me shouts.

Colton continues. “Next on the agenda is Declan—Officer Campbell’s report on recent incidents.”

A woman squeezes by and sits on the empty chair to my right. A discreet waft of jasmine and citrus emanates from her, making me instantly relax. “I want to hear that,” she says. “It’s not good for business, this vandalism.” I turn my head and realize it’s Maddie.

---