Page 99 of Five Dates Between Friends

“You remembered,” she cooed, accepting the glass and taking a slow sip as she watched me over the rim. Those whiskey-colored eyes saw far too much. “Does this mean you took my advice?”

“And what advice would that be?”

She smiled. “Youseriouslykissed her.”

“Kissed who?” It couldn’t hurt to play dumb for a little while.

She laughed, the sound sweet and husky all at once. But before she could question me any further, Hunter appeared at her side. I was grateful for the distraction.

“Mack, how are you my man?” he asked and I bumped his offered fist.

“Doin’ well, what about you?”

“Also doin’ pretty well, but I’ll be even better with a beer.”

“Coming right up.”

The twinkle in Harley’s eye told me she knew exactly what I’d been doing all day, whether I wanted to admit it or not. It also promised we would be picking this conversation up later, which meant I would need to studiously avoid her for the rest of the night.

I sat Hunter’s local IPA on a coaster as my mind swung swiftly away from Chase (for the first time today) and straight to pies. A ball of nerves sat heavy in my stomach. Was I ready for a food truck? No, absolutely not. I’d only just decided that I might actually do something with my pies today, but seeing Hunter meant all I could now think about was the food truck. And if I didn’t at least ask him about it I was going to kick myself later.

I drummed my hands on the bar for a beat, then leaned in on my elbows like Harley had done not two minutes ago.

“You look like you got something on your mind,” Hunter said after a sip of beer.

I nodded, stomach churning. “Yeah, just–ah–just wondering if your guy found a buyer for his food truck?” I really hoped I didn’t sound as nervous as I felt.

Harley’s face split into a huge grin. “Mackenzie!” she crowed, wrapping my hands in hers. “Please tell me you are going to start selling your pies! This is amazing. Our deal still stands for the chocolate espresso for me, right?”

“Yes, Harley, it’ll be ready for you on Christmas Eve.”

She nodded happily.

Hunter cut in before she could say any more. “You serious, bro? That’s fucking cool. Last I heard, he’d had some luck with a guy but I can let him know you’re keen if it falls through.”

Disappointment made my stomach pitch, but I wasn’t surprised. “That’d be great, thanks.”

“No worries, I still need to try one of these pies of yours. Harley talks about them every chance she gets.”

She swatted his shoulder. “You’ll understand if I save you any at Christmas.” Her eyes swung to me. “Is it too late to order two?”

“Two it is,” I said and received a grin in response.

The conversation moved on as the bar filled with a festive Wednesday night crowd. But even as I served drinks and made conversation, my mind didn’t stray far from what might be next. I had no idea how I’d even make a food truck work, it wasn’t like I could bake in the truck, could I? No, more likely, as Chase had suggested, I’d bake at Rudi and then load them up into the truck. Could I really do it? I wasn’t sure, but Chase’s faith in me made me want to try.

33

CHASE

As a general rule,I didn’t like sleeping next to other people. I never had. I would tell myself that I just couldn’t do it, that sleeping next to another person made me restless and antsy no matter how tired I was. But maybe that had been aboutwhowas next to me. Because sleeping next to Mack was like taking some magical pill, making me sleep like the dead for a solid six hours.

Of course he would prove the exception to my long held rule. Was it just his presence? His warmth? It could be both of those things, or, more likely, it was the obscene amount of sex we were having that left me sated, boneless, and oh so sleepy.

Whatever the case, I woke up on Thursday morning refreshed and sore, in the best possible way. And, despite the hard length pressed against my hip, my mind was squarely focused on skating. Thanks to all of the aforementioned sex, I’d barely even managed to strap on one of my two (!) pairs yesterday. Mack tackled me before the laces were even done up and we’d had sex—again—on the floor. I had no regrets, obviously, but today I wanted to put them to good use.

Mack shifted, falling onto his back and I considered waking him up and having my way with him. He really did look delicious. My fingers twitched with the need to crawl along his chest, and follow his happy trail that disappeared under the edge of the duvet. No! Well, yes, but later.

With one last look at him, I slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. He was going to wake up soon enough, when I started skating around his living room, but I would do my best to be quiet until then.

---