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See you there, cutie
Allie had planned out my brother‘s thirtieth birthday, booking up the restaurant for a Sunday dinner with custom cocktails for a huge chunk of his family and friends. I was glad Luna was invited too since she was part of the bridal party. Even though I wouldn’t be able to act the way I wanted to around her, it would still be nice to see her. I’d been seeing her so often while we navigated the stress of Nicky being in danger that I’d gotten used to it. I had no idea how the hell I was going to go back to seeing her once a week when things settled. I expected her to enforce the rules again when circumstances changed; it was only a matter of time before she withdrew. Hell, I was blessed a thousand times over that she’d bent the rules as hard as she had to be there for me.
I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before Luna so I was able to see her whole face brighten when she saw me before my gaze drifted to the snug red dress she wore, and the way her curls shone in the lighting. She gave me a wink, diverting first to hug Allie and wish Sidney a happy birthday before hugging Nicky, Meg, and then me. I swallowed my disappointment at the order. I knew it was to keep people from asking questions, but I didn’t have to like it. I made sure not to hold her too long or lift her face to mine so I could remind myself what she tasted like.
A small perk of not being able to attach myself to Luna was that I got to observe her. Every smile and laugh out of her was a treasure. I was grateful that others could elicit those things from her too. She deserved every ounce of happiness she could get in this world.
“You’re staring.”
I jolted, turning sharply to Jasper, who watched me with an amused expression.
“Don’t worry,” he assured me. “I won’t say a thing. It’s cute.”
Warm suffused my cheeks. “I didn’t mean to stare.”
Hopefully no one else was watching me while I was watching Luna. At least Jasper felt safe enough to be the one who’d caught me.
“Any reason you haven’t asked her out yet?” Jasper asked quietly so no one would overhear.
I bit my tongue, unsure how to respond. I settled on half honesty. “Mixing romance into a friend group stresses her out. I don’t want to be another source of stress in her life. Too risky.”
Jasper’s warm brown gaze scrutinized me, but in the end he sighed softly and nodded. “The right person is worth the risk, but it’s not my place to tell anyone what the right choice is when it comes to their own lives.”
“Do you think she’d say yes if I asked?” I couldn’t tell him that I already had, that I knew the answer, but I was curious what he thought.
Jasper shrugged. “Hard to say. I don’t know her beyond the couple times we’ve met, but Nicky says you’re a great guy and I trust her judgment. That’s usually a step in the right direction toward winning someone over. I’ve seen her looking at you a lot tonight, though, for what it’s worth.”
“Really?” I hadn’t noticed her doing it, but maybe we’d been missing each other’s gaze.
“Mhmm,” Jasper replied. “If nothing else, she appreciates the view.”
I covered my laugh with my hand so I didn’t attract attention. “Can I ask you a business question?”
“Sure.”
“I know you said I only had to take the safety course, but I found this one program. It’s a few months long and it covers all of the baking basics, plus all the safety and business practices, plus a co-op placement. Do you think that would be good?” I pulled up the program on my phone so Jasper could look at it.
“You won’t need the cakes portion to work with me, but everything else looks great. When does it start?”
“Early January, so three weeks. It’s six months long, and that feels a lot less panicky than a four-year degree.”
“Sounds perfect. We’re working on a new facility and Billie convinced me to open a second location of Go With The Dough so you’d be finishing up with enough time to get some practical experience before I’ll need the extra help. Send me whatever I need to get you on for the co-op once your classes are done.”
The idea of going back to school should’ve terrified me with how miserable I had been the last time I was there, but I thrived with hands-on learning so I was reasonably confident I could do it.
Luna popped over after she had made her rounds with everyone else and sat next to me with a pink cocktail in her hand. “What are you two chatting about over here?”
“Luca’s going back to school,” Jasper replied for me.
Luna perked up. “Really? You finally found a program you like?”
“I think so,” I said. “Hard to know until I’m in it.”
“He keeps making me wait,” Jasper said with a laugh. “I’ve been trying to get him into my bakery.”
“Luca does things in his own sweet time,” Luna said. “The wait will be worth it.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just going to check in with my pack.”
