With a gusty sigh, Aspen whirled around to place the batter inside the oven.And because it was her destiny to own a shop where nothing worked as it should at the moment, Aspen jiggled the handle of the oven to turn off the interior light of the baking device.
Although Aspen moved to the next task to clear the remnants of her latest batch of goodies, it seemed her friend wasn’t quite through with the Connor conversation.“Let’s not forget about him whisking you off the floor and cuddling you against him.”
Aspen’s mind immediately traced its way back to the memory.She wouldn’t say cuddling, but she damn sure knew it felt amazing, even if he wasn’t having the same...moment.
But alas, this ‘what if’ mode wasn’t helping her bakery, nor was it quenching her girlie parts that seemed to ache more for human physical contact instead of her battery-operated, bedside boyfriend.
“And what about you, huh?”Aspen asked, and smiled at the deer-in-the-headlights look of Mia.
“What about me?”
“Let’s start with this morning’s stellar‘Mega Milk Mishap’shall we?”Aspen’s teasing voice certainly had Mia flustered.Direct hit.“Now, I’m not crying over spilt milk.Nuh-uh.I’m talking about you batting your beautiful brown eyes at the guy who rushed to your side to take your hand like a gallant knight aiding a damsel in distress.”
It was obvious to Aspen, and the residents of the downtown block in which the bakery was located, that there was romance brewing between the cute hockey boy and Mia.
“My brother???Ewwwww.”
“No, dummy.That cute little hockey player your brother pushed out of the way.”
Mia just stared.
“You didn’t notice?Your brother acted like it was the most normal thing in the world to push the poor kid away.I could tell he really wanted to get to you.”
When Mia opened and closed her mouth a few times without speaking, Aspen took the opportunity to press forward.
“Oh, don’t think I didn’t notice the scene.The way you two were stealing glances at each other was enough to cause my own stomach to flutter, like when Samantha and Jake kissed at the end ofSixteen Candles.”
Mia adjusted her ponytail.“Seriously?Whatever.”
“And the guy could barely hold himself back when he thought you might have been burned by the milk.It’s like he wanted to crash your brother into the wall like they do in hockey when Dante pushed him aside to render aid to you.A real knight in shining armor, Matt is.But he couldn’t bypass your brother so he just shot you more smoldering stares while he cleaned up the milk.Yup.”
Aspen was on a roll.
“Crash?What in the hell are you talking about?”The look of utter confusion that crossed Mia’s face as she attempted to follow Aspen’s rant was adorable.She then instantly started nibbling the tip of her thumb.“And you think Matt was looking at me?”
Aspen’s knowledge of hockey mirrored her understanding of microbiology, which was a sum total of zilch.She could, however, pinpoint the attraction between Matt and Mia.“You know?Crash?I’ve seen it on the news when a player crashes another guy into the wall?”
Mia’s grin widened, causing her chocolate-colored eyes to twinkle in merriment.“You mean check them?Check them into the boards?But let’s not lose sight of your smoldering stare comment.Do you think Matt was into me?”
“Oh, come on, Mia.He was totally having eye sex with you.”Unlike the muscled monolith whose indifferent response to Aspen had her questioning what may or may not have taken place between them.
“I don’t think so.Matt barely said two words the whole time he was in the shop.”
“Like he could,” Aspen called over her shoulder as she washed out the spent mixing bowls.“With your brother looming over you and yourUncleConnor acting like a warlord ready to decimate a medieval village; the poor guy didn’t know the day, let alone how to navigate the situation with you.”
“This is stupid,” Mia knocked the coffee grounds from the espresso machine’s sump into the compost drawer.“Even if I am attracted to Matt, there’s no way anything could happen.”
“And why the hell not?”Aspen turned to face Mia and plunked her hands on her hips for emphasis.
“Because...”
“Mmmm-hmmmm,” Aspen waited for the social-worker-in-training to find her words.
“Because I’ve never been attracted to a teammate of Dante’s.I have school starting.I’m working.I’m volunteering.Dante takes his role as captain very seriously and never wants anything to mess with the team’s chemistry, even if it’s in the off-season.”
Aspen called malarkey and raised an eyebrow to emphasize her point.
“Excuses, girly.None of those excuses are valid,” Aspen’s voice softened.Seeing the look of dismay on Mia’s face, she made her way over to her friend and slung an arm around her shoulder.“You’re young.You’re beautiful, and you have some time before school starts in the fall.It’s obvious you’re both attracted to one another.Go.For.It.”
