Page 39 of Finding My Charming

She laughed. “I don’t know about that. I think dating guys our age is risky business. You can’t expect too much from them. My mom constantly reminds me they’re not done developing yet.”

“I hate being the superior gender sometimes.”

“Preach, sister.”

After one more deep breath, I sat back up. “Thanks for the pep talk. I’m going to head home.”

“Drive safe and call me tomorrow.”

“Will do.”

We hung up, and I shifted my car into gear and put distance between me and the bakery. I took a sip of my drink and sighed.

Dang it. This is the last one I’ll ever have from there.

Chapter 15

work had passed in a blur this week. Things had picked up, and Sherrie and I were forced to actually work. Today, though, my brain had decided to shut off since it knew I was leaving early.

The boss was letting me off at lunch, so I could be available to help his boss, Mom, set up everything for the fundraiser.

Ari texted me during work, telling me to hurry to her house afterward to drive together, but when I got there, she was up in her room lounging on her bed.

“Why aren’t you ready to go?” I was normally the one dragging my feet and wanting to stay in and watch movies with a big bowl of popcorn, but it looked like we’d switched places.

“I’ve been checking through pictures to see if anyone posted more.”

“Anything good?” I bounced toward her on the bed and looked over her shoulder at her phone.

She ignored me and kept swiping through. “There are a few new ones, but I don’t really know who I’m looking for. I did see some cute guys though.”

“Really? Show me!” I scooted even closer, forcing her to share.

Her finger grazed the screen several times before stopping. “Him.”

He was cute. Longish blond hair and blue eyes. Very all-American, boy-next-door. “Eh… I don’t recognize him.”

“Okay, hold on.” She swiped through a few more images.

I snatched the phone away, went back a few pages, and studied the picture. My heart began racing when recognition set in. “Ari! That’s him! That’s Hat, number two!”

“Double-star boy? Let me look.” She stole the phone back and zoomed in. “Holy crap, Elle!” She looked up at me then dropped back to the phone. “Why didn’t you mention how impossibly gorgeous he was?”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but she was on a roll.

“This is DEFCON 1! If this was my mystery man, I would be putting up posters! I’d be walking every street of the city until I found him! I’d be making a sappy video to get the attention of the news or a celebrity to help me find him!” She finally ran out of steam and was staring at me with her mouth agape.

“I did tell you he was gorgeous and had a sexy voice.”

“You should have forced me into a blood oath with you to never stop searching. How did you walk away from him in the first place?”

I shrugged. The party had been overwhelming, and I’d really just wanted to find Ari or any of our other friends. I didn’t do well alone in those situations. “I was looking for you.”

“Don’t blame me for this! You walked away from the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.”

I silently agreed with her. He was model-worthy, and I’d walked right by. He could be the one I was looking for, and I’d literally passed him up to find my friends.

Ari focused back on her phone and after a few silent moments met my gaze. “It says he’s friends with some guys from school. Calvin. Do you remember him from chemistry?”