Page 70 of The Soulmate Bakery

‘My favourite types of conversations,’ I said, airily. I sounded like someone else. Someone different and more confident. Not bad different, just not me.

Silas grinned even wider. ‘Well, I’m happy to oblige. Want to go to Starshow Cinemas after school tomorrow to continue it? We’re due one out-of-school-hours hang-out that doesn’t end in one of us falling off a table.’

Usually I’d have my shift at the Treasure Trove, but Orion would understand, right? After all, this would help us lift the curse.

‘Yeah, that’d be great,’ I replied, smiling brightly.

‘Good,’ Silas said, and then took a step backwards. ‘I’ll text you the details. You rest up, Maya, and text me if you need anything, would you?’

I nodded and leaned against the door as I watched him walk away. I probably looked like my eyes had turned into cartoon hearts, and, OK, maybe the sigh that left my lips was a little excessive. But sue me; Silas’s display of kindness was enough to make me swoon.

RAVEN

I’m assuming you’re up now – we’re at the Treasure Trove if you want to meet us.

I was tempted to go back inside, crawl into my bed and pretend I didn’t need to come face to face with Orion. But hiding never served me well. Plus, at least at the Treasure Trove I could bake, and everything was less awful when surrounded by cake.

The bakery was buzzing when I arrived; there was a now-familiar line going down the street, filled with faeries, dragons, goblins, werewolves and vampires. I peeked at them through the kitchen doorway, where Melodie, Raven and Sofia were handling the bustling crowd.

Today, they were trying my new bake: foxfire eclaires. I still felt that clench of guilt in my stomach at what the Wishing Well must look like – a place I was now avoiding like the plague – but it was often overwhelmed by the delight I felt at people loving my creations.

‘Spying, Reverie?’

I jerked away from the door and spun around to face Orion. My apron was dappled with flour, and my fingers were all brightly orange. I looked like an entire mess, and Orion looked like … well … him.

He was spotless; his dragon-leather jacket crisp, his boots polished, jeans loose, dark-blue sweatshirt making the silver of his eyes stand out.

‘Not spying,’ I corrected, lightly. ‘Just, you know, looking.’

Orion’s mouth lifted slightly, making his eyes crinkle in the corners. ‘One day, you won’t have to peek, you know. You’ll be able to say you made those goods on your own.’

A warm flush climbed through my body. I never let myself dream out loud. I was so unused to someone praising my skills that I moved on to the thing that sat between us instead.

‘Thank you for last night. I saw – saw the video,’ I started, not wanting to dive into the whole confession I had blurted at him.

Orion didn’t even flinch, just held my gaze. ‘I was hardly going to let you fall, Reverie.’

Normally, I would’ve brushed off his words because they would’ve come with a teasing tone, or a needling edge. But something about the way he said them now felt weightier. Something had changed between us, and it made me feel all off-kilter.

‘And about what I said,’ I began, awkwardly twisting my orange-stained fingers. ‘Just forget it, please. It doesn’t matter any more. I am over it.’

Orion blinked. ‘You said that, yesterday.’

‘Yes,’ I enunciated slowly, because I didn’t want any tremor or crack to appear in my voice. ‘Those were feelings of a very emotional girl, who was super stupid –’

‘Hey,’ Orion chided, lightly. ‘That girl was my best friend for a summer. Watch your mouth.’

Unwillingly, a smile curved on my mouth. I couldn’t help it. This wasn’t us; we traded barbs, exchanged slights, annoyed each other to no end. Sure, we had moments of vulnerability, but it was never like this. We weren’t … blatant about it.

‘Well, either way, I don’t want to make anything awkward,’ I offered, raising one shoulder. ‘And I just wanted you to know, I understand where you were coming from now. A place of worry, not hate.’

Orion nodded, eagerly. ‘I never hated you. I’m sorry for how I spoke to you that night, and for not giving you a chance to explain. I should’ve put my own feelings aside to help.’

I rolled my eyes and teasingly folded my arms over my chest. ‘Your apology is only making it harder for me to apologize in return for thinking of creative ways to murder you for the last year.’

The corner of his mouth ticked upwards. ‘What did you settle on?’

‘Death by organized disorder,’ I said, with a grin. ‘I’d slowly ruin different parts of your life in small ways. Like slashing your tires, shrinking your jacket, you know, until you went crazy trying to work out what was happening.’