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We continued walking, enjoying catching up with each other. She told me all about her life in Tampa and how she’d gone crazy for a few years. She told me how exciting her first job was because it was for a business that really focused on employee wellness. But despite it being so great by providing snacks around the clock and having mental relaxation rooms, it still turned pretty sour when her boss was sleeping with his secretary. The toxic work environment and legal battles resulted in a mass exodus of the company’s workers, including Tiffany.
Then she asked me about how life was on the island after college, and she actually gave me time to tell her things without interruption. She genuinely listened and engaged without turning the conversation back around to herself, checking off one of my biggest requirements for a woman I will date.
“This is me,” She said softly, still not having let go of my hand. I turned towards her, genuinely happy that I had agreed to walk her today. It better prepared me for our date on Friday, and I was looking forward to it now more than ever. “Thanks for walking with me.”
“Anytime. Let’s do it again sometime?”
“I’d love that,” She answered, dropping my hand and wrapping her arms around me in a hug. I returned it easily, and then she left, walking into her building. I took that time to admire her slender figure and professional skirt that showed off her amazing calves.
This was good. Finally, a girl that I could start a relationship with that I liked.
11
Isabella
Isatatthecounter in my sister’s new home, watching as Emma danced around the kitchen in her pink gingham apron, singing to the music their Alexa was playing. She used a wooden spatula—one that was definitely dripping red sauce—as her microphone, leaning into Liam as she shouted a lyric about their love. His warm eyes watched her with adoration, no matter how silly or messy her actions were.
It was wild to me how, in such a short amount of time, their animosity for one another had turned into such an intense love. It had been nearly a year since Liam proposed, and they still gave each other the biggest googly eyes I’d ever seen. The love they showed to each other melted my heart while simultaneously causing a tiny green monster to rear its ugly head at me. But the likelihood of me finding what they had was slim, especially since the one chance I thought I had ended so catastrophically.
“You never sing with me,” Emma complained, shoving her freshly coated spatula microphone in Liam’s face.
He smirked, leaning forward to lick the red sauce off the spoon. “No need to add to what is already a spectacular show, baby.”
“Thank you,” she said pridefully. “But I need a backup singer.”
“I think that is a job better suited for your sister,” Liam answered, shooting me a devious glance.
“Nope! Not backup singer material! A dying cat chorus would be better suited for my vocal talents.”
Emma huffed, turning back to the sauce and pasta she was cooking. Not only was my sister an excellent baker, but she had also really gotten into cooking ever since moving in with Liam. So when she invited me over tonight for homemade lasagna with freshly made noodles and sauce, I wasn’t going to turn her offer down. Especially since it was Friday, and the blind date I was supposed to go on never got planned because Landon had decided that he wanted to go out with someone of his choosing and therefore didn’t need to set one up for me.
But I wasn’t annoyed. Or bitter. Or anything.
He could enjoy his date to who knows where, and I would enjoy Emma’s scratch-made lasagna.
I hummed to the new song that came on as Emma started to assemble the layers of the lasagna. Every move she made seemed to be to the beat of the music, and I nearly laughed at how cute it was. She had always been so unapologetically herself, wearing almost exclusively pink and being so bubbly and fun all the time. It was no wonder that Liam—who externally had the facade of a saltine cracker—was attracted to her. Because of opposites and all that jazz.
“Okay! Now that the lasagna is in, we can have our appetizer and wine!” Emma squealed, walking into her chef’s pantry to grab whatever the appetizer was. Their new house was huge, and the kitchen we were in now was the size of an industrial one. The marble countertops extended forever, giving plenty of preparation room for Emma and Landon in their cooking and baking adventures. They had a chef’s pantry, which was a fancy way of saying a secondary kitchen with enough cabinet space to stock a department store. There was even a large industrial fridge in there. Despite only the two of them living here, I knew they loved to have friends and even employees over for themed parties, which I knew was solely Emma’s idea. And Liam loved her enough to play along.
When she emerged, she had a massive charcuterie board in her hands, overflowing with cheeses, crackers, and fruits.
She walked it to the large island I was seated at, placing it down within arm's reach.
“This is too pretty for me to eat,” I told her, admiring what had to have been hours of preparation. The salami and pepperonis were wrapped into little roses, and the cheeses were cut into tiny flat squares, aligned in little swirls on the board surrounding the meats. The grapes were placed carefully in spots, along with strawberries cut accordion-style. Crackers of four different varieties were nestled between everything, filling the board completely. There were other things on the board I couldn’t even name, and I was so impressed with her hard work.
“Oh, please. I made it knowing it would get destroyed in five seconds, so please. Eat it. I’ll pour the wine.”
“Baby, I’ll get it,” Liam said, putting his hands on Emma’s shoulders and directing her around the island to sit next to me. After bending to press a kiss to her head, he walked back into the pantry where I knew there was also a fully stocked wine fridge. I used that time to determine which part of the charcuterie board I would be ruining first, and decided to take some cheese and salami first. I’m sure that Emma knew exactly what type of cheese this was and how it paired perfectly with the cold meats on the tray, but all I cared about was that it tasted delicious. In fact, I couldn't help myself as I continued pulling things off of the board.
“Where did you say Landon was tonight? He never misses dinner here.” Emma reached in front of me to pull her own little stack off of the charcuterie board, and I finished eating what was in my mouth before responding.
“I didn’t. He’s actually on a date tonight.” I tried to keep any bitterness out of my voice, still not over the whole situation.
“He is?” She gave me a shocked look, as though she couldn’t believe that a grown man would go on a date. The cheese, meat, and cracker stack she was about to eat was in front of her mouth, which was open.
“Yeah. A girl we went to college with actually that just moved to the island.” I shrugged, turning to the food and hoping that she would drop it. Liam emerged from the pantry with a chilled bottle of wine. Red, by the looks of it.
“Landon?” Liam asked, the same confusion on his face. Emma gave him a look, and I’m sure they were having a completely silent conversation that only they could understand. When Liam looked back at me, he still seemed confused. “As in your roommate?”
