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“So two or three, huh?” I ask, my mind drifting into the imaginary future.I wonder if his kids will have his eyes. I wonder if he’ll tell lame Dad jokes all the time.
“Yeah,” says Mason. “But I’m also cool with whatever happens.”
“Same.”
“You know, we really should find some things to disagree about one of these days.”
“Pfft,” I say. “What fun would that be?”
3
MASON
That night, lying in bed, I can’t fall asleep. I’m consumed by thoughts of Haley. I keep thinking about how incredible she looked today, and how stupid it is that I’ve never noticed her like that before. Of course she’s also gorgeous without the dress and the heels and the makeup. I just never let myself acknowledge it.
Or maybe I knew it all along, but I refused to let myself look at her that way because I knew it would just fuck up our friendship.
On the match card tonight, her name was the only one I put a check mark next to. In the moment, I thought, hell, maybe there’s a chance she’ll put a check by my name, too. It seems so unlikely that she would, but if she did…
…well, that would change everything, wouldn’t it?
With a sigh, I reach over to grab my phone and check the time. It’s a quarter to one. Pulling up my texts, I send one to Haley, knowing her phone is on Do Not Disturb at this hour and that it won’t wake her up if she’s asleep.
Me: You still up?
Only a few seconds pass before the three dots appear by her name. She types something, stops, then types again.
Haley: Yeah. I’ll bring over the cookies.
The corner of my mouth lifts into a smile when I see her text. Late-night cookies have been a tradition of ours since forever. It’s the main reason I keep milk on hand.
I get out of bed and go into my kitchen to pour our glasses. I’ve just put the milk back in the fridge when I hear a knock at my apartment door. I go over to let Haley in, and when I open the door, I’m greeted by the sight of her in a long snowflake-print sleep shirt, a pair of boxers, and bare feet.
“Are those mine?” I ask, frowning at the familiar plaid.
“What?” Haley follows my gaze down. “Oh. Yeah. I’ve had these for months. Don’t you remember me telling you that I was borrowing them?”
Now that she mentions it, I do have a vague recollection of that moment. “Kind of.”
“If you want them back, just tell me. But I love sleeping in them. Super comfy.”
I swallow, fending off thoughts about my boxers on her naked curves. Has she ever touched herself while she’s wearing them? Fuck. Why would I even let myself wonder something like that?
“Keep ’em,” I say brusquely.
“Really? Thanks.” She grins at me and holds up the plate of cookies in her hand. “My latest batch of sugar cookies. I whipped them up earlier today.”
Despite all the hours Haley puts in at the bakery she works at, somehow she still has the energy and desire to work on developing her own recipes at home. I’ve tasted everything she’s made, and as far as I’m concerned she’s the best baker there is. She has a knack for getting flavors just right, and I swear you can actually taste the love and care she puts into her sweet treats.
I bite into one of her sugar cookies as soon as we get settled on my couch. After a moan of approval, I say, “Amazing. Ten out of ten.”
Haley beams. “Can you tell they’re dairy-free?”
“They are? Shit, I had no clue.” I grab another and confirm how delicious they are. “Perfection, Hales. When are you going to open up your own bakery?”
Haley sighs. “Oh, I don’t know. I know I’ve talked about doing that forever, but I’m not sure I can actually see it happening.”
“It’ll happen. You’ll do it.”
