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“Okay, but I don’t need to hear any more. I need to focus on schooling you in B-ball, my bro.”
He shakes his head, but he doesn’t have a comeback to my banter. “Seriously, Aria’s a really great person.”
“I know.” I bring my leg up behind me to stretch my hamstring. “She’s processing a lot of stuff, though.”
“That’s it? You can give it some time, you know. Or are you not patient enough?”
I grab the basketball at my feet and dribble it down the court. And there’s no question I’m going to make a beeline for the exit the second this game is over.
I am patient enough. She’s worth every ounce of patience I can muster.
I walk out the doors of the rec center, trying to hurry home so Jesse won’t bug me again about Aria or gloat about beating me, when I hold the door open for a guy who works at Shorty’s.
“Hey, it’s the delivery guy for Shorty’s Bakeshop!”
He stops and eyes me curiously. “Yeah. Hey.” He’s guarded, suspicious.
“I’m Theo. I work next door, so I’ve seen you around.”
He nods and narrows his eyes, looking me up and down. Because I’m a glutton for punishment, and probably because I want to relish in anything and everything that even remotely has to do with Aria, I keep talking. “How are you liking the job, Elijah?”
He nods and then bunches up his mouth before answering. “I like it. I need more hours, though.”
“Business is booming, so hopefully they can start giving you more to do soon.”
He nods. “Hope so.” With his tight expression and slump of his shoulders, it seems the poor kid has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Well, I guess we’ll see you around,” I say.
I like interacting with people when I’m out and about. There’s something kind of nice about connecting with strangers on an elevator, or in this case, coming and going from the rec. And with Elijah, I’m glad I did. It seemed like he needed some kindness.
But I don’t put two and two together until I sit down at home with my dog, Moose. It’s over a bowl of Froot Loops, my computer open to a program with details on my caseload, that I start connecting the dots.
I’m shocked.
Chapter 20
Aria
I’m working in the bakeshop and thanks to Camilla and her obsession with playing that Justin Bieber song about mistletoe on repeat, I’ve got all things Theo on the brain. She’s defending her decision because she’s in love with her husband Jesse, so she’s drawn to all those sweet, mushy songs. Also, the song has the word that sounds like “shorty,” so she says it’s our store’s anthem.
In a few short hours, Theo and I will be co-hosting the big VIP dinner, and despite getting a million little things ready here and there throughout the day, the prevailing thought on my brain is about Theo himself.
I haven’t seen him in a few days, and as idiotic as it sounds, I’ve sort of missed him.
Not in an “I Love You” sort of way, but in an “I’d Love to Hang Out Together” sort of way.
But it’s good that we haven’t seen each other. First and foremost, I don’t want to hazard the possibility that he’ll bring up the kiss. And our strictly business texts about the VIP dinner leave no room for dalliance into discussions of other things.
Other things. Like feelings and rebound kisses.
But also, I’ve been putting in extra hours on my design and branding work before and after my time at Shorty’s, and it feels nice crossing things off my to-do list and helping the festival in any way I can.
I don’t love that I don’t know exactly what I’ll do in my future. I know I need to move on—to spend my time doing what will fill me up long term.
But Shorty’s is like my bubblegum pink, puffy coat on a cold Colorado day: protective, warm, secure. I’m not sure I’m ready to try to cut it out there in the big, bad, real world.
When Theo walks into the bakeshop right before I’m off at five, I get a thrill up and down my spine. It’s like a zipper being zipped up and then unzipped.
