Candy Hearts, Vol. 2

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

CASIMIR

The colorful lights of Alter Ego's sign beckon Blaze and me to the club a block away. Cold air blankets the city streets, wrapping around the people hurrying into the club. Sunday nights aren't as crowded, I've been told, and I'm glad.

We found parking in a garage two blocks away, and I've spent our short walk wondering how tonight will go. Instead of dancing, we're taking part in a trivia night with his rugby buddies, held in a room above the club's main floor.

Streetlights cast spotlights over us, and Blaze, just as he did last night, takes my breath away. Clad in his leather jacket and dark jeans, he laces our fingers together. "Ready?"

"I hope so. My trivia knowledge might be very specific."

"No worries there. All of us have one thing we're good at. You'll see." He squeezes my hand and bumps me with his hip. "And you brought cookies, so you can do no wrong."

I glance at the box and hope he's right. No matter what happens with trivia, I'm glad I'm getting to spend time with him. Last night was great, but I want more.

Blaze's brewery closed at five today, and Sundays are my slowest day of the week. We do pick-up only, no deliveries, and I'm done by three. Our hours are fairly aligned, and that makes me ridiculously happy.

Holding the box close to my chest, I skirt around a woman walking a huge bulldog. "I've only been to Alter Ego once before, with Seth and Devonte last summer."

Blaze guides me closer to him. "I haven't been there that much either. My rugby club mates started coming years ago, and with Wyatt being a part-owner, we like to support him."

Wyatt's another of the rugby friends. "I met him at Seth's shop a few months ago. I was waiting on Seth to finish up for the night so we could go to dinner, and Wyatt came in to get flowers for someone's birthday."

"He's on the under-thirty team and has his hand in probably a dozen businesses." Blaze opens the door, and there's no more time to worry or wonder. It's happening.

The swell of music is like a tidal wave. People stream past us on their way to the dance floor, brushing by, too close, cutting off my footing, and I shrink into Blaze's side.

His arm bands around me. "You okay?"

I nod. "I just… don't want to get separated."

That's true enough.

He slides his hand to cup the back of my neck and leans down so we're nearly eye to eye. "No chance of that happening. I have you."

The words soothe and excite me. I can't resist trailing my finger along his stubble-covered cheek. "Thank you."

With a smile, he tilts his head, leans in, and my heartbeat ticks up in anticipation. I suck in a breath a second before his mouth meets mine. He's warm, lips soft yet firm, and his scent wraps around me like a hug.

"Looks like Cupid's arrows are hard at work." Seth's voice, coming from behind us, startles me into Blaze's chest. Our teeth clack together, our noses and foreheads bump, and the box of cookies falls from my grasp.

Holding his forehead, Blaze eyes me. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You?" I wait for his nod, then turn to Seth.

Expressions wavering between contrite and amused, he hands me the cookies. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine." Careful of the box, I hug him, then Devonte. Exhaustion paints both their faces. The week leading up to Valentine's Day is one of the busiest of the year for Seth, and Devonte's been helping him out. "You both look like you need a drink."

"Drinks, food, and friends." Devonte hugs Blaze. "Then sleep."

Seth glances at his phone. "Everyone else is already here. Let's go."

We trudge up the stairs and into a large room that has hearts and balloons everywhere, and ten tables filled with people.

Cam stands at a table along the far wall. Aspen is beside him, with a trio I haven't met before. No, make that five people who are new to me. Blaze told me who would be here, and gave me rundowns on everyone, but having that info isn't the same thing as actually knowing someone. The part of me that would get overwhelmed when all of my cousins gathered together, swooping around like mini hurricanes, quivers to life. I press closer to Blaze; the move is instinctual, and he wraps his arm around me.

Seth leads us over. Cam spies me and grins. "Good to see you again, Casimir."

I accept his handshake and set the box on the table. "I brought cookies for everyone."

His eyes light up and he pulls me into a bear hug. "I knew I liked you."

Laughing, I ease back. "I hope they're okay. The box got a little banged up on the way."

He pats my shoulder. "There's no such thing as a bad cookie."

"True." An extremely tall man with long blond hair extends his hand. "I'm Apollo. I'm a big fan of your lemon bar cookies."

"There's two of them in the box." I grin as his smile lights up his face and he reaches for the cookies.

His fiancé, Hercules, introduces himself next. He also has long hair, but his is dark, and I know I'm going to like the pair because they're foodies. Apollo seems quiet, and the way he stays near Hercules reminds me of my own social anxiety.

Aspen gives me a quick hug. Then Blaze, with the solid presence of his hand on my shoulder, walks me to the trio standing near Aspen's other side. "Casimir, meet Greer, Owen, and Storm."

The names click into place, along with the info Blaze shared earlier. Greer the actor and teacher, Owen the physical therapist, and everyone in the tri-state area knows Storm from Channel 6. I'm glad I can put faces to names. "Nice to meet everyone. Storm, I watch your forecasts every day. I feel like I already know you."

"It's great to meet you, Casimir. Thanks for watching." He flashes me the perfect white smile he's known for, and my knees go a little gooey. Wow, Storm Breen is even more handsome in person.

Beside me, Blaze chuckles. I poke my elbow into his side and turn my attention to the equally gorgeous man next to Storm. "And I've heard stories about you, Greer."

Greer gives a good-natured shrug. "If they're good, they're all true."

"They're good." Seth assures, patting my shoulder, then Greer's as he passes.

After shedding my coat, I settle onto a seat beside Blaze at the end of the table. We're tucked in the corner, and I like it back here, all cozy and close together.

He slides his hand through the back of my hair. "What are you drinking?"

A quick scan of the menu, and the perfect drink stands out. "The hot chocolate martini."

Blaze orders a beer, and Cam instructs us to help ourselves to the heaping plates of snacks at the table's center. After loading up on samples of everything, Blaze sets the plate in front of us so we can share and shifts his chair so close to mine, there isn't an inch of space remaining. He slides his arm around me, then angles his head at the guys gobbling cookies like they're jonesing for a sugar rush. "Your cookies are a big hit."

"I wasn't sure about bringing them, in case anyone thought it was weird, since this place serves food." I glance at the crispy potato wedges on our plate. "But I usually do in case I need an icebreaker." I don't add that, sometimes, bringing them is like a comfort object for me.

Blaze stabs a potato wedge with his fork and holds it up to my mouth. I take the delicious offering, loving the way his gaze stays on my lips as he talks. "I wouldn't be surprised if Wyatt grabs you later and wants to either sell your cookies here or come up with cocktails inspired by them."

Our drinks arrive. The hot chocolate martini comes with tiny marshmallows and is delicious. Chatting with this group is easy, and any qualms I had fade away.

A man with messy blondish hair, flopping over his forehead, and shoulders that pull his fitted sweater taut, stands before a large screen, holding a microphone. "Welcome to Valentine's Trivia. I'm Wyatt, tonight's quiz master."

Our table breaks out in cheers and whoops, and the attention of several tables swings our way. Laughing and clapping, I duck my head into Blaze's shoulder.

Wyatt waves at us. "Obviously, my fan club is here."

The rest of the crowd laughs and Greer raises his drink in toast.

Wyatt continues, "You all have sheets of paper on your tables. I'll read out the questions, and they'll also appear on the screen behind me. Fill in the answers, then we'll tally them, and the first, second, and third place teams will receive prizes."

A smattering of applause breaks out.

"Okay, first question. Why does chocolate melt in your hand?"

Various shrugs come from my table mates. I halfway raise my hand. "I know."

With a lazy grin, Blaze gestures for me to go ahead. "We're gonna ace this."

I push myself forward, leaning over the table, and pitch my tone lower so the table closest to us can't hear. "The heat from your hand raises the chocolate's temperature above its melting point, which is between eighty-six and ninety degrees." They're all looking at me, and though that's the answer, all that attention makes me want to keep talking as I sit back. "So, um. That's why. We're hotter than the chocolate."

"You bet we are." Greer winks at me, high-fives Aspen, then sips his drink.

Everyone's nodding at me and chuckling at Greer while Aspen writes down the answer.

"So smart." Blaze taps his beer to my glass. Heat rushing into my cheeks, I sip my drink and am relieved I was able to contribute to the group.

"Next question." Wyatt glances at his tablet. "Which mammal has the largest heart?"

Every head at our table swivels toward Apollo. Blaze told me he's a zoologist. Leaning into Hercules's side, he tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. "Whales."

He grins when Aspen gives him an appreciative thump on the shoulder, and I pass him the final lemon bar cookie. Nodding his thanks, he breaks it in half and shares it with Hercules.

Wyatt's voice booms out, "Which holiday sees more floral purchases, Valentine's Day or Mother's Day?"

Seth groans as he cracks his neck. "Valentine's Day."

"I'd believe that," I whisper to Blaze, taking full advantage of his nearness, resting my hand on his biceps, and inwardly swooning at the strength there. "With the cookie orders we're doing with the bouquets, I've had to buy more than double my normal stock of ingredients."

"What are the top three colors of roses sold on Valentine's Day?" Wyatt glances behind him, making sure the question appears on the screen.

Devonte looks up from massaging Seth's shoulder. "I know this from living with my sexy florist. Red, then pink, then white."

"Up next, what's the French word for love?"

"Amour," half of us murmur. We grin at each other. Aspen, after jotting down the word, murmurs it again to Cam before the two share a kiss.

Wyatt crosses from one side of the room to the other. "Which famous playwright coined the term star-crossed lovers?"

"Shakespeare." Greer taps the top of the paper, and Aspen raps his knuckle with a playful bop of the pencil.

"Who is the god of desire, affection, and attraction?"

Hercules leans into Apollo, taking his man's arm and tucking himself under it. "This is a Valentine's quiz, so the answer has to be Cupid."

"I think so too." Aspen writes in the answer.

"How many roses are produced for Valentine's Day each year?"

Seth covers his yawn with his hand. "It's something like two-hundred-fifty-million. And I feel like all of them have come through the shop."

Wyatt walks toward our table, then ruffles Greer's hair as he passes. Greer, in turn, chucks a truffle at him that Wyatt catches with laser-fast reflexes. "What's the top gift consumers give on Valentine's Day?"

"Candy?" My guess is only that. "All those boxes of chocolate and conversation hearts."

Blaze snags a pink conversation heart from a bowl and hands it to me. "Sounds right."

The heart says too cute . And heat flashes through me.

The rest of our group has a small debate over whether we need to be more specific by stating chocolate, or if candy is too generic. Hercules says we should stick with candy, so we do.

"This next question follows the previous one," Wyatt says. "After whatever answer you gave for that, what is the most popular gift given on Valentine's Day? So, the second most popular."

"Flowers?" Cam asks us.

"Jewelry?" Hercules guesses with a shrug.

Aspen shakes his head. "I think it's greeting cards."

Seth points at him. "He's right. I'd bet an entire night's sleep on it."

"Let's go with that one, then." Greer leans over Storm to write the answer in for Aspen while the man takes a drink.

Back at the front of the room, Wyatt grins. "Now, for something harder. In the Victorian era, anonymous, insulting Valentine's Day cards were called what type of Valentines?"

"Vinegar," Blaze says. And Aspen writes it down.

" Vinegar Valentines?" I gape at him. "I've never heard of that before."

His arm tightens around my shoulders, bringing me closer to his side. "It was in a book I read a while ago."

"I'm guessing from all the books in your apartment, you're a big reader." I'm hit with the cozy mental image of us sitting together on his couch, engrossed in books.

He takes a swig from his beer. "I am. Nothing better than sitting back with a book and a brew."

"Add in cookies and coffee, and you have my ideal night." The questions continue, but Blaze has my full attention.

He sets his beer down, focusing those dark chocolate eyes on me, and I shift in my seat at their intensity. He gazes at me like I'm the most interesting, most desirable person in the room. "What do you like to read?"

"Mysteries. Fantasy. Fiction, mostly. You?"

"Biographies, how stuff is made or works. History." He sweeps a blunt finger along my forehead, brushing a rogue clump of hair from it. "My younger brother told me that if I hadn't opened the brewery, I should've opened a bookshop."

"You could add a shelf of books somewhere in the brewery for your patrons. The coffeehouse near my shop does that."

His gaze turns thoughtful. "That's a good idea."

I tune back to the trivia game. Wyatt asks, "What do yellow roses symbolize?"

"Friendship." Cam places a heart-shaped chocolate truffle on Aspen's plate, then takes one for himself.

Hercules snorts. "Since when do you know flowers? Is Seth somehow sending you answers?"

Cam's chest puffs up. "Hey, I know things. But yeah, it is thanks to Seth."

Aspen slides his hand along Cam's arm, and links their fingers together. "We took Olive to the flower shop yesterday so she could put together a bouquet for Cora." He glances at me and adds, "Cam's grandmother."

Seth pauses with a potato wedge halfway to his lips. "She asked me what each flower meant."

Cam gives Hercules a triumphant sneer. "And I paid attention to the answers."

Hercules raises his glass to the man. "Fine. One million points to Cam."

"We won't get any actual points if no one writes it down." Owen takes the sheet and the pen and scrawls the answer.

Wyatt consults his tablet. "Okay, people, only three questions to go. Kissing increases most people's heart rate to how many beats per minute?"

Again, we all shrug at each other. But Storm grins and clicks the pen. "We talked about this on the Valentine's feature that ran on Friday's broadcast. Kissing increases the heart rate to at least one-hundred-ten beats per minute."

Blaze dips down and his breath feathers over my ear. "We should test that out, see if it's true."

At the sultry heat of his words and the way his thumb strokes along my collar, my body thumps with desire. I turn my head, catching myself captive in those molten brown eyes. "I'm in. We should probably run the experiment a few times, to be sure."

His smile deepens and the sparks running between us are as bright as the golden glimmers shooting from the fireworks.

"What brain chemical is known as the love hormone?" Wyatt asks.

"Oxytocin," Owen waggles his brows at Storm. Then he looks at Cam and Herc and smirks. "I know things too."

Greer gives Storm, then Owen, a lavish kiss. "I'm totally full of oxytocin for you."

The rest of the guys at our table crack up. His expression filled with love, Owen pulls Greer and Storm into an embrace.

Wyatt raises his microphone. "Final question. What was the oldest living love poem written on?"

Cam drums his fingers along the table's edge. "Oldest… Gotta be papyrus. You think?"

"Maybe a textile, like cotton?" Aspen shrugs. "It could've been embroidered on something."

Shaking his head, Storm taps the pen against the paper. "Nah, if it's old, I'm thinking really old. Like a cave painting?"

"But cave paintings are pictures, not words. What about hieroglyphics, like on the inside of an Egyptian pyramid?" Owen caresses the nape of Storm's neck, then moves the massage higher. Storm's eyes close and a blissed expression overtakes his face. The pen falls from his lax fingers.

Blaze grabs the paper and pen from beside Storm's plate. "I know this one. A clay tablet in Sumerian cuneiform."

Cam rocks back his chair and lifts his beer to Blaze in a toast. "Damn, I love your knowledge of random facts."

"What's not to love?" Blaze dashes off the answer with sure strokes of the pen, then passes the paper to Wyatt. "And now we wait."

The others are talking among themselves and the room's din rises with more tables handing in their answers.

I drain the rest of my martini and turn, so I'm pressed as close to Blaze as I can be. I'm impressed by his range of knowledge. It's sexy. "Where'd you learn that? A book?"

"I saw it in a documentary on the History channel." A faint swatch of pink tinges his cheeks, and I melt faster than a handful of chocolate chips. "If I'm not reading about history or how stuff's made, I'm watching it."

I cover his hand with mine, liking the feel of smooth skin over strong knuckles. "I don't mind a documentary, but my go-to are comedies and fantasy."

He flips his hand over, threading our fingers together. "I like comedy. There's a drive-in theater not far from my brothers' winery. We should go sometime. My friend owns it. We took boxing and jiu-jitsu classes together for years."

We've talked about reading and TV, and now that I know about boxing and jiu-jitsu, in addition to rugby, I feel like I should share more. "It's not that I don't like to go out places, or do something physical… I do like those things. A lot. Bike rides on nature trails, going to museums, exploring the city… But a lot of the time, if there are too many people or too much noise, I can get overwhelmed. And when that happens, all I can think about is getting away."

"Hey, I get it." He strokes his thumb along my neck, slow and soothing. "When I reach my peopling limit, I'm done too."

My stomach unclenches because there's something so sincere in his expression. I know he's not just saying what he thinks I want to hear like others have done in the past. "Has that ever happened when you're at the brewery?"

He tilts his head back and laughs. "Oh yeah, some days customers are difficult. So I'll take my frustrations out on the dart board or heavy bag in the break room. That helps."

I long to see what his muscles look like when they aren't covered by clothing. "My contact with customers is mostly hands off. But when issues happen, I usually just stress-bake something." I squeeze his hand twice and get lost in the curve of his mouth. For as badass as he looks, he has the prettiest lips. "Punching a ball of dough is pretty therapeutic."

"I'll have to give that a try."

"You can punch one when making pizza." I get an image of him and me in my kitchen at home, and a yearning ache blooms in my chest. "Maybe we could do that, cook together, next Sunday? Make the dough and the sauce. Dinner and a movie. Or a documentary."

His gaze drops to my mouth and he dips his head closer to my ear, sending a rush of electricity through me. "I want to get messy in the kitchen with you."

"I'd like that." Heat flushes through my neck and creeps up my cheeks.

"But I don't want to wait an entire week to see you again." His brows knit together and frown lines mar his features. And I can tell he's working out our businesses' schedules. "What about Friday? We can have breakfast together."

The date blares in my mind like a neon sign. "Friday's fine… But it's Valentine's Day. Does that matter? I know it can be a weird holiday, especially when you just start seeing…" Oh man, what am I saying? We aren't dating . But he's looking at me, and he really listens, and I have to finish my sentence. "Seeing someone."

He covers my hand with his, blanketing me in warmth. "It's only weird if we let it be. And we won't."

"Right." Easier said than done.

His lips graze over mine in a whisper-light caress. "I like spending time with you, Casimir. I want more."

"More is good." Wrapped in the cocoon of his arm, I lose myself in his kiss.

"We have winners." Wyatt's voice rings out.

I untangle myself from Blaze, but stay close. "I wonder how we did."

Wyatt points to a table in the middle of the room. "In third place is Table Five, with eighty percent correct. You all win free movie tickets." He hands an envelope to someone at that table, then moves to a table close to us. "Second place goes to Table Nine, with ninety percent right. Each person at the table gets a voucher for a free drink." With a flourish, he passes along another envelope. "And in first place, we have Table Ten…" He looks over at us, grins, and I grab tight to Blaze's hand. "With one hundred percent of the answers correct."

"Yeah!" Cam pumps his fist in the air. Greer jumps to his feet, Storm and Owen do too. Aspen joins in. Even Apollo gets up and hugs Hercules and then Aspen.

Blaze leaps up and pulls me along with him. "We did it."

"Nice teamwork." The thrill of the win is a wild ride, and being in Blaze's arms makes that even better.

"Tonight's food and drink bill will be covered, Table Ten. Congratulations, and thank you to all the teams for playing." Wyatt waves to the crowd, then comes our way and jumps into a conversation with Cam and Owen.

Greer hugs me, and Aspen sandwiches me from the other side. "You're our missing piece."

"What did I tell you?" Blaze's tone is equal parts proud and affectionate as the three of us separate. He opens his arm and I flock to him and snuggle into his side.

"I don't know about the missing piece. I was only really sure about the chocolate answer."

"Still," Aspen says, wrapping his arm around Greer's shoulders.

"Exactly." Greer's nod is decisive, and he welcomes Apollo with a wave of his hand.

Apollo ambles over, tucking his hair behind his ear. "Welcome to the team."

I can see myself spending a lot more time with these people. Especially with Blaze. And when he takes my hand, and his smile is as bright as the twinkle in his eyes, I hope he might feel that way too.