15. I Don’t Want To Die Alone
15
I DON’T WANT TO DIE ALONE
SUMMER
T he first time Basil showed up at my shop was the day after he sent me the these are not my friends video. I didn’t even look up. The bell over the door chimed, and I knew it was him before he even said my name. I could smell him. Damn it!
“Summer.”
I kept pricing the new batch of lavender essential oil, my pen scratching against the label. “We don’t open for another hour.”
“I got you matcha tea.” He set a paper cup next to me. “And blueberry scones.”
I looked at the logo on the paper bag holding the scones. The Crumpet Shop. They were my favorite. I couldn’t possibly turn them down.
I looked him in the eye. “Is this a bribe?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
I rolled my eyes. I took a sip of the tea and then opened the bag, the smell of the pastry hitting me in my sweet spot.
“What do you want for the tea and the scone?”
“A date?”
“No.” I broke a piece of the scone and ate it. Heaven!
“A…conversation?”
I ate another piece, this one had blueberry in it, and it had been a long time since I had sex, but I was sure this was just as good.
“We can talk while I finish the scone.”
He grinned. “You’re so easy, Sunshine.”
“I don’t think that’s how you get into my good graces.” I had to work very hard not to smile. This was the Basil I loved. He was charming and funny and so fucking sweet. All that mixed with how handsome he was and knew how to use his hands and…other parts of his body—could you blame a girl for having a hot flash?
“My mother told me you went to see her. Thank you.”
“I like Ellen.” I drank the tea now, enjoying myself. Loving that he was here with me, making small talk. Did this make me weak and pathetic? Probably .
“She ripped me a new one for what I did to you.”
That surprised me. “How did she know? I just told her…we didn’t work out.”
“I told her.” He tilted his head and smiled. “I told her everything . By that I mean I gave her a blow-by-blow of how I fucked up and lost the love of my life. However, I didn’t tell her how you like to ride me reverse cowboy with my finger in?—”
“ Gee , look, the scone is all gone. Your time’s up for today.” And I’m all hot and bothered.
“Thanks for your time, Sunshine.” He winked at me and left.
He did that every day. I didn’t know how he managed to show up at ten every day, Wednesday through Sunday, with tea and scones, but he did. On Monday and Tuesday, he showed up at The Breathing Room with a berry smoothie from Ocean’s shop that I liked to drink after I finished class.
“Don’t you have a job?” I asked him. Today, he’d gotten me one of The Crumpet Shop’s exquisite cupcakes—this one was vanilla with passionfruit filling.
“I do. But I take a break for an hour to get you breakfast.”
I licked the icing and moaned.
His breath hitched. Well, that was fun. So, I did it again.
“Cut it out, Summer,” he growled.
I looked at him all wide-eyed innocence. “What? It’s really nice.” I took some icing on a finger and held it up to him. “Would you like to taste?”
“Fucking hell.” He grabbed my finger and licked it, sucked it, drove us both just a little crazy.
I shouldn’t have done that, I thought. I was trying to make him all flustered, but now we both were.
“You need any batteries, baby?” he asked when I told him his time was up.
I frowned. “What?”
“For your vibrator?”
“Get out.”
He was laughing when he left.
Meadow popped in right then and watched Basil leave. “He still courting you?”
I huffed out a sharp breath. “I think his goal is to drive me to sexual frustration, so I’ll just give in because I need…dick.”
“But not any ol’ dick. You want Basil’s big dick,” Meadow sang the words.
“What am I doing, Meadow?” I slumped into my chair.
“You’re doing the courtship dance! It’s healthy. You’re not sad. You’re sleeping. You’re eating. You live for the five minutes you give him every morning.”
I exhaled heavily. “Am I a total loser?”
Meadow let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. “No, babe, you’re just human. You love the man. He fucked up. But he’s made serious amends, and he’s continuing to do so. You guys are not jumping into it—you’re talking, spending time together, albeit five minutes at a time.”
“Today it was ten,” I mumbled. “Yesterday, fifteen.”
Meadow let out a soft laugh. “You both are the cutest.”
I rolled my eyes. “ Whatever !”
Basil seemed to have a plan, which was to be everywhere I was.
I saw him every day . He showed up at the shop, the yoga studio, and even the farmer’s market.
“Seriously, this is stalking,” I muttered as I walked away from the fruit stall.
“Not when I already knew you’d be here.” He took my wicker basket from me. He always did that, took a heavy bag, held the door open—without any fuss or even the appearance that he was doing something extraordinary. Ellen had raised her boy right.
“Hey, guys!” Ocean called out. He had a pop juice stall at the market. “You wanna try some artichoke shots?”
We both wrinkled our noses.
“It’s good,” Ocean insisted.
“I’ll have one if you’ll have one,” Basil said, fear lacing his voice, and I wasn’t sure he was feigning it. "I don’t want to die alone.”
“It’s good ,” Ocean protested. “I’m not going to poison you.”
“I don’t know man, that mustard green celery thing you made us drink last time was hideous,” Basil reminded him.
“ That was a mistake.” Ocean glared at Basil. “You know I’m the one who’s been telling her to give you a chance. The least you can do is drink the damn artichoke shot.”
My friend’s mouth went mutinous as he held a paper shot glass up to Basil’s nose. He took the shot and downed it. He grimaced for a moment and then nodded appreciatively. “Not bad.”
“Really?” I drank my shot and all but threw up. “Oh my God, that was horrible. How could you like it?”
“I didn’t,” he told me cheekily. “I just didn’t want to suffer alone.”