Chapter 6
Bailey
Second Date Plans
“How was your date?” Emma asks the minute my feet hit the foyer. She stares at me closely and her eyes narrow. “Why are you wearing that?” The disgust at my outfit is evident in her voice.
“Cashmere and I don’t get along,” I reply, while handing her the red sweater. “Thanks for the loaner, but during intermission before the third period, I couldn’t stand the itching any longer.”
“And you felt compelled to purchase a tent?” Emma says, not even trying to spare my feelings.
Knowing I look atrocious in this sweatshirt, I shrug. “It was this or a kiddie size that was two sizes too small.” A small smile splits my face remembering Levi’s reaction to the unflattering sweatshirt. He didn’t seem to care that I looked like a human marshmallow.
“You have that stars in the eyes look!” Emma squeals.
I blush knowing that Levi’s the one who put this look on my face. He’s positively swoony. He’s kind and protective, but not overbearing. He’s funny and entertaining, plus I didn’t detect any signs of an inflated ego. I’m already falling for him.
“We had a good time,” I say, trying to play it cool and not allow myself to get swept off my feet by the cute hockey player. A little voice inside my head says, “Too late.”
Emma barks out a laugh. “You like him and you’re going out with him again. Aren’t you?”
“Who likes who?” Mia asks, wandering into the middle of our conversation. She’s wearing neon pink, slouchy PJ’s adorned with kittens and has a pint of Cherry Garcia in her hand. Her spoon dips in and out of the carton as she devours several bites of the creamy substance.
“Do we have anymore pints in the freezer?” I ask, suddenly craving ice cream. Specifically Chunky Monkey.
“We don’t,” Mia mumbles over her latest bite.
“You took the last carton?!” Emma huffs, outrage written all over her face.
Mia shrugs. “You snooze, you lose. This carton was in there all week.”
She has a point. Any of us could have raided the freezer earlier and consumed that last pint. Although I think we bought several pints at the last grocery store run, so who ate all of them?
Turning accusatory eyes to Mia, I say, “What happened to all the other pints?”
The ice cream thief sports a guilty expression as her spoon pauses halfway to her mouth. “I possibly ate them. Although all evidence has been destroyed.” You can tell Mia is a second-year law student from her reply.
Emma rolls her eyes, then picks up the previous conversation thread, as if we never had this ice cream diversion. “Are you going out with Mr. Hockey again?” she asks.
“You went out with the hockey player?” Mia says.
“Where have you been?” Emma asks, throwing Mia a grumpy look. “She talked about her date all week.”
“I’ve been busy with school!” Mia fires back.
And busy consuming ice cream. Must be mid-term exams week.
I hold up a restraining hand to ward off any further heated discussion, these two mix like oil and water sometimes. “Yes, I’m going out with him again.”
Both women offer up a fist pump.
“It’s about time you put yourself out there,” Emma says.
“Good job breaking your dating dry spell,” Mia adds.
Since neither of them are currently dating anyone, I say, “He’s got two handsome housemates. Would you like an introduction?”
“No, thanks,” Emma says a little too quickly. She recently had a bad break-up and apparently, she’s not over it yet.
“I’ll pass. I don’t have time to date,” Mia says, her nose wrinkling at the mention of the word date. Between her law school classes and working at the bakery, she has no spare time. Besides, she’s very picky and would probably find something wrong with either housemate. Otto’s handsome face pops into my mind. He might give Mia a run for her money, but I quickly fight off the urge to play matchmaker.
“So, what’s the next date going to be?” Mia says, running her spoon around the carton trying to get every last trace of ice cream.
“Remember my cousin’s wedding next weekend?” I ask.
“You asked Levi so you won’t have to go solo and bear the brunt of your nana’s matchmaking!” Emma chirps.
I’ve been dreading this wedding because my grandmother is like a bulldog when it comes to getting her grandkids happily married. If I came alone, Nana would introduce me to every single, available guy at the wedding. Although I was hesitant at first, I thought inviting Levi was a stroke of genius, plus the stars aligned since he doesn’t have a hockey game that weekend.
“Exactly!” I reply.
“Good luck with that,” Mia says in a sarcastic tone.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Your grandmother is going to assume that you and Levi are on the way to the altar. You better prepare him.”
My grin slips. She’s right. Nana will hear wedding bells and she won’t be afraid to mention that around Levi. In fact, she might be the one to badger him until he agrees to propose. I know that sounds improbable, but most people give in to Nana within a few minutes, she’s that good.
“I’ll warn Levi. What could go wrong if he’s prepared?”
Both women snort.
My palms start to sweat.
A wedding. . . My matchmaking grandmother. . . A handsome hockey player. Ugh! This is a recipe for disaster.