Chapter 17

Emma

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

How many more things can go wrong today? I should go back to bed and start over. To add insult to injury, I haven’t heard from Joey since the gingerbread house contest—except for two silly texts of cat videos.

Are we in a relationship or not? I hate to admit it, but it feels like Joey only wanted me for my baking skills.

Blake removes the latest pan of cupcakes from the oven. “These cupcakes are a little burned.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I snark back to him.

Blakes eyes fill with concern and he places a gentle hand on my arm. “What’s bothering you, Emma?”

I blow out a heavy breath. “Ever have one of those days where everything goes wrong?” When he nods, the details about my frustrating morning tumble from my lips. “First, I ran out of cinnamon so those burned blueberry cupcakes wouldn’t have been very tasty anyway. Maybe my subconscious burned them on purpose.”

His concern grows as my voice rises, sounding shrill even to my own ears, but I plow on. “And don’t get me started about that darn espresso machine!” My foot wants to stomp the ground in a tantrum, but I refrain. Instead, I mutter, “It jammed again and all it spit out was black sludge. I ruined several packs of perfectly good beans.”

Before my rambling speech becomes a full-out rant, Blake steers me over to the café table in the corner. “Emma, you need to take a break. Mia and I will handle the baking and manning the front.” I flop down and expel a loud sigh. In seconds, a steaming cup of coffee appears along with a day-old cupcake, since I ruined today’s batch.

A few tears leak from the corners of my eyes, but I quickly swipe them away. “Thanks,” I mumble.

“Are you sure something else isn’t bothering you?” Blake asks, that concerned look still in his eyes.

“Want me to be honest?” I ask, tossing a glare at my friend’s face.

He visibly swallows, then nods.

“Your housemate is an idiot! I feel like he pretended that we were dating so he could get my help with the gingerbread contest and the kids. Well, I’m not falling for that again! Joey and I are over. Even if he comes crawling back, I’m not interested.”

Blake should never play poker. He’s fully on Team Joey based on the contrite expression on his face. He shifts back and forth on the balls of his feet, as if he’s debating what to say. “The guy’s been busy,” he finally babbles, the lame excuse sounds like a cover-up.

I point a finger at his face. “Too busy to stop by the bakery? Too busy to text me something other than stupid cat videos?” My lips wobble as I stare down at the tabletop. Picking up the coffee cup, I take a gulp and proceed to burn my tongue. The stinging pain causes my anger to dissipate and makes me feel like a terrible person because I just took out my fury on Blake.

Standing, I say, “I’m sorry. Thank you for being a good friend, but I need to be alone right now.” I grab the coffee and cupcake and wander down the hall towards the break room.

What’s wrong with me? Why am I so heartbroken over the idiot goalie?

~*~

About an hour later, Mia strolls into the break room. She approaches me carefully, most likely expecting me to bite her head off, like I did to Blake.

I hold up a hand and her footsteps halt. “It’s ok. I’m not going to blow another gasket.”

She gives me a tentative smile and slides onto the seat across from mine. “I heard about your meltdown.”

“Do you think Blake will ever talk to me again?” I ask, regret lacing my tone.

“Of course he will! He’s worried about you and so am I. I’ve never seen you get so worked up over a guy before.”

I nod, biting my bottom lip to keep from crying. I take a few calming breaths, “I fell in love with the big bozo. But obviously, he isn’t in love with me.”

She draws in a surprised breath at my admission. “That’s not true. He’s had a lot on his plate.”

My eyes fly to hers, surprised that Mia apparently is also on Team Joey. “I don’t buy that. As soon as the contest was over, he dropped me like a burnt cupcake,” I complain.

“You could have come to the last home game and gone out for pizza with us,” she says in a gently chiding tone. “Joey was there, and he definitely noticed that you were missing.”

After more than a week without contact, I simply couldn’t bear to go to the game. I’d be expected to go out with the gang for pizza afterwards. I’d have to sit there, smile, and pretend everything was hunky-dory between me and Joey. This is why I avoid dating and relationships. Things get messy when you break up.

Have Joey and I broken up?

“Emma, you’ve misinterpreted the situation. You need to give Joey another chance.”

A snort slips out my lips. “If a guy ghosted you, how would you feel?” I fire back.

Mia purses her lips and shakes her head. Immediately, a pang of remorse hits me. I’ve now lashed out at both of my friends this morning. The chair legs make a loud screech against the linoleum floor as I rise.

“It’s best if I leave. Please forgive me.” Grabbing my coat off the hook, I wrap it around me and flee. At this rate, I’m not going to have any friends left.

If ads affect your reading experience, click here to remove ads on this page.