Chapter 18
Maverick
I met Jamie and Silas at Glazed Holes to grab some sugary snacks and work on wedding plans the next day. Damon’s truck was already gone when I headed out, so at least I knew he hadn’t been lying about having an early morning.
Not that I really thought he had been, but well…my judgment had led me astray before. When it came to men—especially bi-curious, confused men—I didn’t trust myself.
Miles grinned at me from behind the cash register. “Morning, Maverick. Do you want me to glaze some holes for you?”
“Well, Jake might take issue with that,” I teased.
The kitchen door swung open and Jake peeked out, the broad planes of his face far more serious than Miles’ boyish smiles.
“Only if I’m not invited,” he deadpanned.
“Ohhh.” I laughed, caught by surprise. The guys were older than me by a good twenty years, but they’d both aged well. “You’re spicier than I thought.”
“How do you think I get Miles to stick around?”
“Good point.”
Jake pointed at Miles. “Get people to eat my holes. I’ve got a new batch coming up.”
He ducked back into the kitchen, the door swinging shut. Miles grinned at me. “Doesn’t he just have a way with words?”
“You two are the perfect match.” I scanned the doughnuts in the pastry case.
“We’re lucky.”
“How did you know he was the one for you?”
Miles tilted his head. “Well, he did glaze my hole just right…”
“Miles!” I laughed. “I’m trying to be serious here.”
“Sorry, sorry.” He hummed, and I braced myself for another sexual innuendo.
“We didn’t always know. I know all the movies say you look at someone and you just know.
” He shrugged. “Sometimes that’s how it works.
With us…I guess we just had to get out of our own way and choose to believe we were better together than apart. ”
“That’s actually really insightful. Thanks.”
Miles waved a hand. “Don’t mention it, darling. Just order some dang holes before Jake gets back out here.”
“I’ll take three raspberry jelly rolls, two maple glazed doughnuts, and…” I trailed off as Miles narrowed his eyes at me.
I smiled sweetly. “A dozen chocolate glazed holes please.”
“Now, you’re speaking my language.” He rang up the order, filling a cup with holes and packing the other doughnuts into a small bag. “Coffee?”
“God no.” Everyone knew their coffee was like burnt motor oil. I shuddered.
His gaze slid toward me, looking unimpressed.
“Uh, we’ll grab three drinks from the cooler,” I said.
“Okay, got it.”
The door chimed, and Jamie joined me at the counter, inhaling deeply. “It always smells so delicious in here.”
Miles handed me my purchase.
Jamie glanced at the bag. “Tell me you got some maple—”
“Do you know me at all? Of course I got your favorite.”
“Yay!” Jamie followed me to the cooler, where I pulled out a bottle of water for me, a smoothie for Silas, and Jamie picked out some milk. “It was a great idea to meet up this morning. I’m so excited to be working on this wed—”
“Shh!” Jamie’s voice was rising with excitement, and Miles was looking mighty curious. That man was gossip central. If our grooms wanted to keep their nuptials on the down-low, we needed to respect their wishes.
“Sorry,” Jamie whispered, wiggling like one of the dogs he adored. “I just love that they’re finally doing it. So romantic.”
“I know.” I chuckled. “I’m sure no one saw that coming when they got together.”
We took seats at a table in the corner, and I opened my bag to pull out my order catalog.
Silas texted this morning to say he’d finally pinned down the grooms’ choices enough to make an order.
Their schedules were super busy, and they’d finally given him free rein to take their input and work his magic.
It had been the perfect excuse to suggest we meet up at Glazed Holes. One, because I needed sugar as a pick-me-up after a restless night, and two, because I desperately needed my friends to tell me I hadn’t lost my mind by hooking up with Damon.
I’d demolished one raspberry jelly roll by the time Silas came rushing in. “Sorry, got a call from a potential client. I tried to hurry, but you know how excited brides get.”
He opened and shut his hand in the universal sign for yap-yap-yap.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not in a hurry.”
“Except to gorge on jelly rolls, apparently,” Silas said, giving me a concerned look as I took a massive bite.
“Mm. ‘ungry,” I mumbled.
Jamie shook his head. “Okay, spill it. You’ve been super angsty ever since we sat down.”
I took a swallow of water to wash down my extra-large bite. “We’re here to talk shop.”
Silas motioned for me to show him the catalog. I slid it over and he scanned the pages, then pulled a pen from his laptop bag and put checkmarks next to four types of blossoms. “There you go. The boys will love these.”
I checked the page. He’d ordered hydrangeas, sweet peas, tulips, and anemones.
I could already imagine how the textures and colors could be stunning.
I’d use the hydrangeas as a focal point, add the tulips for some height and the anemones for a touch of whimsy.
The sweet peas would be great filler with their soft, wispy texture.
“This looks great. I’ll get back to you closer to the date.”
“Great. Now, spill.”
“What about Jamie’s catering order?”
Silas waved that off. “Later. What’s up? I haven’t seen you this evasive since the last time I tried to pin you down about Damon’s weird interest in your love life.”
I gave him a flat look.
“Ah, so this is about Damon. Damn, I’m good.” He cocked his head, looking at me closer. “No, he’s good.”
How the hell did he do that?
Jamie’s eyes went round. “Seriously? You and Damon got together?”
“Shhh!” I lowered my voice. “Damon’s straight.”
“Not very,” Silas said with a smirk.
“Well, let’s not out him to the whole town then,” I whispered between clenched teeth.
“Sorry,” Jamie said, glancing around, not at all subtle.
Thankfully, there was a very noisy table in the middle of the room that would probably drown out our conversation.
A group of older men sat talking over coffee.
Tom Moore used to run the hardware store, and Elmer Boyd managed an antique shop across from his wife’s shop—though she’d been an ex-wife only a few years ago.
They were a roller coaster of drama worthy of any soap opera.
I didn’t recognize the other two men seated with them, but their voices rose a few decibels as they groused about a proposal for a roundabout near the revamped Beaver Hole Park.
Apparently, it was a wasteful, unnecessary cost when any fool should know how to use a four-way stop.
“So, is he freaking out?” Silas paused. “Or maybe you are?”
“I don’t know what he’s doing because he had to go spend the day with his family,” I huffed. “But he has to be, right? I mean…” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m his first guy. He probably regrets everything.”
“You don’t know that,” Jamie said.
I shoved the last raspberry roll into my mouth to avoid speaking.
“You’re definitely freaking out enough for the both of you,” Silas said.
I mumbled around my food, throwing my hands up. They both looked at me, foreheads creased. “What?”
I swallowed and chugged the last of my water, then tried again. “I said, I’ve been down this road before. It didn’t end well with Zachary.”
“Yeah, well, he sounds like a member of a boy band.”
“Looked like one too,” I admitted.
Silas smirked. “So, your taste has changed for the better.”
“If you call a macho construction worker better? God. What am I doing? I don’t even like Damon.”
“Well, that’s obviously not true,” Silas said while Jamie nodded.
“He’s been on your mind a lot,” Jamie said.
“Well, he’s annoying!”
“Maybe too annoying?” Silas suggested.
“Maybe.”
“Tell us what happened.”
I crossed my arms on the table and leaned in. “Well, he planned this amazing date. I was sure it was just to prove a point, but then…”
I filled my friends in on every sweet, swoony, sexy detail—minus the actual sex, anyway. Silas encouraged me to keep going, but I shook my head.
“You get the picture.”
Silas held up his hands as if framing a photo. “But not clearly enough. I need more information.”
Jamie swatted his arm, laughing. “Stop.”
“Do you think I’m making a huge mistake, thinking there’s any chance this could go somewhere real?”
“You won’t know if you don’t try,” Jamie said softly.
Silas was more cynical, so I turned to him, braced for a hard truth. He popped a doughnut hole in his mouth and chewed, dragging out the suspense.
“Well?” I prompted, ready to hang on his every word. I wasn’t sure why I thought Silas would have the answer. Maybe I was just desperately hoping someone would.
“Sorry,” he said.
My heart fell. Shit. Of course, he didn’t think it would work.
“We can’t answer that for you,” he continued.
I slumped in my seat. “That’s it? You kept me on the edge of my seat for, we can’t answer that?”
“Well, we can’t,” he said with a laugh. “But I will say that there’s an intensity to the rivalry you and Damon have had these past few years. It started small, then snowballed, until you were constantly thinking about each other.”
“Sure, to plot revenge,” I said.
“Mm-hmm. Still, it’s not totally surprising that there might have been a little more going on under the surface.”
“You did talk about him a lot,” Jamie said. “Like, so much.”
“It had a fuck him or kill him vibe for sure,” Silas murmured.
Wow. Okay. So, my friends weren’t even that surprised. Did that mean…
“So you’re saying there’s a chance this could be, like, a thing?”
Jamie nudged me. “He didn’t have to plan you a mega romantic date. He took that as a challenge for a reason.”
“And he definitely didn’t have to be jealous of all your dates,” Silas said. “But he was.”
I nodded slowly. “It’s scary though, because I don’t think he knew why he was doing those things.”
“It’s a lot to wrap his head around, I’m sure.” Silas frowned. “I wish we could tell you everything would work out perfectly, or warn you away if it wasn’t going to. But we don’t know him half as well as you do.”
I bit my bottom lip. “I just worry I won’t see it until it’s too late. That I’ll let him string me along like Zachary did, telling me to just wait a little longer, to just give him time and trust him…all the while keeping me as a stupid piece on the side.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Jamie said. “We’ll make sure of it.”
“Yeah, you didn’t have us before,” Silas added. “No way we’re going to let that shit go down. We’ll kick his ass ourselves if we have to.”
I laughed, strangely comforted by the threats of violence.
“I’m pretty sure he could take you,” I said.
“Eh, I’m scrappy,” Silas said.
“And I’ll bring the dogs,” Jamie added.
I laughed with my friends, feeling some of the anxiety lift. “He was really sweet last night,” I admitted. “He didn’t bolt or anything.”
“Wow, your standards are so high,” Silas said with a laugh. “He didn’t bolt!”
I picked up one of his remaining doughnut holes and threw it at him. “You know what I mean! We…cuddled.”
Silas’s eyes went wide. “No shit?”
Jamie grinned. “Sounds like love to me.”
I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t love. Nowhere near it. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But it was something. If Damon was brave enough to come back, if he didn’t have a big freak-out and run for the hills, then maybe…it could go somewhere really good.