Chapter 16 – Less In Love with the Presentation
Rosalie
Trey’s gift is a set of matching blue aprons for us to wear tonight. They both say Nothing beats a good sandwich. Underneath is a pile of Oreos. I love my apron. I love it so much that I will probably wear it every time I bake until I’m old and pass it onto my grandchildren.
My delight is double because Trey can see it in my face. If I hadn’t liked the gift, he’d have known that too. It’s the blessing and curse of being so easy to read.
I’m less in love with the presentation where Trey insists on putting it over my head and tying the strings around back.
His breath is warm on my neck in those few seconds, and it confirms two things: one, that I chose a bad day to wear my hair up in a ponytail; and two, I’m not feeling any attraction to him.
Bummer, because even with his emoji-laden texts and slight stalker tendencies, I still hoped maybe we’d hit it off.
His mom stays in the car on her phone during all this, and besides one initial unimpressed glance at me, she pays no attention to us whatsoever.
I smooth my hand over the stiff new apron material I’m now draped in. “Thanks so much for this, Trey. I’ll make sure and wear it tonight.”
“Awesome. This is so awesome. I’m totally pumped about tonight. I’m gonna hit the gym in a bit so I’m ready to carb up. Catch you later!” He jogs back to his car, gets in, and punches the gas in a way that tells me he’s as enthusiastic about driving as he is about everything else.
When I look over at Kambryn, she’s smiling like I owe her an award. “Isn’t he great?”
“He’s… fun.”
“I know, right? And you’re fun. You’re like two big kids together. I love it.”
Except I’m about to turn thirty, and while Trey is exactly the type I surrounded myself with in college, that’s not my scene anymore. “This is because he’s friends with Gavin now, isn’t it?”
Kambryn shrugs. “Gavin is friends with a lot of people. Going out with you guys did come up. But if Trey can’t get past a first date, I’ll let it go. How’s your blood pressure on your curve thing doing?”
“It’s stabilizing. We’ll see how tonight goes. Do I need to bring him a gift in return?”
“Yes, and I know just the thing.”