Five

David

I’d fucked something up.

Made a misstep somewhere on the road that I couldn’t figure out how to come back from. I’d thought that I was walking a straight line, but it turned out I was on a hiking trail with no beginning or end. Just an endless, winding middle.

In the last year, I’d grown to call Sutton my friend. I’d be lying if I said I was okay with losing that in the hopes of having more with her. But the fear in her eyes on the Fourth of July two weeks ago had been enough for me to pull the emergency brake on my Ferrari and come to a screeching halt.

Metaphorically speaking.

But the truth was, two weeks had gone by, and I still missed her. She had started working at Kimber’s bakery, Death by Chocolate, and even though she’d said that what had transpired between us didn’t make her uncomfortable, I’d carefully avoided the place to give her the space I thought she wanted.

Up to a point. Up until now.

Maybe I was a jackass for reaching out to her again after the awkwardness of the Fourth, but I had done it anyway. Now, after hours of working with Morgan on a new contract, I was finally leaving work and picking Sutton up for lunch with me. I’d been sure to invite Jason to put a barrier between us. I wanted to make things right, to get back on the straight and narrow with her. I didn’t like being in this interminable middle. I hoped today would fix that.

The bell tinkled overhead as I entered the cozy and bright bakery. The place was packed, considering most of the students were out of town. All but one French macaron–inspired table was covered with textbooks and laptops. I stepped across the black-and-white-checkerboard-tiled floor and up to the glass display that revealed all the incredible sweets. But it was the woman standing behind it that drew my eye.

Short and sweet with her hair pulled up into a ponytail and a touch of blush on her cheeks. A mint-green apron wrapped around her trim waist. She smiled when she saw me.

“David!” Sutton said. “You’re late!”

“I know. I’m sorry. Morgan.”

She waved a hand. “You don’t have to explain. I know my sister.”

“How do you like this place so far?” I asked, leaning forward on the white granite counter.

“Oh, I love it!” she squeaked. “I didn’t know I could enjoy something like this. I’d always thought I’d inevitably end up another brainless Wright sibling at corporate. This is actually…fulfilling. Kimber is training me in the back in the mornings, and then once customers are here, I take care of the front. I can’t wait to bake full-time!”

“I bet that will be sooner rather than later.”

“Keep your fingers crossed. Now, let me tell Kimber that I’m heading out for lunch.” She disappeared into the back and returned a minute later, minus an apron, with her crossbody purse draped over her chest. “Ready?”

“Should we wait for Jason?”

“Oh! Right,” she said, as if she’d just remembered. “Jenny had him down for a nap. She told me to go, and she’d get him lunch. So, it’s just the two of us.” She hopped out from behind the counter. “Where are we going?”

“Are you sure you still want to go?” I asked carefully.

I hadn’t planned on us being alone. I’d thought having Jason around would prove that I wasn’t trying to move in on her or anything. I’d also thought he might serve as a nice barrier between us.

But alone…well, that was something different. And I wanted to make sure she was okay with that.

“Oh my God, yes,” she said, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward the entrance. “I’m starving. I need food, or I’m going to get stabby. You do not want to see me hangry.”

“All right, all right,” I said with a laugh.

“Are we taking your car?” she asked with eager eyes.

“We can take yours if you’d prefer.”

“Are you kidding?”

“The Ferrari it is.”

“You going to let me drive?” she teased.

“One day,” I said as we approached my baby. “Maybe not in traffic though.”

“I can handle a stick shift!” she cried.

It took every ounce of self-control in my body not to arch an eyebrow in her direction at that comment. To joke that I bet she could handle a stick shift.

She nudged my shoulder. “Oh, come on, laugh at me. That sounded bad, even to me.”

My eyes met hers, and she was smiling broadly. A real smile. A full smile. Nothing fake or wary or fearful in that gaze. Not normal or back to whatever her normal had been, but I could see the new job had done her wonders.

“A stick shift?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It sounded better in my head.”

“Just get in the car.”

She laughed and plopped down into the passenger seat. I zoomed away from the bakery, glad that Sutton was in a good mood. Not that she was always depressed and crying or anything, but laughing hadn’t been easy for her. And, now, we were going to lunch together as if everything were totally normal. As if we’d done that a hundred times before. As if there were never a barrier between us.

I parked outside of Torchy’s, and we took a seat at the bar to order our tacos instead of waiting in line. Our guacamole appeared, and Sutton dug in like she hadn’t eaten in days.

“This is amazing,” she groaned. “I’m so glad we came here.”

“It’s nice that you have Jenny full-time to watch Jason.”

“Oh God, I know. She’s a lifesaver. Sometimes, I still can’t believe that we didn’t like each other in high school.”

“Really?”

“Well, no. It makes sense. I was this bubbly cheerleader, and she was in the marching band and a theater geek. Our circles didn’t exactly blend.”

“Did you cheer with Annie?”

She nodded. “Annie was captain. I was never serious enough about anything to do that. I kind of floated along. Another reason Jen and I didn’t click. She was one of those overachiever types who hated that I got whatever I wanted because of who I was.”

“Well…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was the worst,” Sutton said, breaking off another chip. “I acted like that because my parents were gone, and Jensen was in college. I didn’t know I was such an asshole.”

“All high school kids are assholes. I promise you’re not unique in that regard.”

She snorted. “I bet you were a saint.”

“About that…”

“Ohhh?” She raised her brows. “Do tell.”

“I kind of ran in a bad crowd in high school. Most of my friends were drinking and doing drugs and hooking up with multiple women every weekend. We broke into a hotel once and got caught vandalizing the place, drunk and high and swimming naked in the pool.”

“Oh my God!” Sutton gasped, cracking up. “You?”

I nodded. “We would have all been taken to jail if it hadn’t been for one guy’s parents being a local politician.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. We all got off with a slap on the hand. The politician’s son was the worst of the lot. Still is, to be honest.”

“Oh, the life of the young, privileged, and stupid.”

“Pretty much.”

“And this was all back in San Francisco? That’s where your family is, right?”

I stared down at my hands. “Yeah. My family is in San Francisco. Not that we’re on speaking terms.”

Sutton frowned. “I couldn’t imagine not being on speaking terms with my family.”

“Well, we had a falling-out. Pretty substantial one. It’s one of the reasons I was quick to leave San Francisco and take this job.”

“How does your sister feel about your move?”

My eyes darted up to hers. I’d never mentioned that I had a sister.

“Sorry. I might have accidentally eavesdropped when you were on that phone call forever on the Fourth.”

“No, it’s okay. We’re not really speaking either. I hadn’t heard from her in a year.”

“Why?”

God, how to explain Katherine?

“She sides with our parents.”

“I see.”

“And I guess…she’s getting married.”

“Really?” Sutton asked, some of that wariness returning. “Is that why she called? When is that happening?”

“They don’t have a date yet.”

“You sound like you wouldn’t go even if they did.”

I made a face. “Undecided.”

“She’s your sister!”

“She’s…well, Katherine is Katherine. If I showed back up, she’d find a way to try to make me stay. And I kind of like it here.”

A smile played on my lips when I looked at her again. I liked being here. I liked being with Sutton. There was no way in the world I would want to go back to dealing with my family…even Katherine, who I did miss.

Her eyes were lowered with dark lashes playing across her cheeks. When she opened her eyes again, it was clear that she had interpreted my words the way they were intended. I should have been subtler. I should have held back. I shouldn’t have been so direct.

But it had just slipped out. And she wasn’t backing away. She wasn’t closing in on herself. She was meeting my gaze.

It was as if something had shifted in the last two weeks. Something had shaken loose in her chest. Maybe it was the new job or being past the one-year mark or something…but she seemed as if she was more open.

Yet I still didn’t push it. I didn’t say anything further. I’d misinterpreted her gaze on the Fourth of July. I wouldn’t do it again.

“Well,” Sutton said, clearing her throat, “I don’t want you to leave either, but you probably shouldn’t miss your sister’s wedding.”

“Maybe I’ll take you with me when the time comes, and you can meet her.” I couldn’t believe the words left my mouth, even as I said them.

“I’d like to meet her. That’d be nice.”

Our food finally showed up, saving me from saying something else stupid. We dug into our tacos and let the conversation shift into mundane things like my job and how much she loved the new bakery and the new words that Jason had said this week. It seemed he was learning new words every day. He had a mind like a steel trap.

I paid for both of us against her objections. “You can get it next time.”

“There’s a movie I want to see. If you don’t mind a superhero movie, I could get the tickets,” she suggested with a nonchalance that could not be mirrored.

I stumbled on my step outside and caught the glass door. I played it off like a legitimate trip instead of shock at her words. Was she…asking me out?

“You do like superhero movies, right?” she asked quickly.

“I do in fact.”

“Great. Friday?”

I chanced a glance at her, and she seemed completely with it. She wasn’t growing a second head or anything. This was normal. She wanted to hang out with me. By her expression, it was clear that this would not be a date. Friends…again.

“Friday sounds great.”