Unexpected (13 page)

He emitted a breath that was possibly a silent laugh against my lips. “What?”

Then realization struck and he laughed for real. “Willow?” he guessed and I nodded. “I’d rather not think about Stacie right now.”

“Good answer,” I decided as I leaned in to kiss him again.

9

“I don’t like it,” Jamie said with a long, drawn out sigh. “At all. But I guess I should’ve seen it coming. I mean, it’s been impossible to miss on Tristan’s end. Looking back, I should’ve seen you heading that way too. I mean, I guess I have. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

I wasn’t sure how she could’ve seen it coming. Because until Friday night, I didn’t see it heading my way at all.
Not really.

“And details? I don’t want to
hear details. Ever. Understood?”

I nodded because
when it came to me and Tristan? I didn’t want to share details with Jamie. Ever. So I definitely understood.

“Looks like
Willow’s here already,” Jamie noted.

I found a spot right in front of Common Grounds and parked.

“I offered to pick her up. But she said she’d take her mom’s car,” I told Jamie.

We got out and
Willow was waiting inside of the door for us. It was a coffee shop and while none of us actually drank coffee, it was our favorite place to meet.

I did like the scent though. And I loved the cozy feel of the place. It had
rustic hardwood floors and the walls were painted a warm, mocha color. The booths were oversized and the cushions were plush and comfortable. The light fixtures dangled from the ceiling, emitting a soft, warm glow. There were couches in the backroom but we usually stayed away from those. Instead, we opted for our favorite booth. The backs of each booth were high, offering a decent amount of privacy.

And while I would never order a coffee,
I did get a cappuccino more often than not. Especially in the winter. And the desserts? The desserts were amazing. But I’d had my fill of truffles over the weekend. So I refrained.

“I’ll have a large vanilla
cappuccino,” I told the girl at the counter. She wasn’t much older than us. But I didn’t recognize her. I assumed she was a college student.

“Whipped cream on top?”

“Yes, please,” I said as I pulled out some cash.

She passed on my order to a coworker as she took Jamie’s order next. Jamie got a strawberry smoothie because she
always
got a strawberry smoothie. No matter what time of year it was.

“I’ll just have a water with a wedge of lemon,”
Willow told the girl.

Jamie turned to her and crinkled up her face. “You’re getting water?”

“I’m on a diet,” she explained.

Jamie shot me a look that clearly said,
See what I mean
?

“Fifty cents,” the cashier told Willow.

Willow
paused. “Excuse me?”

“Fifty cents?” She repeated. Her voice didn’t hide her agitation. There was a line forming behind us and
Willow, it appeared, was holding it up just a bit.

“I’ve got it right here,” I said
. I was still fumbling for my wallet to put my change away.

“I have it too,”
Willow huffed. She pushed my hand away. “It’s just…it’s just…the principle of it! It’s
water
!”

“And a wedge of lemon in a cup that is not free,” the cashier said.
Her eyes darted behind Willow. It was a sign of agitation, willing her to hurry things up.

“Fine, I changed my mind. I’ll have a cup of
peach mango tea,” Willow said.

The girl gave
Willow an irritated look, which Willow ignored. She shrugged instead. “For fifty cents more I might as well get something I actually like.”

The girl took her money and the three of us moved on. We grabbed our drinks from the end of the counter and moved back to our favorite booth.
I didn’t ask but I was wondering why she didn’t just order the tea in the first place. It wasn’t like tea had any more calories than water.

We weren’t settled in for more than thirty seconds before
Willow narrowed her eyes at me.

I took a sip of my
cappuccino, trying to waste a few seconds. “What?” I cautiously asked.

Willow
looked at Jamie. Jamie turned to me with a guilty smile. “Sorry. I blabbed.”

“So tell me,”
Willow said as she flipped her long, curly hair over her shoulder. “Just how many of that boy’s fantasies did you make come true the other night?”

“Oh!” Jamie said as she held up her hand. “We are not going there!”

“No,” I agreed, “we’re not.” I could feel my cheeks burn. We’d gotten carried away. No doubt about it. Part of me still felt mortified and yet…A slow smile spread across my face.

Willow grinned. “Jamie said she found you in…” She faded off, apparently searching for the right words. Her grin grew. “A state of undress.”

“Hey!” I said as I pointed a finger at both of them. “All of the important pieces stayed on!”

“T
his,” Jamie said as she shook her head, “is exactly why I never wanted you to date my little brother.”

“Oh, come one,”
Willow whined. “I want to know what happened.”

Jamie gave her a look that said the matter was not up for discussion.

Willow let out an annoyed sigh and slumped slightly in the booth. “Fine, give me the basics. Are you dating? Or was it just…
you know
?” She grinned and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“Um, I think we’re dating. I mean…we’re going to try dating,” I amended. We hadn’t exactly worded it that way. “We’re goin
g on a date. That’s what I mean,” I finally said. “Friday night.” My eyes flicked to Jamie. She was aware of this already and I was grateful that she looked more or less unaffected.

“So you like him?”
Willow asked. “I mean, you actually like Tristan? After all this time?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think I do.”

“You
think
?” Jamie shot out.

I couldn’t help it. A small laugh slipped out. “
Okay, yes, Jamie. I do. He’s really sweet. And he’s cute. And he’s fun to be around. I mean, I always thought he was fun to be around—”

“See! This is why I always thought you two would be the perfect couple!”
Willow’s face broke into a huge smile. She leaned forward on her elbows. A conspiratorial grin lit up her face. “Is he a good kisser? I bet he is.”

Jamie cringed and looked away. I took advantage of that. I rolled my eyes at
Willow but I could feel the heat spreading across my cheeks. And I was smiling. I gave her a quick nod.

“I knew it,”
Willow said smugly. Then she glanced at Jamie. “Come on Jamie. Don’t be a grump about this.”

“I’m not,” Jamie said. Her voice was soft and serious. “I guess it’s not the dating I mind so much. As long as I don’t have to hear too much about it. What I
do worry about? Is when you two break-up. Do you know how awkward that’s going to be for me? You’re one of my best friends. You live down the road. He’s my brother. He lives across the hall. I don’t want to ever have to pick sides. But let’s be realistic. Eventually, whatever is going on with you two? It’s going to end. I’m not being mean, I’m just being realistic. And when it does, I don’t want to be stuck in the middle.” She paused, looking at me for a few moments. “To be honest, I’m surprised you were willing to risk ruining your friendship with Tristan over this.”

I blinked at her in silence. She was right. I
liked
my friendship with Tristan. Unfortunately, she also had a point. The chances of this lasting were not good. And then what? Would we be able to just slip back into the role of friends?

We could do that. Couldn’t we?

“Oh, Jamie,” Willow grumbled, “way to kill the happiness.”

“No,” I said with a sigh. “She’s right. Maybe I should cancel our plans for Friday.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Jamie surprised me by saying. “It hasn’t even been a week. You are not going to break his heart already!”

“But I just think—”

She cut me off. “You should have
thought
this all through before. It’s too late to go back now. After Friday night, maybe you could have. But after last night, too?
Uhuh
.” She shook her head emphatically. Her curtain of ebony hair swirled around her. She jabbed a finger my way. “You need to finish what you started.”

Willow
shot me a triumphant grin. Then her smile faltered. “Oh,” she said. Her voice was slightly sarcastic. “Look who decided they just
had
to have a hot chocolate. At slightly after three on a Sunday afternoon.”

I glanced over my shoulder.

Corey. He gave me a sheepish grin and waved.

He was well-aware of our Sunday ritual.

I gave him a less than enthusiastic wave back.

Willow
on the other hand, gave him a too-big grin. She was very much aware that he hadn’t waved at her but she gave him an enthusiastic wave in return.

He ignored her.

Jamie looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“What?” I asked. “It’s not like I asked him to show up.”

“No. But he knew you’d be here. He obviously came in to see you,” she pointed out.

What was I supposed to do? It was a public place. It wasn’t like I could ask him to leave. I just hoped he didn’t come over to talk. I really had nothing to say to him.

“Huh,” Willow said. “Maybe he really did only want hot chocolate.”

I glanced over my shoulder again.
Corey was retrieving his cardboard cup from the end of the counter. He didn’t look back at us. I took that as a good sign.

“So what’s new with you?” Jamie demanded of
Willow. “Anything?”

Willow
took a long, slow sip of her hot tea. “No, nothing. Why? What’s new with you?” she asked, deflecting the conversation back to Jamie.

“I was asked to give this to the ‘pretty one’?” The words surprised all three of us. We hadn’t seen the grumpy cashier approach. She was holding a white dessert plate. On the plate was a hot lava cake. Her eyes darted around our table. “Which one of you would that be?”

Her tone implied she couldn’t imagine it being any of us. I assumed that was what happened when you were a cashier and you didn’t worry about tips.

“Her,” both Jamie and
Willow said. They simultaneously pointed at me.

Without another word, she
carefully placed the dessert on the table and walked away.

“I guess
Corey
didn’t
just want hot chocolate,” Jamie said. Her tone was a little too accusatory for me.

“Hey! How was I supposed to know?” I glanced down at my favorite dessert. I’d ordered it with
Corey more times than I could count. It was a hot, gooey chocolate cake with an explosion of chocolate sauce flowing down the sides. A giant scoop of ice cream was melting over the top of it. Three raspberries adorned the masterpiece.

Jamie was giving it the evil eye while
Willow seemed to be looking at it longingly.

I pushed it toward the center of the table. “
Why would he do that? I can’t eat it. It kind of feels like cheating on Tristan.”

“I’ll take it,”
Willow said. She gripped the side of the plate and pulled it to her spot. She glanced up guiltily. “I mean, if you really don’t want it.”

“I really don’t,” I told her.

Better for Willow to cheat on the diet she really didn’t need to be on than it was for me to cheat on my maybe-boyfriend. Jamie seemed to be thinking the same thing as she watched Willow close her eyes and take a bite.

Neither one of us intended to mention
Willow’s unnecessary diet to her.

When
Willow opened her eyes again, she realized we were both staring. “What? Do you want a bite?” she asked. She nudged the plate toward Jamie.