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“I’m glad,” she whispers.
I pull her in until her lips meet mine, feeling that same sensation of being settled, happy—swelling inside to the point of bursting.
“So what would you get me if there was a third time?” she teases, nipping at my lower lip.
My lips curl, elation bubbling inside to have her here. That I finally saw her.
Too soon, my brain says, just as my heart whispers back, Too late.
Seventeen
DELILAH
“So let me get this straight,” Theo says, tapping his spoon against his coffee cup. “You’re…dating Ian Chase?”
I purse my lips. Can I call it dating? I mean, I want to call it dating, but we haven’t exactly discussed a label, so…
“We’re…something?”
Ava snorts. “Something involving their genitals.”
“Could you not be so crass?” Theo says with distaste.
Ava sticks her tongue out at him. “I once watched you make out with the drummer of a ska band in a dive bar after Jägerbombs, of all things, and you want to talk to me about crass?”
“Dee,” Theo says calmly, “might I suggest again you find new friends? I’m only thinking of your image here.”
“Says the man who tongue-humped a guy with a soul patch,” Ava quips sweetly.
“Both of you need to keep your voices down.” I glance around the busy coffee shop, noting the people milling about. “And can we not do this today? I’m still mildly freaking out about tonight, and you two are supposed to be comforting me.”
“I’m sure it’ll be totally not awkward at all to have dinner with your long-standing-crush-turned-maybe-boyfriend’s ex-wife,” Theo deadpans.
“Stop being an ass,” Ava chides. “Ian told you that they weren’t ever really in love, though, right? That’s something.”
“Not like that,” I confirm. “But she’s still important to him.”
“She’s also one of the most popular artists to come out of Massachusetts in the last twenty years,” Theo notes.
“Thanks,” I say dryly. “That’s helpful.”
“And you’re a successful, young, hot baker with her own television show,” Ava reminds me. “There’s nothing for you to be intimidated about.”
“I’m not…intimidated per se,” I tell her truthfully. “It’s more like…I want her to like me, you know? She’s important to Ian, practically his best friend, so it feels like it would be a disaster if she didn’t.”
“Oh, shut up,” Theo grouses, taking a sip of his Earl Grey. “You’re sunshine personified, when you’re not being a pain in my ass. It’s impossible not to like you.”
“Wow,” I laugh. “Thanks for the glowing review.”
“Don’t hire your friends as your agent if you want them to blow smoke up your ass.”
“Is it weird that his ex is going to know about the two of you before Jack?” Ava muses.
I frown. “Maybe…But I think I’d like a more solid definition of what this is between us before I involve Jack. He’s already going to be weird enough about it as it is.”
Ava narrows her eyes. “You don’t think Ian thinks you two are serious?”
“It’s not that,” I start. “I just don’t want to push it, you know? I’ve wanted this for so long, and it’s like now that I have it, I’m terrified of jinxing it somehow.”
