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Aurora is still at school when I arrive home. I stop by her apartment on the way up to mine. Rix answers the door.
She takes me in, arms laden with bags. “Oh, we are deep in woo-the-woman mode, aren’t we?”
“Very deep. Aurora agreed to a date tomorrow night. Did the flowers arrive?” I ordered a bouquet of yellow and blue flowers for her while I was shopping.
“About half an hour ago. I put them in her bedroom.” She steps aside so I can come in.
“And the cake? Does it look good?” It’s a pre-final exam treat.
“It is… Well, you should see for yourself.”
“Did it not turn out?” I ask, suddenly panicked.
Rix holds up her hand. “Oh, it turned out. Let me show you, and then we can unload all your bags.”
I set them on the floor and follow her to the kitchen. Rix opens the fridge and carefully retrieves the Just Desserts box, placing it on the counter before she opens the top.
“It’s really fucking corny, isn’t it?” I stare down at the elaborate design and the words printed across the top.
“Oh yeah, it is, but it’s perfect.” She gives my arm a reassuring squeeze. “She’s going to love it. This is how you show Hammer that you know her. That you pay attention, and you are exactly the right person for her.”
“A cake won’t fix what I fucked up,” I grumble.
She rolls her eyes. “Why are you guys so damn literal all the time? The cake isn’t the thing, Hollis. It’s a freaking banana cake with coconut frosting and freaking banana ducks on it that reads I’m bananas over you. Is it ridiculous? Ten out of ten, yes. But Hammer is obsessed with things that smell and taste like bananas. And she has an unreasonable number of banana-duck-inspired things, which shows that you know what she loves. If you weren’t obsessed with her, you wouldn’t know that.”
“I’m not obsessed.”
“You steal her scrunchies, Hollis. You’re obsessed.” She pats my shoulder. “And it’s okay. That’s how it should be.” She puts the cake back in the fridge. “Now let’s get everything set up for mission Woo Hammer.”
“Sounds good.” I’d rather do that than find out how Rix knows about the scrunchies.
I follow Rix to Aurora’s bedroom and stand at the threshold, feeling like I don’t have a right to step inside until I’m invited by Aurora.
Rix gives me a knowing, empathetic smile. “You’re okay. She won’t be upset with either of us when she sees how much thought you’re putting into this.”
I cross the room and set everything on her bed. Where I made love to her for the first time. That was so much more than sex. The connection was life altering, but I’d been too afraid to voice it. “I want Aurora to know I’m serious about her, and not just by throwing money around.”
“If you bought her a gift card, it would be one thing, but you went shopping for her. It’s like when Tristan sends me ice cream, or orders groceries while he’s on an away series. It’s a small thing, but it means a lot.” She motions to the array of items. “You know what makes her happy; you know what she needs. Spoiling her is lovely, but by doing all of this, you’re showing her she’s yours and you’re hers.”
“Thanks for your help. I appreciate it,” I say as we lay everything out.
“I’m glad I can do something other than eat garbage snacks and watch terrible reality shows with her,” Rix replies.
“She really does love them, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, she does.” She gives me a soft smile. “I know you’ve had a lot of people giving you their opinion, Hollis. If I let what everyone else thought interfere with my relationship with Tristan, he and I wouldn’t be where we are. We wouldn’t have worked on the things we needed to be better for each other. You love her; we can all see it. So just love her. Fuck everyone else. Except maybe Roman—his opinion counts, so don’t fuck his.” She cringes. “You know what I mean. Anyway, that’s my unrequested two cents.”
I nod. “You’re a good friend, Rix. Thank you for being there for Aurora when I was over here fucking shit up.”
She shrugs. “She’s done the same for me.”
With the pre-date stuff taken care of, I head up to my penthouse to start my next project. I glance at Roman’s door as I step off the elevator. I’ve given him space, but I don’t want to move forward without talking to him first. So I hit the buzzer.
His voice comes through the intercom. “What?”
“Can we talk?”
Silence follows for several seconds before he finally says, “Talk.”
