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Chapter 12: Ava Maxwell
He’s Looking at Me
I haven’t had a chance to look at my phone all day. I wasn’t kidding when I said Saturday is our busiest day. Sometimes there’s a line waiting outside before we open, but not as early as six when I arrived.
Poppy was already there, and I often wonder if she ever leaves. She was likely here late last night, long after we all left, baking and getting things ready for today.
When I first got in, I measured out ten cups of sugar before anyone else got in. I dumped it into our sixty-quart floor mixer, and I got the rest of the ingredients going, too. I was set for a big day at the bakery, and I wasn’t wrong. And, really, there’s nothing better than warm kitchen sink cookies, so I keep the batches going all day in between my other tasks for those who want them warm.
I should rename them. It was a generic name when I told Poppy about my idea, and I’d told her I’d throw in everything but the kitchen sink. She told me to go for it, and she loved my recipe. It’s famous now, and I’m hoping it’s enough to help me venture out on my own one day.
You know…once I sell that closetful of Radiance Skincare.
Cora asked me about my night, and I was vague. I didn’t tell her I slept with Grayson, but she doesn’t know I’m a virgin, either. I learned early on that as much as I like her and as much fun as she is to hang out with, she’s also the proverbial office gossip.
But I’m excited to get home and tell Kelly about my night, so after the bakery closes and we clean up and prep for tomorrow, I head home.
Before I go, though, I take a second in the driver’s seat, and I pull up the photo I took last night of the view.
I put myself back in the shoes of the girl taking the picture.
I was a virgin when I snapped this photo.
I’m not one anymore.
I don’t feel all that different—except for the delicious ache between my legs that I seem to feel each time I sit. Lucky for me, I didn’t get to sit much today.
And it’s as I look at the photo that I notice a reflection in the glass of the window.
I can see the Strip plain as day, but now that I’m distracted by the lighting, I see something else.
I see Grayson Nash reflected there. And he’s not looking at the view.
He’s looking at me.
My chest ripples with some strange feeling.
It’s adorable—seeing him there looking at me as I look with wonder out at the view. He’s really something unexpected.
I haven’t heard from him yet, not that I expected to.
I should have been honest with him that we have a history, even if we didn’t really know each other back then, but instead I let him think I was some intriguing stranger. I feel bad about the omission, and maybe I’ll work up the nerve to tell him next time I see him.
It’s only right. We can’t build something from scratch if the foundation is shaky, and this is my chance to build the type of life I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.
I think about texting him, but I want him to make the first move. Besides, the things I want to tell him should be handled in person.
When I pull into the driveway of the small, two-bedroom house I rent with Kelly, I spot a car parked in the street. Kelly must have a guest over, which stinks since I was hoping to share every last detail of my first time with her.
And by every last detail, I mean an inch-by-inch replay that would take me all night to chronicle.
I park in the garage and cut the engine as I let out a soft sigh with the memory that washes over me. I get out of the car and close the garage before heading inside, and when I glance toward the couch in our modest family room, I spot a figure sitting on it as Kelly looks wildly at me from the kitchen.
He stands up and turns around, and my breath gets caught in my throat.
“Colin,” I murmur. “What are you doing here?”
Guilt racks me as I think back to last night.
