Tyler wasn’t even worth worrying about, so I got back to work. My assistant walked in not too much time later, and together, we put the finishing touches on the cupcakes. Because the work didn’t require deep thought, my mind drifted to thoughts of Sean. I was still kind of shocked how he woke me up this morning. Thinking about him made my face hot. Sex with him was the best sex of my life. I hadn’t had much, but what happened last night and this morning was… it was something else.
“You seem distracted.”
“Huh?”
I turned to Marnie, her voice taking me out of my head.
“I just said you seem distracted. You’ve barely said two sentences to me.” She glanced over at me while packing cupcakes.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t even realize.”
“I’m not upset, but I am curious about what’s on your mind.”
I looked down, unsure if I wanted to share any of it. I was already feeling weird about telling Tyler about Sean. Not because I was embarrassed, but more because the whole thing just felt… strange. Even though the feelings Sean and I had years ago were still there, that didn’t eliminate the fact that we hadn’t seen each other in so long. There was just so much that we had to figure out.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s not that. I just –” Before I could finish, my phone rang. I checked it and saw it was Sean. “Um, I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”
I walked into a private corner of the bakery and answered. “Hi.” I felt like he had heard me talking and even thinking about him, which was crazy but still…
“Hey, Chloe. How… are you?” I could hear some hesitation in his voice. We were both being so awkward, and while it gave me some relief to know he also felt nervous (meaning that he had feelings), I also kind of hated it.
“I’m fine. Just at the bakery.”
“Oh, yeah.” He paused for so long that I was worried the call dropped.
“Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I was wondering if you could do me another favor. My car is ready, and I could use a ride if you’re free?”
“Yeah! I’m free.” Realizing I sounded way too enthusiastic, I calmed myself down. “Are you still at your grandmother’s?”
“Mmhm, but I can walk over. It’s not too far of a walk.”
“Okay, see you soon.” We said goodbye and hung up.
Business was pretty slow today, so it was okay for me to close early. There was the issue of the cupcake delivery, though. I probably should have checked with Marnie first, but I also knew she wouldn’t mind.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just have to go help a friend. Do you mind taking care of cupcakes and delivering them to the reunion? I can pay you extra.”
“Of course!” I knew I could count on Marnie. “Is this friend the reason you were daydreaming earlier?”
“Marnie!” She was too observant for her own good. “If you must know, yes. He and I are… I don’t know, but something’s happening.”
A large smile broke out on Marnie’s face. “All I have to say is good luck.”
I gave Marnie a big hug and left her to work in the back. I headed to the front and put away what I needed to. As I cleaned up, I thought about Sean. I was nervous to see him, but it felt different from before. Maybe it was because we had sex. Things were different. But there was also the fact that I’ve never had the butterflies in my stomach sensation before. I’ve dated a few guys, but I was so eager to see him. It made me worry about how deep my feelings were. I had initially thought it was just the usual new man in my life stuff, but I started to wonder if I was falling for Sean. It felt silly because we had only had one night together. It wasn’t possible to fall for someone so fast.
Right?
Chapter Eight – Sean
I started walking over to the bakery. On my way over, I thought about… everything. The first big issue was that I was way too nervous to see Chloe. I attributed it to the fact that I had to be misremembering last night… and this morning. The combination of not having been with someone in some time plus finally getting to be with Chloe – I was surely embellishing how good it actually was. I just needed a little bit of time to return to my usual self. Once I got these feelings out of my system, I was sure that I’d be able to move on without too much fanfare. Because what could really come out of this fling? Nothing.
I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
When I reached the bakery, I found Chloe waiting outside for me. What I had been thinking on my walk was washed away by the torrent of feelings that spilled out of me. Everything that I had felt last night came crashing back. I thought I was exaggerating and misremembering last night. Yet, in that moment, I realized last night really was good as I remembered.