Sweet Dandelion

I wipe up some drops of coffee with my napkin. “I think I’m going to go into Marketing. I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it, but right now it seems like something I’d enjoy.” Clearing my throat, I ask, “Where are you working now?”

“At a youth center. I do counseling there and I also coach the basketball team.”

A smile bursts free of me. “That’s amazing, Lachlan. I’m so happy for you.”

The waitress stops by again. “Is there anything else I can get you guys?”

“Do you have any cake?” Lachlan asks.

She smiles. “Yes, we do. It’s freshly made. Chocolate cake with fudge icing.”

“We’ll have two slices, please.” She starts to walk away but he calls after her. She pauses, turning around. “You wouldn’t happen to have two candles would you?”

“Oh, someone’s birthday?” She smiles pleasantly, looking between us.

/>

“Both of ours.”

“You have the same birthday? That’s neat. I’ll see if I can find any.” She turns, heading back to the kitchen.

Tapping my fingers on the table, he watches the gesture, no doubt picking up on how nervous I am. It’s beyond dumb. This man has had his mouth on my vagina for God’s sake.

Although, maybe that is why I’m so nervous. He knows me in the most intimate ways, not just my body, but the inner workings of my mind.

“Thinking about something?” he prompts.

“It’s … where do things go from here with us? What are we? A couple?”

He leans back in the booth, appraising me. “We’re whatever you want us to be. We can take things slowly.” Leaning forward, he rests his arms on the table. “I’ve waited this long, I can wait some more for us to figure it out.”

“That sounds good to me.”

The waitress sets down our pieces of cake, a single candle in each, and lights them. “Happy birthday, guys. I’d sing but you don’t want that.”

“Make a wish.”

I look across at him with a mischievous grin. “Don’t tell me what to do, old man.”

He groans, closing his eyes. “Don’t remind me.”

“You’re thirty-one, and I think that’s hot. Makes you distinguished.”

He chuckles. “Whatever you say.”

We both close our eyes, blowing out the candles. I don’t make a wish, not when I can safely say I’m happy and there’s not anything else I could possibly want. I’m healthy, I’m thriving, my brother’s in a good place, and the love of my life is sitting across from me.

Opening my eyes, I meet the ones shining across from me. “When we get back to Utah can I take you on a date? A real date?”

My breath catches. “I’d like that.”

I try to act cool, but there’s a part of me screaming on the inside that Lachlan asked me to go on an actual date with him.

“Will I need to dress up on this date?” I ask, taking a bite of cake. I nearly moan. It’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.

“Do you want to get dressed up?” I nod. Call it cliché, but I want to spend hours doing my hair and makeup, picking out a dress, the whole shebang. “Then definitely.”

“You know,” I fight a smile, looking at my slice of cake, “I promised you last year that I’d make you a cake for your birthday. Sorry that plan fell through.”