Don't Go Baking My Heart

Devon

“Uh,it doesn’t look so bad?”

The camera flash brought Devon out of his daze. He looked at Maxi, who didn’t even look contrite. “Oops, sorry, didn’t realise my flash was on. Just wanted to immortalise this. Even if it looks like a science project gone wrong.”

“It’s really not that bad,” Keiran said again.

Devon appreciated the attempt, but there was no way to soften the blow. The cake really did look a mess. All his careful plans had gone down the drain the moment he realised Reba hadn’t replied to his message or shown up. Even so, his lack of focus was all on him.

Dax had still come over and given him a hug after the results were announced. “It didn’t go as planned, but the fact you participated and put real work in is noted. Trust me.”

“Just wasn’t my day. I’ll show you a photo and video of what it was supposed to look like. I actually did succeed at it before today.” Devon showed him the perfect cube, and Dax looked back at what he had actually made.

“Oh, damn. What went wrong?”

“I got in my own head. That’s all.”

“Is it edible?” Maxi asked.

He hadn’t even cut into it when he’d seen how not-perfect the cube had turned out. “Knock yourself out if you want to find out.”

“Not now, Evan!”

The voice rang out, and Devon looked up to see Reba running towards him, a baffled Evan behind her.

“He tried to make small talk with me,” she huffed out. “As if I give a damn about him. I’m sorry…oh, wow.” She looked down at the cake. “That is not great.”

Devon couldn’t help it. He laughed. There was nothing really funny about any of this, and yet he couldn’t stop himself. Even in this situation, Reba could still make him smile.

“Oh dear, is he having a breakdown now?” some lady off to the side asked.

“He’s fine. It’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.” Reba laid a hand on his arm. “Uh. You are okay, right?”

“Yes. You’re here.”

“I am.” She took his hands in hers. “I’m so sorry I broke my promise. Forgive me.”

“I lost.”

She glanced at the cake again. “I figured as much.”

“Evan won.” The man had annoyingly been celebrating since. The fact that Reba had blown him off had given him immense pleasure.

“Meh. Evan’s a jerk. You’re way better-looking than him. I don’t know what his relationship status is, but you definitely have a better-looking girlfriend, so.”

Devon blinked at her. “What?”

She looked around at the others who were also staring, listening intently. “Let’s talk.”

She led him away from the main baking area. Or the disaster zone, as he was now going to dub the place.

“You called yourself my girlfriend,” he said.

“Yeah, if you’ll have me after I didn’t even show up when you needed me. As you already know, I’m unpredictable. A lil’ messy sometimes, but I will be a social buffer for you, and I’ll tell Evan off if you want me to. In the nicest possible way, so he won’t even notice he’s being dissed.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I’m not sure. I have no real experience with this relationship thing, and yeah, I’m a red zone risk factor, baby. Maybe I should get a t-shirt made? I will definitely fuck up, probably, but I’m a risk-taker, remember? And maybe you’re learning to take some calculated risks too?”