as much as I am. When she opens her mouth this time, I pretend I’m going to feed her the bite. At the last second I let the fork take a turn and get cake all over her nose.
“Dylan!”
She grabs a napkin to wipe it off her face, and all I can do is laugh.
***
By the time we hit the third bakery, I never want to see another damn cake again. Derrick and Lora have argued vanilla vs. chocolate, chocolate vs. strawberry, filling vs. no filling vs. blah, blah, blah. I’m really not seeing what the big deal is. It’s a cake.
“I want to die.” Ziah closes her eyes, her arms hung limp at her sides.
“Agreed.” I’m as low in my chair as I can get, my hands resting carefully on my bloated stomach.
“Three quickie locations, and then you two can do whatever you want.” Lora gives her sister a too-bright smile.
I groan. “Are there even any more cake flavors out there to taste?”
“It’s not about the flavor, it’s about how they’re made, too.” But Lora’s quiet. Maybe worried about how I’ll react or something.
“Lora. I can’t move. I’m serious,” Ziah protests.
Lora’s eyes widen. “I warned you when you were eating full slices instead of the samples that this was going to happen.”
Or when I kept feeding her extra bites off the fork.
“Get up, you big wuss.” Derrick mock-punches me in the gut, which means I flinch, which means I’m reminded of every bite of cake I’ve eaten since lunch.
Lora leans over and whispers in Derrick’s ear. His body slowly gets closer and closer to hers, and his smile gets bigger and bigger. I don’t even want to know what they’re planning. Thank God I can’t hear them. Nauseating.
I’m about to cough or something because I really don’t want them to start going at it in public, but then I decide I don’t do subtle. “Dude. Cut the foreplay.” I kick Derrick’s foot.
Lora smiles her sales-girl smile. I’m immediately suspicious. “Derrick and I thought maybe if you wouldn’t mind running Ziah home, we could do the locations tomorrow? So you two have a choice. You can hang with us and do locations and have tomorrow off, or come with us tomorrow to check out three spots.”
“I’ll do tomorrow,” Ziah says.
“Agreed.” With the way those two are looking at each other, I think they need some alone time, pronto.
I slowly stand. “It’s just you and me, Hanes. In a battle to make it home before I die of cake consumption.”
“Perfect! You’re a trooper, Ziah.” Lora plants another kiss on her sister’s head.
“Yeah. Yeah.” Ziah waves her off.
“I just don’t know how we’re going to decide.” Lora sighs as she surveys the table of half-eaten cake slices.
“Then don’t.” Ziah shrugs. “From the pictures you have pegged all over your magazines, the place will be full of flowers. Why don’t you just do a bunch of cakes, decorate them all a little differently but a little the same, stick them on a table, and then people can have choices.”
It’s actually a good idea, especially since no one around here seems to want to make a decision. Lora and Derrick exchange a look, and I’m willing to do anything to not have to re-test any more cake. “Great idea,” I add.
Both Lora and Derrick are nodding and smiling, and I’m thinking this is one part of this damn wedding I won’t have to do again.
“You’re a genius!” Lora grabs Ziah in a hug, making her groan. “I think we’re done with this part then, if that’s cool with you.” She bats her eyes, and Derrick eats it up.
“Cool with me, baby.”
“Great with me, because this means we can go already.” I give Ziah a wink before I really think about it, and then realize maybe I shouldn’t have. Then I remember what she looked like in that damn dress and the way she licked her lips before biting the cake.
Totally shouldn’t be going there. Why the hell did we have to go in that dress shop anyway? We could have texted them from the car out front, and then I
“Dylan!”
She grabs a napkin to wipe it off her face, and all I can do is laugh.
***
By the time we hit the third bakery, I never want to see another damn cake again. Derrick and Lora have argued vanilla vs. chocolate, chocolate vs. strawberry, filling vs. no filling vs. blah, blah, blah. I’m really not seeing what the big deal is. It’s a cake.
“I want to die.” Ziah closes her eyes, her arms hung limp at her sides.
“Agreed.” I’m as low in my chair as I can get, my hands resting carefully on my bloated stomach.
“Three quickie locations, and then you two can do whatever you want.” Lora gives her sister a too-bright smile.
I groan. “Are there even any more cake flavors out there to taste?”
“It’s not about the flavor, it’s about how they’re made, too.” But Lora’s quiet. Maybe worried about how I’ll react or something.
“Lora. I can’t move. I’m serious,” Ziah protests.
Lora’s eyes widen. “I warned you when you were eating full slices instead of the samples that this was going to happen.”
Or when I kept feeding her extra bites off the fork.
“Get up, you big wuss.” Derrick mock-punches me in the gut, which means I flinch, which means I’m reminded of every bite of cake I’ve eaten since lunch.
Lora leans over and whispers in Derrick’s ear. His body slowly gets closer and closer to hers, and his smile gets bigger and bigger. I don’t even want to know what they’re planning. Thank God I can’t hear them. Nauseating.
I’m about to cough or something because I really don’t want them to start going at it in public, but then I decide I don’t do subtle. “Dude. Cut the foreplay.” I kick Derrick’s foot.
Lora smiles her sales-girl smile. I’m immediately suspicious. “Derrick and I thought maybe if you wouldn’t mind running Ziah home, we could do the locations tomorrow? So you two have a choice. You can hang with us and do locations and have tomorrow off, or come with us tomorrow to check out three spots.”
“I’ll do tomorrow,” Ziah says.
“Agreed.” With the way those two are looking at each other, I think they need some alone time, pronto.
I slowly stand. “It’s just you and me, Hanes. In a battle to make it home before I die of cake consumption.”
“Perfect! You’re a trooper, Ziah.” Lora plants another kiss on her sister’s head.
“Yeah. Yeah.” Ziah waves her off.
“I just don’t know how we’re going to decide.” Lora sighs as she surveys the table of half-eaten cake slices.
“Then don’t.” Ziah shrugs. “From the pictures you have pegged all over your magazines, the place will be full of flowers. Why don’t you just do a bunch of cakes, decorate them all a little differently but a little the same, stick them on a table, and then people can have choices.”
It’s actually a good idea, especially since no one around here seems to want to make a decision. Lora and Derrick exchange a look, and I’m willing to do anything to not have to re-test any more cake. “Great idea,” I add.
Both Lora and Derrick are nodding and smiling, and I’m thinking this is one part of this damn wedding I won’t have to do again.
“You’re a genius!” Lora grabs Ziah in a hug, making her groan. “I think we’re done with this part then, if that’s cool with you.” She bats her eyes, and Derrick eats it up.
“Cool with me, baby.”
“Great with me, because this means we can go already.” I give Ziah a wink before I really think about it, and then realize maybe I shouldn’t have. Then I remember what she looked like in that damn dress and the way she licked her lips before biting the cake.
Totally shouldn’t be going there. Why the hell did we have to go in that dress shop anyway? We could have texted them from the car out front, and then I
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