mixed the icing. I had him hook, line, and sinker.
“Trying to master baking again, Rea?” he asked as he set the box down on the table.
It had taken me four boxes to get twelve delicious looking cupcakes. I went through three dozen eggs because I dropped a dozen on the stairs and screwed up so many cupcakes.
“I think I have it this time.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I swear it,” I told him. “You can be the judge.”
“Hmm…official taste tester of your baking,” he thought aloud as he poked at a cupcake. “It’s a dangerous job, but someone has to do it.”
And just like that I had him for the night. He pulled out plates and served each of us pizza before he helped me ice and eat six cupcakes. The other six met their demise in the trashcan. I wasn’t one to throw out perfectly good cake because of aesthetics, but when it tasted like chalk, it had to go. I wasn’t even sure how that happened.
As much as I hated to admit it, Ivy was right about Brock wanting me back in his life. He seemed happy that things had gone back to normal. After the pizza guy offered the proverbial olive branch, he started showing up at my apartment every time Ivy was in his. Suddenly it was high school all over again. We still never discussed anything about the past, but I was so happy with the present that I didn’t feel the need to acknowledge anything before it.
Everything was good, good, good. The whole tit for tat dating thing stopped, but only because we were always together. By Halloween we were in each other’s bed again. By Thanksgiving it was every night, and by Christmas I decided it was time to confess how I felt about him. That made me a nervous wreck, but I swore to myself I would tell him before something else could happen that made me want to push him away again.
I gave myself a deadline to prepare my brain and my heart. The day before we went home for the holidays was the big day. Daddy issues be damned, the words would come out of my mouth come hell or high water. I was in love with Brock Anderson. He was it for me, no doubt. Any thoughts I had about young love had been eradicated by time spent with him, in and out of bed, and I told myself it was okay.
I needed a friend to back me up and wanted to talk to Ivy. I could imagine how she’d say, “Finally!” with exasperation, and it would be the push necessary to go through with it. I usually wasn’t interested in girl talk before I did something, but I had never cared this much about anything before. As much as I hated it, the extra boost of confidence only a friend could provide would have been really helpful. Unfortunately, she wasn’t around or with Neal. He came by looking for her. When I told him I hadn’t seen her, he started to leave, then stopped abruptly. Slowly turning toward me, I noticed how hopeless he looked. His eyes were wide and watery, maybe even a little fearful, “You know I love her, right? If she’d go for it, I’d marry her today.”
“Wow,” I said as I processed his words. What would I give for Brock to feel that way about me? “I get it. Have you told her?”
He plopped on the couch and dropped his forehead to his hands. “Yeah. Every way I know how. She tells me she loves me too, but she isn’t sure about commitment. I understand though.” He looked up and stared at the wall. “Her parents are never around. No one has ever been there for her. You and Brock…well, you know. If she gave us a shot, we’d be great, but she won’t. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Whoa. Okay.” I paused to collect my thoughts, but Neal was looking at me like I had all the answers. Didn’t he know I was just as lost as everyone else? I couldn’t figure out my own life, let alone Ivy’s. “I don’t completely understand what Brock and I have to do with anything, but Ivy has her own stuff.” None of us even knew the extent of Ivy’s “stuff,” but she dropped plenty of hints when she was feeling dramatic or depressed. “We all
“Trying to master baking again, Rea?” he asked as he set the box down on the table.
It had taken me four boxes to get twelve delicious looking cupcakes. I went through three dozen eggs because I dropped a dozen on the stairs and screwed up so many cupcakes.
“I think I have it this time.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I swear it,” I told him. “You can be the judge.”
“Hmm…official taste tester of your baking,” he thought aloud as he poked at a cupcake. “It’s a dangerous job, but someone has to do it.”
And just like that I had him for the night. He pulled out plates and served each of us pizza before he helped me ice and eat six cupcakes. The other six met their demise in the trashcan. I wasn’t one to throw out perfectly good cake because of aesthetics, but when it tasted like chalk, it had to go. I wasn’t even sure how that happened.
As much as I hated to admit it, Ivy was right about Brock wanting me back in his life. He seemed happy that things had gone back to normal. After the pizza guy offered the proverbial olive branch, he started showing up at my apartment every time Ivy was in his. Suddenly it was high school all over again. We still never discussed anything about the past, but I was so happy with the present that I didn’t feel the need to acknowledge anything before it.
Everything was good, good, good. The whole tit for tat dating thing stopped, but only because we were always together. By Halloween we were in each other’s bed again. By Thanksgiving it was every night, and by Christmas I decided it was time to confess how I felt about him. That made me a nervous wreck, but I swore to myself I would tell him before something else could happen that made me want to push him away again.
I gave myself a deadline to prepare my brain and my heart. The day before we went home for the holidays was the big day. Daddy issues be damned, the words would come out of my mouth come hell or high water. I was in love with Brock Anderson. He was it for me, no doubt. Any thoughts I had about young love had been eradicated by time spent with him, in and out of bed, and I told myself it was okay.
I needed a friend to back me up and wanted to talk to Ivy. I could imagine how she’d say, “Finally!” with exasperation, and it would be the push necessary to go through with it. I usually wasn’t interested in girl talk before I did something, but I had never cared this much about anything before. As much as I hated it, the extra boost of confidence only a friend could provide would have been really helpful. Unfortunately, she wasn’t around or with Neal. He came by looking for her. When I told him I hadn’t seen her, he started to leave, then stopped abruptly. Slowly turning toward me, I noticed how hopeless he looked. His eyes were wide and watery, maybe even a little fearful, “You know I love her, right? If she’d go for it, I’d marry her today.”
“Wow,” I said as I processed his words. What would I give for Brock to feel that way about me? “I get it. Have you told her?”
He plopped on the couch and dropped his forehead to his hands. “Yeah. Every way I know how. She tells me she loves me too, but she isn’t sure about commitment. I understand though.” He looked up and stared at the wall. “Her parents are never around. No one has ever been there for her. You and Brock…well, you know. If she gave us a shot, we’d be great, but she won’t. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Whoa. Okay.” I paused to collect my thoughts, but Neal was looking at me like I had all the answers. Didn’t he know I was just as lost as everyone else? I couldn’t figure out my own life, let alone Ivy’s. “I don’t completely understand what Brock and I have to do with anything, but Ivy has her own stuff.” None of us even knew the extent of Ivy’s “stuff,” but she dropped plenty of hints when she was feeling dramatic or depressed. “We all
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