Page 9 of The Cupcake Standard

Then another.

Yes I did. We’re all wondering where the doting girlfriend is for her boyfriend’s birthday party.

It’s Derek’s birthday? I made a quick note of the date, October eighteenth.

A picture came through of Derek smooshed between three girls, each of them holding up a shot glass. What struck me most were the identical smiles on the girls’ faces, as if they were having the time of their lives. Meanwhile, Derek’s expression seemed closer to someone who had just eaten a slug but was pretending to enjoy it.

I recognized Yolanda from our brief encounter at the library. The girl to her right wore a tiara with the number twenty-one on top. She looked a lot like Derek—same nose, same cheekbones, same mouth. Although her eyes weren’t quite as brilliant blue.

This wasn’t just any birthday. I was missing his twenty-first. Well, this fake relationship is off to an amazing start. It was time to have some fun with Yolanda.

Sorry, had a little hookup to get out of the way first.

I waited just long enough for Yolanda to start typing a book, then I sent a picture of me connected to my IV and monitors.

I got food poisoning. Spending the night in the hospital. Green, about to puke emoji, for effect.

My phone rang instantly. Derek’s deep voice in my ear was like a warm hug I didn’t know I needed.

“Hey, Avery, are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Better now that I’ve stopped emptying my stomach every ten minutes. They’ve got me on meds, and I have to stay overnight because of the dehydration. Everything hurts after all that throwing up.” Yeah, that’s probably TMI, but he asked.

“What hospital?”

I gave him the name. “They’re taking good care of me. I told Gina that gyro smelled funky.”

A loud noise echoed through the phone, and Derek sighed. “Hey, I gotta go.”

“Okay. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

And I was left alone with only the sound of my monitors to keep me company.

* * * *

“Hey, sunshine.” Derek’s voice pulled me out of a light doze not an hour later.

“What?” I squinted up at him. And the gorgeous vase of flowers he held. “What are you doing here?” Self-conscious, I pulled the oversized hospital gown a bit higher on my chest, then shifted to sit upright. I hoped he wouldn’t notice my day-old makeup or the state of my hair.

Derek leaned down to kiss my cheek, his voice surprisingly tender. “My girlfriend’s in the hospital. Where else would I be?”

I gaped at him. I felt like hell and could only imagine how I looked. Like a raccoon, probably. But he’d kissed me anyway.

Yolanda stood in the doorway with her arms folded. “I can’t believe you left your own birthday party to come check on her. She said she was fine.”

A muscle clenched in his jaw, but Derek kept his blue eyes on me. “I wanted to see for myself.”

“Well, now you’ve seen her. Can we go? It’s Rhonda’s birthday too, you know.”

“I can’t believe I missed your birthday.” I winked at him, wanting him to relax. I reached out to run a finger lightly over his knuckles, even as I tried to wrap my mind around him being here.

He turned his hand over, catching mine in his. “It’s not over yet.”

“Yeah, but I’m all out of party tricks.” Exhaustion was setting in.

“Excuse me.” My nurse pushed past Yolanda. “Visiting hours are almost through.”

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