Page 70 of Even in the Dark

“What is it?”

I roll my eyes. “Well, I’m not going to just come straight out and tell you. God. This is a peace offering… It deserves at least a little more of a ceremonious unveiling.”

“Are you… high right now?”

I can’t tell if he’s joking. “Let’s pretend you didn’t mean that as an insult.”

“I didn’t.”

It’s still not obvious if he’s serious or not.

“So?” I forge on. “Are you curious what I brought you?”

I expect him not to answer, so I’m doubly surprised when he says, “Yeah. Sure.”

“Perfect. Can I sit?”

He doesn’t respond, but he bends his legs, sliding his feet closer to his body to leave room for me to lower myself onto the steps. Having learned my lesson about giving him ample personal space, I settle onto the lowest one, two down from the one he’s stretched out on.

“Before the big reveal,” I tell him, setting the backpack down between my feet, “you need to know this is something I’ve never given anyone else before. So this is kind of a big deal.”

He leans forward to peer over my lap at the still closed backpack.

“Also, in case you try to tell me it’s lame, you should know I stole these for you. So this is basically contraband. That’s got to count for something, at least.”

He’s eyeing me now, like he’s worried about my mental health. Honestly, his instincts might not be too far off base.

I unzip the backpack and pull out a half-filled sealed plastic bag. “For you,” I proclaim, opening the bag and holding it out towards him. “My mother’s homemade rosemary and pine nut muffins.”

His lips curl into a confused expression. “What the fuck?”

“I know. That was my reaction, too.”

“Are those the same muffins she offered me a couple weeks ago?”

“No. That was a different batch. These have cranberry raisins in them, too. Bonus!”

When he doesn’t respond, I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Why am I getting the feeling you’re disappointed?”

“This is freakin’ weird, man.”

“I never said my peace offering wasn’t weird. I just said it was something I’ve never given anyone else before. And that wasn’t a lie. I haven’t even tried these myself before.”

His eyes stretch a little wider as he peers more closely into the bag. “Yeah, I can see why.”

“We’re trying these rosemary and pine nut muffins, Dylan Braun.” I reach in and take one. “I really hope you’re not going to make me do this alone.”

I let out a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding when he reaches in and takes one for himself—because as much as he has the ability to continually hurt my pride, he also has the ability to keep surprising me.

“Shit,” I laugh. “We’re really doing this?”

“Sure. Why not?” He shrugs.

“Can’t be worse than they look, right?”

“Technically, they could be.” His lip twitches again into that suggestion of a grin, and my stomach flips over on itself.

I never thought I’d be able to bring a smile to his lips tonight. My goal when I rushed out here was so much humbler than that.But this is way, way better.

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