Page 65 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

Adam Zepecki: Sorry to hear that.

Really? Had he and Kate coordinated words this morning? Time to change the subject.

Perry Sommers: I invited Christa out with us on Thursday.

Adam Zepecki: Who’s Christa?

Perry Sommers: My best friend and roommate, remember?

Adam Zepecki: No, because you never told me her name.

Perry Sommers: Yes, I did. But anyway, she saw you this morning when she was dropping me off and she’s interested.

Adam Zepecki: Sweet.

Part of me wondered if getting them together was such a good idea, but another part held out some hope. I knew her stance on dating for longer than a night, but maybe she’d change her mind if she ever met a good guy. Adam was one of those guys, and that’s what I wanted for her.

Perry Sommers: I’ll talk to her again and let you know.

I shut down chat, then glanced behind me. Stephen was staring in my vicinity. I guess some things never changed. His lips curved up into a smile, taking me completely by surprise and forcing my mouth to do the same.

Okay, I guess some things did.

Let the desensitization begin.

I stood on my front porch as I watched his truck pull up. My nerves were firing off all over the place, and I looked forward to a time when seeing him was the equivalent of getting slathered in numbing cream.

Baby steps. I had to start somewhere, and accepting his offer for rides seemed like a good jumping-off point. I’d made the decisiontowards the end of the previous work day.Sure, why not? Sounds like a great idea.

Splat.That was the sound of my jaw hitting the cement when he got out and opened the door for me. I’d thoroughly enjoyed watching him do it, and it had set off a whole new reaction in me. Maybe this wasn’t the best plan. Dammit. I couldn’t even go back and blame my poor reasoning on drinking a few too many daiquiris.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Morning.”

I tried to act natural as I slid inside, but my heart was hammering. This was not like me. At all. I focused on his truck. I wasn’t some motor nut, but it sure looked similar to Dre’s. I ran my hand over the dash. I wondered if Stephen treated it like his beloved firstborn too. Since he hadn’t freaked when I’d talked about puking in it, I was leaning more towards no.

“This isn’t the type of thing I pictured you driving,” I said when he sat back in the driver seat. I knew I’d mentioned that before, but it was just small talk bubbling out of my mouth. Better that than blurting out something embarrassing.

“Were you expecting me to travel by lightning bolt?”

He grinned and I faced frontwards. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“I’m not the one who compared me to a god. And even though the original Thor had red hair, I’m still honored all the same.”

“Oops, did I say Thor? I meant a troll.”

He laughed hard. “Here.” He handed me a bag. “Did you have breakfast yet?” I shook my head, then opened it to find a huge chocolate donut with lots of frosting and sprinkles. “And I brought you either a coffee or a Sprite to go with it.”

“Um, thanks.” I was a little taken aback.

He gave me the Sprite, which sounded perfect right then. “You seem in a soda mood this morning, but the coffee’s yours if you want it too. I won’t be drinking it. It’s too sweet for me.”

I cracked open the bottle cap and took a long swig, eyeing him. “Soda mood?”

“I only see you drink coffee when you’re really tired. You look pretty awake today.”

“Yeah.” My head was whirling. I wanted to make some crack about him being a stalker, but I just couldn’t. It felt too… nice. He was paying attention to the little things in a way that Dre didn’t. I suppose that was the difference between a friend and a boyfriend.

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