Page 32 of Almost Love

Then there was the text that really changed it all.

“Are you aware there’s a million vagina cupcakes in your kitchen?” Mack asked as he walked into her bedroom hours later.

“Why do you think I’m hiding in here?”

He chuckled and lay down beside her on the floor. She was supposed to be planning the Valentine’s Day menu, but she was distracted. After struggling for hours, she delegated the work to Freya and Roscoe, then she baked and frosted for hours and at some point forgot why she was baking. It felt good, because she got some of the horny frustration out of her system. She’d also unwrapped her vibrator and watched a video on how to use it before giving up and collapsing on the floor. After all that, she’d lost track of time.

“What’s going on?”

“I was horny baking.”

“Whoa,” Mack mumbled and she growled at his amused tone. “Tattooed surfer dude got under your skin, huh?”

“So fucking deep and I hate it.”

“Did you fuck him?”

“No. Ugh, I haven’t fucked anyone in…years.”

“Maybe you should fuck him.”

She huffed, because the words put a visual in her head and it was both exciting and terrifying. How did she explain to people that the idea of sex sometimes scared her? While Mack was the only one who knew about her complicated relationship with sex, that didn’t stop him from trying to get her out of this rut. He was the one who recommended porn, which didn’t do what it was supposed to do. Because she fell down a hole researching theporn industry and understanding the business. Besides, porn didn’t turn her on. It only gave her ideas for the kind of sex she could have one day.

“Walk me through the last twenty-four hours,” Mack said, nudging her gently.

She hesitated, but finally told him everything—what happened after she gave him the cupcakes and agreed to be his friend, the visit to the shelter, the special donuts and these feelings that she had been keeping at bay.

“He texted me after he ate the donuts.”

“You gave him your number?”

“For feedback purposes,” she grumbled, which made Mack laugh. “And the text he sent wasn’t even dirty or sexy, it just…stuck with me.”

Before he could ask for it, she handed him her phone. It was still open to their text conversation and she heard him chuckle as he read.

“It was the waking up together part that got you right?”

Groaning, she pressed her face against Mack’s shoulder. “What do I do? I can’t be around him without all these confusing feelings.”

Mack kissed her forehead and said, “He’s got you horny baking, which you never do. And from the start, he’s flustered you. I haven’t met this guy yet, but I’m going to assume he’s a good dude.”

“Everyone at the shop likes him, except Roscoe.”

“We’ve established that Roscoe is in love with you,” he reminded her for the millionth time. “This thing with Oakley, maybe it can just be sex. You can still do your food guide and make him donuts, then fuck him while you’re at it.”

Chewing on her lip, she frowned. “What if I suck at it?”

“Maybe he can show you, guide you,teach you.”

“I don’t know, Mack.”

“Maybe he sucks too, Tiny. You can learn together.”

“What if he laughs me out of there?”

“Is that the worst that could happen?”

For all her confidence and powerful badass mode, when it came to certain things, Clementine felt like a lost kid—terrified. She might lose him as a friend, which was also pretty terrible. The worst that could happen was he’d never come back for donuts, and she’d have to be okay with that.

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