Page 10 of Love Story

Dad grunted, unimpressed, and I took the opportunity to back away.

“I have to go,” I said, and before Mom could rope me into more conversation, I jogged to my cabin.

Inside, I kicked off my boots, peeled off my jacket, and headed straight for the shower.Haider’s party was waiting, and knowing him, it was probably in full swing by now.Clean clothes, maybe a halfway decent shave, and then I’d deal with whatever chaos awaited me.But as I stepped under the hot water, I couldn’t shake the image of Ben asleep in my truck, his face peaceful for that one fleeting moment.

I was the kind of person who liked to fix things for people.I couldn’t help it—it was in my bones.I liked it when people needed me.And Ben?He’d needed me.

The feeling of him in my arms, his weight leaning into me as if I were the only thing keeping him upright, had stuck with me.It wasn’t only that he needed help—it was him.And now, knowing he was into guys?Yeah, that knowledge buzzed in the back of my head like an annoying fly I couldn’t swat away.

But no.Nope.Not interested.

I shook my head as I toweled off after my shower, pushing the thoughts aside.We were coming into the busy season on the farm, and I had zero time left for random hookups with town visitors.Ben might be staying at Harriet’s, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t temporary.Everyone was temporary.And after the disaster that was Byron Duke—the asshole New York lawyer who’d vacationed here for a month last summer, fucked me, and somehow managed to squeeze in cheating on me with at least two others in the same damn county—I wasn’t about to fall into the same trap again.

The next guy I slept with would be long-term, he’d want kids, and he’d be freaking faithful.

I tossed the towel aside and dressed, wearing clean jeans and one of my best sweaters, of which I had two.Haider’s party was waiting, and I needed a distraction.Something to drown out the memory of Ben’s sleepy weight against me and the way he’d looked at me in the truck as though I was the only safe thing in the world.The last thing I needed right now was to get tangled up in feelings for someone just passing through.

I WAS LATEfor the second time today, but I figured I had a decent excuse for showing up to Haider’s party a good forty minutes behind schedule.

The inn’s warmth hit me as soon as I stepped through the door, as did the unmistakable scent of chocolate.It followed Haider like a signature, as maple did for my family.The party was in a side room, decked out with twinkling lights and tiny dangling hearts for Valentine’s Day, the same as the rest of the inn.Only this room had an added candy explosion.A chocolate fountain sat dead center, surrounded by platters of truffles and what I was sure were heart-shaped brownies.There wasn’t a piece of regular food in sight—typical Haider.

My stomach rumbled—one vending machine sandwich at the hospital, stale and old, wasn’t cutting it—so chocolate it would have to be.

I spotted the group near the far wall: Conor towering above the rest, Ryan using him as a shield against random people who might want to talk to him, and Haider standing out like a bright star.He’d gone all-in tonight, peacock-blue and green hues glittering under the lights.Something sparkly was tucked into his curly hair, catching the firelight from the massive stone hearth, and he was holding court with a wide grin.

“Finally,” Haider said when I joined them, his voice ringing out over the chatter in the room.“I thought you weren’t going to show, Mr.Hero.”He had a bottle of beer in one hand and a glass of something fizzy in the other, dual-wielding like the birthday boy he was.

I slipped my coat off and grabbed a beer from a nearby bucket.

“Hero is my job, not yours.”Conor leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his grin easy and smug.“You just put syrup in bottles.Easy.”

“Fuck you, and also, not much of a hero,” I said, taking a swig of beer.“Just got the guy to urgent care.”

“Not just any guy.This was Ben, our big-city guy,” Conor said.

“You go into hero mode after I called dibs on him,” Haider interjected, shaking his head in mock despair.

“Remember, you can’t call dibs on a man,” Ryan reminded him, straight-faced.

“Sure, I can,” Haider said, gesturing with the beer bottle.“Like I said, it’s efficient.Anyway—” He pointed toward a tray of chocolates.“Go taste the new stuff on the last tray.It’s only trial versions that weren’t perfect, so I can’t sell them, but taste each one and tell me I’m not irresistible.”

We humored him, all four of us wandering over to the table.The chocolates were glossy and dark, with a drizzle of maple syrup over some of them.I examined it closely as he would expect, then popped one into my mouth, and the flavor hit me with rich chocolate, caramelized syrup, and a hint of sea salt.It was, hands down, one of the best things I’d ever tasted.

“Oh my god,” Ryan said and sighed as he sucked on the concoction.

“Holy mother of all things chocolate,” Conor muttered, giving Haider a noogie and almost causing him to drop his drinks.“Our little candy genius!”

“Get off me, you big oaf!”Haider exclaimed, laughing despite himself as he juggled the drinks and tried to fix his hair.After two failed attempts, I smoothed his curls back into place.

“Well?”he asked, vibrating with excitement—or was that the champagne?“What do you think?It’s your syrup.Did I screw it up?Why aren’t you saying anything?You’re way too quiet, and it’s not like these two know anything about anything.”

“Hey!”Conor interjected.

“I know chocolate,” Ryan added.

But it was my opinion Haider wanted.

“These are incredible,” I said.“We could stock these in the shop.How are you packaging them?”

---