Page 2 of Love Story

“I have no idea!”Haider threw up his hands.“I sat there, nodding like an idiot because I didn’t want to be rude.But then—then!—he says, ‘Do you ever feel like people just don’t understand your meows?’”

Conor lost it, doubling over with laughter.Ryan wasn’t far behind, his laugh so loud it startled a flock of birds out of a nearby tree.I couldn’t help myself, either.I laughed so hard my sides hurt.

“So, what did you do?”I managed, wiping my eyes.

“What could I do?”Haider said, shaking his head.“I excused myself to the bathroom, told the waitress good luck, and walked out.Blocked him on the app before I even reached my car.”

“You abandoned him?”Conor said, grinning.“Cold.”

“Oh, please.”Haider snorted.“The guy deserved it.And I’m pretty sure the waitress gave me a thumbs-up on my way out.”

“See, this is why I don’t date,” I said, still laughing.“It’s too dangerous out there.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Maple Boy,” Haider shot back.“At least I’m trying.What about you?”

I shrugged, dodging the question.“I’m not the one resonating with feline energy.”

The teasing continued as we walked, the cold forgotten for a while as Haider’s disastrous date story turned into the best entertainment we’d had in weeks.I should have expected nothing less from him.It wouldn’t be a Haider birthday without a story like this one.

“Thirty,” Haider groaned, dragging the word out as if it were a life sentence.He kicked at a clump of snow on the path, sending it flying.“How am I thirty and still single?It’s pathetic.I mean, come on.I’m a nice guy, right?”

He looked at us, waiting for validation.Conor did this weird laugh-snort thing, while Ryan stayed quiet, biting his lip as if he were trying to decide how serious he needed to be.

“You’re a great guy,” I said, rolling my eyes at his theatrics.“But maybe tone down the pity party.It’s only been your birthday for fifteen hours, so the day is young.”

“Fifteen hours is plenty of time for introspection,” Haider shot back, hands on his hips.“I just think it’s ridiculous.I own my own business.I’m charming.I’m romantic.And I make the best damn chocolate in this town.Why am I still single?”

Ryan, who’d been lagging behind to brush snow off his boots, caught up.“I’d date you just for the chocolate,” he said, deadpan, his breath visible in the cold air.

We all stopped walking for a second, staring at him, and then burst out laughing.Haider crossed his arms, feigning offense.“Just for the chocolate?Wow.Real flattering, Ryan.”

“Hey, I’m just saying,” Ryan replied, shrugging with a grin.“Your truffles are, like, next-level.And you’re not bad-looking, I guess.”

“‘Not bad-looking’, he guesses,” Haider muttered, rolling his eyes.“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“You’re welcome,” Ryan said, smirking.“But for real, stop beating yourself up.You’ll find someone.Probably someone who’ll also date you just for the chocolate.”

Haider huffed but didn’t say anything, and Conor clapped him on the back, almost sending him stumbling into the snow.“Ryan’s got a point, though,” Conor said.“You’ll figure it out.And if you don’t, we’ll keep eating your chocolate and pretending we’re supportive.”

I chuckled, falling into step with them again as the trail stretched ahead.For all his complaining, Haider wasn’t wrong.He was a nice guy—one of the best, actually.And yeah, his chocolate was amazing, but we all stuck around because he made life better, even when he was being dramatic.Someone would figure that out eventually.They’d be lucky to.

“Anyway,” Haider said with a grin, and I just knew what was coming.“I’m not the one who made a pact with my best friend to marry him at thirty.”He whirled in the snow and pointed at me, and then Conor.I groaned.I’d been drunk.Scratch that—both Conor and I had been drunk.We exchanged eye-rolls.

“Your birthday’s up next, Joker,” Conor said.

Joker.Yeah, because my birthday is on April 1, and isn’t that the most fantastic nickname ever for an April Fool’s baby?

Not.

I glanced at him, my stomach tightening.“Yeah.It’s coming, and May the fourth’s not far behind, Jedi.”

The pact we’d made years ago, half-joking and half-serious, suddenly felt as if it had claws, digging in the closer we got to thirty.And I wasn’t sure what terrified me more—the idea of going through with it or that part of me that didn’t hate the thought of not worrying about finding a date when I had more important things to think about.

Like the farm.

Haider clapped his hands.“Sam-you-ell and Con-noor sitting in a tree—”

I pushed Haider into the snow, Conor sat on him, and Ryan lost his shit, laughing so loud he was bent at the waist.

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