Page 70 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
After the movie finished, she didn’t linger. She needed to get home, away from here.
As Theo walked her to the door, he hesitated. “Lavinia,” he said.
“Yes?” She turned back.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something. Emotion shone in his brown eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.
But then he looked pained, seeming to think better of it. He stopped. He dragged a hand through his wavy hair.
“Drive safe,” he said.
“Mhm.” Her eye twitched.
She left, feeling absolutely unhinged.
If he wanted to say something, he would say it! She was imagining things because she wanted to, and she needed to stop.
Chapter 25
Lavinia was on edge.
She buried herself in preparing for her final midterm for the next few days. The pharmacology midterm was Thursday afternoon and, as such, Wednesday was her last chance to study before the exam. She was currently at the Baby Dragon, where she had taken over an entire table for four for her, her laptop, her textbook, and her printed-out notes.
At home, Lavinia kept getting distracted by Biter, who was bigger now and slept less. It was virtually impossible to get any studying done when there was an adorable baby dragon vying for her attention and affection, which was why she was studying at the cafe. Although there were precious baby dragons at the cafe, too, they were all being looked after by other people. The moment she got home, she would reward herself for all her hard work with an hour of cuddling the draggo.
For now, she needed to study. There were already two empty mugs on the table, and she nursed a third latte, which surely wasn’t helping with the nerves coursing through her body, butshe needed an emotional support drink and the coffee was keeping her hands warm.
Lavinia was just about to reach for another sip of her maple latte when she heard someone behind her.
“Hey.”
Lavinia jolted, turning to see Theo. He gave her a funny look as she clutched her heart. He glanced at the table, at the empty mugs, then picked up her latte. “Maybe lighten up on the caffeine, yeah?”
Lavinia narrowed her eyes at him, and he took a sip of her latte, sitting down across from her. There was a streak of flour across his cheek, and he was wearing a maroon utility shirt with dark jeans, his brown hair mussed.
Seeing him sent a shiver down her spine as she recalled his lips brushing against her bare collarbone. Her eye twitched, and she mentally scolded herself. He closed her laptop screen.
“Give me my coffee back,” she said, reaching for it. He held it up, away from her. “What are you doing here, anyway? Don’t you have work?”
“It is in fact after four,” he said. He worked from seven to four at the Rolling Pin. “And since I put in my two weeks’ notice, I don’t stay a second later.”
“Love that for you,” she said, shifting her focus back to her notes. She put her glasses back on. “Now, sh.”
“Alright, alright.” Theo pulled his laptop out of his backpack, and she raised a brow. “Saph sent over some of the business files, so I’m going to look through them.” He pushed her notes out of the way, making room. She couldn’t help it; she smiled fondly at him.
“Look at us, doing work together,” she said. “I feel like we’re in high school again.”
He arched a brow. “That was just me writing all your English essays for you while you drank both our coffees.”
“Hey!” She made an outraged sound. “Don’t act like I didn’t do your chemistry homework! It was a mutually beneficial relationship.”
He laughed, and they got back to work, until five o’clock, when the cafe was closing. Theo got up and stretched his arms.
“Come on,” he said, closing his laptop. “Let’s go before they have to kick us out.”
“But I need to study.” She pouted. Theo began gathering her things together, putting them in her bag.
“You need a break, and I’m hungry,” he said, picking up her tote along with his backpack. “Come on, let’s get pizza.”
