Page 81 of Cinnamon Strudel
“Would you like to have one?”
His jaw almost dropped. He stared at her, his mind suddenly void of all thoughts. Was she asking him out? She couldn’t be. They’d never gone beyond the casual greeting ever since she’d started working here a few months ago. “I… erm, sure.”
She giggled and handed him his new ID card. “That sounded as if I was holding a gun to your head.”
“No—I…”Shit!Why was he stammering so much?
Another brighter laugh kicked his heart into overdrive. “How about you think about it during your work out and let me know when you leave? Just know that I won’t hold a grudge if you say no.”
“O-okay.” With his new card in hand, he stumbled away from the awkward exchange. But that didn’t stop him from throwing a look over his shoulder, finding her eyes watching him. Hequickly set his water bottle down by the mirror, and Lila settled into her usual spot. When he went to grab his weights and caught his own reflection, he wanted to disappear into thin air. His cheeks shone brighter than headlights down a dark, dirt road.
With his looks, people often assumed he was a playboy. In the past, he’d been described as the broody type—big figure, black messy hair and his body covered in endless tattoos. The reality was way off though. He was a nerd through and through—and not the sexy kind. When it came to talking to women—or anyone for that matter outside his close friends—he was awkward as hell. He avoided people like the plague. It was one of the reasons he went to the gym so late at night.
He could hardly focus on his workout, constantly miscounting his reps and finding his thoughts returning to the mess he’d been in just minutes ago. Even blasting music through the headphones didn’t help. He wanted to leave but at the same time, he feared facing Violet again. He worried that she’d back out now that she knew the real him.
Feeling as if he had his tail tucked between his legs, he trudged up to the desk an hour later. “I would like to go out with you for Valentine’s Day,” he announced. Although he tried to sound confident, he knew it wasn’t even close.
“And here I was preparing for heartbreak,” Violet softly hummed.
“Anywhere specific you’d like to go?” he asked, feeling a little too rehearsed.
With her cheeks turning a rosy pink, she rested her elbows on the desk and her chin in her hands. “Since I thought you wouldn’t agree, I hadn’t thought about anything.”
Jasper was drawing a blank as well. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, Lila’s leash hanging around his wrist.
“What kind of hobbies do you have?”
“I game.” Why did that suddenly sound lame. Oh yes, right—itwaslame.
“Are you good?”
“I am.”
“So confident! I like that. The only game I play is Candy Crush.” But then her eyes started to beam. “But I was really good at Mario Kart.”
“I haven’t pulled that out in years.”
“But you have it?”
“I do.”
“If you promise not to laugh and let me win at least once, we can have a game night.”
“You want me to play Mario Kart with you?”
Violet grinned, her cheeks pushing up and slimming her gorgeous green eyes. “I do.”
He stared at her, wondering if there was a camera hiding somewhere. Was she messing with him?
“I can bring pizza too,” she offered when he couldn’t find his words.
“I like pineapples on mine.” What the fuck was wrong with him?
“Perfect. We can share.” She pulled out a notepad and pen, placing them in front of him. “I can come straight after my classes. Would eight work?”
“It would.” He tried to write as readable as he could—his handwriting had always been crap—and handed his details back to her.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
