June clapped her hands. “Ooh, let’s do a bet. Why don’t you both draw a design, and we’ll let a neutral third party decide which one we use?”
I frowned. “Do we know any neutral third parties?” Shar was my aunt, Leanne was Rowan’s best friend and maybe had a thing for Juniper, Addison was a bitch, and Cameron was a random jock smitten with Gia. Plus, Addison and Cameron were in competition against us, so we couldn’t exactly show them our designs.
“Hyacinth!” Juniper said. “We can ask Hyacinth to pick which one she thinks will win. She was a judge for a few years but isn’t doing it this year because she’s going to Tahiti or something to get married that weekend. She used to be an interior decorator.”
“There’s actually a Hyacinth? I thought the coffee shop was named after the flower, not an actual person.”
Gia crossed her arms. “YouknowHyacinth! The woman with the magenta hair?”
Huh. I did know that woman, just didn’t realize Hyacinth was her name. Or that she owned the café.
“I’m in,” Rowan said. “What’s the wager?”
There was only one thing I wanted from Rowan Johnston, and I’d wanted it since the day I’d met him. “I know what I want if I win,” I said. “What do you want from me?” I fluttered my lashes playfully.
He ran his fingers over his jaw again, laughing. “Oh, jeez, I don’t know. Okay, if I win you have to get me an ice cream cone. Specifically, the toasted marshmallow ice cream from Inside Scoop.” That was a homemade ice cream shop on Main Street. Big lineups on the weekends.
“That’s easy,” I said. “I can get you ice cream right now if you want.”
Juniper shook her head, laughing. “They only serve toasted marshmallow on Saturdays, and they’re usually out by the afternoon. Basically, expect to have to wait in line a minimum half hour to get toasted marshmallow ice cream. It’s legendary.”
“Deal,” I said. “It doesn’t really matter anyway because I’m not going to lose.”
Rowan laughed. “Way to doubt yourself, Tahira. What do you want if you win?”
I grinned suggestively. “You. I want you. Wearing my designs, modeling for my Instagram.”
He frowned a second, then laughed, shaking his head. “Okay, Thirst Trap. You’ve got a deal.”
Over the next few days, I researched and drew up several ideas for the competition sculpture on my iPad. I wanted to do it all alone, with no outside interference. That ended up being no problem because Gia was so busy with Cameron that I barely even saw her.
But anyway. I eventually settled on the perfect design. It was basically a stylized, narrow, white lily, done mostly with white impatiens and begonias. To represent the stamen and pistil, I used gold-colored grasses. It wasn’t exactly minimalistic—it was pretty lush. But the color scheme stayed to white, green, and the golden bursts.
I thought it was great. I also thought it was very strange how much I loved it. Even a month ago, I would have hated all the flowers and greenery. This design was so Bakewell, but it was also very me. It was exactly what we needed to stand out in the Bloom.
On Friday night, Shar and I went into Niagara for prayers again. After we were back at home, I was in the tiny house adding finishing touches to the Bloom design on my iPad when Gia came in.
“I’m not here,” she said. I knew she’d closed the store at seven, and I assumed she’d been with Cameron since then. “The air conditioner over the Scottish store leaked all over my head. That Hamish guy kept calling me a ‘wee lassie’ while he apologized. I need five minutes with my flat iron; then Cam and I are going to go hang in his backyard.”
She turned to show me that the back of her head had reverted back to its natural frizzy waves instead of the intentional loose waves she made herself.
“Things still going well with you two?” I asked.
Gia nodded happily as she plugged her straightener in. “He’s the absolute sweetest. You know he loves reality TV? We’ve been watching that dating show in Antigua.Summer in Paradise? But he keeps saying thatthisis his summer in paradise because of me. Sweet, right? Where can you find a boyfriend that watches reality dating shows? Not in Toronto, home of the toxic masculinity teens. You don’t think I’m spending too much time with Cam, do you? I mean, you and me weren’t really going to be all ‘Hot Girl Summer’ since you had a boyfriend when we got here...but—”
“No, no,” I said, shaking my head. “Totally fine, G. I’m happy for you.”
She waved her hand. “See! That’s why I love you, T. You never get jealous or anything.” She unplugged the iron. “You’ve got Juniper now, so you don’t need me as much. Not to mention Rowan.” She wagged her eyebrows. “All those thirst traps of yours actually worked. You two will have a mind-blowing summer hookup soon. Mark my words.”
I straightened my spine. “What thehellare you talking about?”
“Rowan and you.” She snorted a laugh. “C’mon, don’t pretend you haven’t noticed that Plant-Boy is seriously into you.” She checked her phone. “That’s my boo. Gotta go, T. Don’t wait up.” She blew me a kiss and headed out the door.
What. Was. Gia. On.
Rowan Johnston wasnotinto me. I mean, yeah, we didn’t exactly hate each other anymore, but one doesn’t go from thinking someone is shallow and stuck up all the way to thinking they are, like,girlfriendmaterial in a month. Because yeah, if Rowanwereinto me, it would be a boyfriend-girlfriend situation—he wasnotthe casual-hookup type.
We were friends. That was it. We’d been texting each other lighthearted trash talk all day about this bet. He even sent me a picture of him eating the toasted marshmallow ice cream from Inside Scoop last summer.
