In the bakery kitchen, I was shown all the cakes he’d made that morning. They were all decorated with different flavors and filled with different fruits.
“There’s some lavender extract in this one,” he said, gesturing to the cake with the purple icing on top. “It’s a bit more of a floral cake with an almond-and-lemon-filled center.”
My head couldn’t get around eating lavender, let alone almond and lemon together. “That one has strawberries,” I said to the cake with a dusting of powdered sugar on top.
“Yeah, strawberries and a buttercream filling,” he said. “You’ve got tell me what cakes you want me to make for you. Since we’re dating, it’s only right you get to have a little hand in what I’m creating.”
I puffed out my cheeks. “That might be too much pressure. I’m just a baby; I don’t usually know what I like until I eat it.”
“Ah, so this is why you’re not eating your veggies, then,” he said. “Don’t worry, there isn’t a carrot cake here.”
Little did he know, but that was my next fear. I really did not want to endure that.
He sliced into several of the cakes and arranged them on a plate. “Even if you’re not interested in them all, a little tastewon’t hurt,” he said. “And you’ve already told me you don’t have any food allergies, so I know you can taste these.”
“I was going to say, you’re very nice and I wanted to do something special for you, but then I remembered I’m your guinea pig taste tester.”
“I think you’re a lot cuter than a guinea pig,” he said.
I giggled. “You really think so? I think they’re pretty darn cute.”
“Of course. In fact, I’d go as far as to say I think you’re cuter than a ragdoll kitten, and those are cute.”
Without warning, my face flushed and my eyes filled with tears. “But they’re really cute.”
He immediately hugged me and cooed. “I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s not that, I just—it’s like a really high compliment. Ragdoll kittens are just the fluffiest adorable kittens. And you said I’m cuter than one. I’m just—” I sniffled, feeling the full effects of the tears as I wiped my eyes against his T-shirt. “I’m kinda worried about your eyesight now.” The right dose of humor to deflect from how quickly I’d become emotional.
“Ow,” he said, sucking on his teeth. “You wound me. Maybe you haven’t looked in a mirror lately, but you are adorable. Like a... God, I can’t think now, I’m just thinking about kittens. And you of course.”
“See, you think they’re cuter.” There were no more emotional tears now, and it felt silly for my body to have expressed itself that way. That might’ve had something to do with not really accepting or processing compliments, though.
“I was gonna say, you remind me of this meme I’d see on the email threads at work, usually on a Monday after the weekend,” he said, describing to me a picture of a fluffy kitten with the fur around its mouth covered in milk, lookingdistressed and tired. “But only because of the soup stain, and not because you look tired.”
We went back and forth for a moment, giving each other compliments and comparing each other to animals. It was the perfect lunch date, with a nice collection of dessert options, even if some of them were a little strange. I’d never even heard of rosewater being in food, and suddenly my mouth was fill of pink floral-scented buttercream.
I didn’t want the date to end. I knew I had to let him get back to work, and he had to let me go restock the library shelves.
Before I could leave, we stood at the front door. He kissed me and tried once more to get rid of the tomato stain from my mouth. “Worth a try,” he said. “You have any plans after work tonight?”
“No, nothing, why?” I stopped myself, tilting my head. “I don’t mean to sound eager.”
“Maybe you want to come over and watch some TV? Maybe you want to stay over or something? Only if you want. No pressure. Really. If you don’t want to, that’s completely fine.”
I nodded my head like it was about to fly off my neck. He wasn’t going to be able to take back the offer now. “I’ll have to go back to mine after work, but then I’ll ride my bike over. You have somewhere for me to put it, right?”
He gestured to the inside of the bakery. “In here,” he said. “And I look forward to you spending the night. Bring a bedtime story as well.”
I nodded. “Will do, Daddy.”
“Good boy,” he said, giving my forehead a kiss, then tipping a finger under my chin and kissing me on the mouth.
My body was filled with all the fizzy feelings, and my stomach was bursting with excitement about it. I didn’t want to say we were moving fast, but we were exploring each other in the best way possible.
8. HENRY
Asking Leo to stay the night was something I’d wanted to do last night but he’d gone to sleep with his teddies. I wanted to be as close to him as possible; it was a nice feeling when he was around. Like the sun was directly on me but without the fear of burning alive.
