"Me too."
Lucy headed back to the counter, and Jake watched her go. The way she moved through the bakery—confident, purposeful, like she belonged there in a way Jake had never quite felt like he belonged anywhere.
He finished his pork buns slowly, making them last. Drank his coffee in small sips instead of gulping it down. And when he finally got up to pay, he did something he'd never done before.
He left a twenty-dollar tip.
Mae rang him up, eyebrows raised. "That's a lot for six pork buns."
"They're worth it," Jake said, loud enough for Lucy to hear in the back.
As he walked out, gear bag over his shoulder, Jake felt something shift. Not a huge change. Not a revelation. Just a small adjustment—like he'd been standing slightly off-center for three years and had finally found his balance.
His phone buzzed the moment he got in his truck.
Marcus:So? How'd it go?
Jake typed back:I sat down.
Marcus:AND?????
Jake:And I'm going to Friday dinner.
Marcus:HOLY SHIT CHARACTER GROWTH
Marcus:I'm so proud I could cry
Marcus:Wait are you going because of team bonding or because Lucy might be there
Jake didn't respond to that one.
"Oh my God oh my God oh my God."
Mae's voice carried from the front of the store approximately three seconds after Jake left. Lucy looked up from the prep table where she'd been aggressively kneading bread dough.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'what'? Jake Morrison just sat down and ate here for the first time in THREE YEARS. And you guys TALKED. Like, actual conversation. And he left a twenty-dollar tip on a twelve-dollar order."
"He did?"
Mae held up the twenty like evidence. "This is happening. Operation: Get Lucy A Life is working."
"There is no operation." But Lucy was smiling despite herself. He'd sat down. He'd stayed. They'd talked.
And it had felt... easy. Natural. Like they'd been having conversations all along and were just now getting around to doing it out loud.
"Rei is going to lose her mind," Mae said. "Can I tell Rei?"
"There's nothing to tell."
"Bull. You made eyes at each other. He complimented the pork buns TWICE. He asked you a personal question. These are major developments in the Jake-and-Lucy saga."
"There is no saga."
"Yet." Mae grinned. "But there will be. Especially if he comes to team dinner Friday."
"Why would he come to team dinner?"
