“Not likely.”
“I have my board here. And Hudson has his. You might like it.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Your loss.” Rather than push, he spins the basketball key chain hanging from the dash. “What do you like to read?”
“Lots of stuff. Contemporary. Fantasy. Historical. Romance. I don’t read much nonfiction, though.”
“Me either. Do you like e-books or physical books better?”
“Physical books, for sure. But I like my Kindle books too. What about you?”
“Physical book, mostly, and I like science fiction the best.”
What? A book nerd? “I didn’t peg you as a sci-fi fan.” I grind my teeth together. And why is it attractive? Ugh.
“Hey, inside this dreamy exterior”—he indicates himself and hisgroomsmanT-shirt with a circular wave of his hand—“lives a hard-core sci-fi nerd.”
I roll my eyes. “I should have known.”
“My cousin Emma self-published a contemporary romance. You might like it. She’s here, actually. She was sitting with Mema at the coffee shop this morning.”
“I didn’t notice.” All I noticed after noticing him was, well, him. “But I’d love to meet her and read her book.”
“Her pen name is Emmie Blackwell. I’ll introduce you when they get back.”
I pull out my phone to look her up as he continues.
“My grandparents host a huge family Christmas here every year. Me, Emma, Hudson, and all the cousins come in during the break. We play tons of board games and hang out in that hot tub.” He points at the giant hot tub next to the community pool we’re passing. “Walking down here and getting in is always fun, but walking back, wet, in December is the worst.” He laughs, messing with the radio but finding only static. “And even as young kids, we ran around this place in the summers like we owned it. Mom and Dad had no idea where I was half the time. And as long as I stayed with Hudson, they didn’t care.”
At his wistfulness, I even wish I had similar memories. “It sounds nice. I don’t have many lake memories. It just isn’t something we did. A friend from school invited me on their boat once. That’s about the extent of my lake time.”
“You’re missing out. Maybe Ava will invite you some time. I’m sure she’ll be here more often now that she’s becoming part of the family.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Would Will be here too? Not that I care.
“So why don’t you bake anymore?”
Hair slaps my cheek as I whip my gaze in his direction. I tuck my hair back. Oh, why did I bring that up?
His eyes are forward. But he frowns, and his shoulders inch up. “What? Did I say something wrong? Again?”
“No. It’s okay. I used to love baking. And I was good at it. It’s what I wanted to do someday—you know? Own a bakery. But then I had a bad experience, and now I don’t bake anymore.”
“A bad experience? How’s that? Like you accidentally poisoned everyone at a birthday party?”
I smirk as we hit a bump. Then I reach back to wrap an arm over the box. “No. Nothing quite so drastic.”
And it was more than baking. It was that horrible wedding and everyone staring. It was my mortification and public heartbreak.
Will drums his fingers again. “Your house got robbed, and someone held you at gunpoint until you gave up all your measuring spoons?”
“I’m not dignifying that with a response.”
He tilts his head.
“You tried bathing in icing, and now you can’t stand the smell of it.”
