“And you think that’s a good thing?”
“Stop stalling. Why don’t you like to bake anymore? Didn’t you work in a bakery?”
“Yes.” We pause as a new song starts, beginning our dance again to a new rhythm. “I worked at a bakery specializing in wedding cakes. It was my dream job. At the time, I’d wanted to open my own bakery someday. We provided more than just wedding cakes, but those were the moneymakers, and that’s why I wasn’t allowed to help with them as a new employee. But my coworker got the flu, and I had to step in at the last minute.”
“Oh wow. Youdidpoison people, didn’t you?”
“No. And I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. The short of it is we delivered the wedding cake and the groom’s cake. As we were waiting around to bring them out at the right moment and start serving, Leo found me. Oh, did I mention this was the same wedding where I was dumped?”
Will’s eyebrows shoot up. We’re barely moving to the music anymore.
“Anyway, he breaks it off after two years of dating, dumping me in the kitchen in front of my boss, the caterers, the servers, everyone. And then he returns to the reception, leaving me embarrassed and on the verge of a full-on breakdown. My boss tells me to suck it up because I have to carry the groom’s cake out. I tried to. I really did. But as I walked out there red-eyed, all I saw was Leo talking to some girl. It could have been his cousin, for all I know. But it didn’t matter. It set me off again, and I started crying. We’d been together for ages, and I did not see it coming. I also didn’t see the cords running along the floor until after I’d tripped over them and fell to the ground on top of the groom’s cake before all the guests. Of course, I was fired after that—and told I was way too unprofessional to work with.”
We stand there until Will starts swaying again, and I follow his lead. “Whoa.”
“Nope. Didn’t stop there. After that, the video of my chocolaty face-plant made the rounds on social media, so I shut down my online cookie business and burned all my aprons. Not really. But I got rid of them.”
“Cookie business? What do you mean?”
“Oh, I took orders online, mostly getting the word out on social media, and made specialty cookies for events and parties and stuff.” I fiddle with his collar. “It was small-time. But I stopped a couple of months ago after the incident.”
“Let me get this straight. Because of this one thing, you gave up your dream of owning a bakery? Even though you were already working on it?”
“Well, yeah. It was traumatic. The bakery owner said some brutal things.”
He shakes his head, and we slow to a stop. “You can’t give up. That’s crazy.”
The same defensiveness bubbles up. My parents continually bring it up. I’m so tired of hearing it.
When I don’t respond, he says, “Come on. Make those cookies for Ava. She’d love it, and I’ll help you.”
My frown deepens. I drop his hand and step away. “Now you sound like Fran. You’re trying to get me to do more things I don’t want to do? That’s pushy. And it’s not your business.”
He runs a hand through his curls. “Guess not.”
I walk over to our table and kick off my heels. Will’s footsteps scrape behind me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I was just trying to encourage you.”
“Look, Will”—I bend to loop a finger through the strap of my shoes—“it’s fine. I’m having a bad night. I—”
My phone starts vibrating on the table, and Leo’s song plays at a high volume—another person trying to bend me to their will.
Will glares at Leo’s name on my screen, then steps back. I get the sense he’s waiting for an answer to some question I didn’t know he was asking.
I grab it off the table, reaching for any excuse to get away. “I need to take this.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
WILL
The summer breeze blows through my hair as Morgan saunters away, phone glued to her ear. My palms sting where my nails dig in. She laughs at something Leo says, the sound drifting back and twisting my gut.
“Hey, man. You good?” Hudson claps my shoulder, face pinched.
I force a smile. “Yeah, of course.”
Emma and Ava join us, wearing matching frowns rather than the earlier bridal-party shirts.
“What was that about?” Ava waves toward where Morgan disappeared into the darkness. “Who’s she talking to?”
