“Why?”
He shrugged. “Their marriage sort of started as a way to join businesses, and they don’t seem like they actually like each other.”
I tried to think back to the few times I’d seen them together. Though they weren’t as outwardly loving as Samuel and Rachel, they seemed aware of each other. And when he looked at her, there was certainly care there.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know them, but I can see it being serious.”
Ellery shrugged. “I just know I don’t want to get married like that.”
“That’s fair. But sometimes those things just work out.”
“That’s true,” he said, though he didn’t seem like he agreed.
The waiter came and Ellery ordered a bottle of white he thought I might like. I perused the menu, trying to decide what I wanted. It all looked good. It was an Italian place with what seemed like every pasta on the menu.
I ordered the tagliatelle and Ellery the gnocchi. We chatted for a while about what felt like nothing, and everything at the same time. We shared a favorite childhood cartoon, favorite pizza place in the city, and our strangely similar interest in puzzle cubes.
“I have a whole collection at home,” he said as we dug into our food. “It’s not something I talk about a lot. Being able todo one cube quickly is cool to most people, but having a whole collection can weird people out.”
“I think that’s so cool,” I said. “I don’t have a collection, but I do have a few back at my mom’s. I got so good, I could do it blindfolded. Something about lining all the colors up made my brain happy.”
“I like the fidgeting,” he said. “And the clicky plastic sound.”
“No one ever appreciates the clicky sound!” I exclaimed.
We ate and drank and laughed. All thoughts of how fake this truly was went out the window. Here, we were just two people getting to know each other the way real people did. Though we did it a bit backwards, it was still magical.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” Ellery commented when the waiter came to collect the bill.
“I am too,” I said. I never thought in a million years Ellery and I would find so much common ground.
His hand reached across the table and grasped mine. His thumb grazed my knuckles, sending goosebumps over my arms. “Would you like some dessert after this?” he asked.
“That sounds amazing.”
His card came back—along with the bag of bread—and we left. He told me we could walk to a nice bakery a few blocks down, so we dawned our hats, coats, and mittens, and braved the outside. The lights were even prettier while walking. The entire town really seemed to be aglow with lights.
The Over Bake was a small bakery with lights lining their doors and garland strewn across the pastry cases. Everything looked amazing, I wasn’t sure what to choose.
“We can get more than one if you want,” he said, almost reading my mind. “I can’t just choose one either.”
We got one of those cookie dough croissants I’d seen online, as well as a few cake pops and a set of apple butter macaroons.
We started with the macaroons, eating them as we walked the town. We held hands, the bags sitting between our hands so we could eat the treats with the other.
“God these are good,” I said.
“That place is the best,” he agreed as he popped another one in his mouth.
We dropped the rest of the treats and bread off to the car and decided to continue our stroll. It was such a perfect night for it, it would be a waste just to go back.
Ellery led us down a hill to what looked to be a small park. It wasn’t much, and it was mostly covered in snow, but I noticed a pretty gazebo in the center, also strung with lights.
He cleared off the snow covered bench and we sat down. It was so cold, but I barely noticed, too focused on the electricity between us.
His hand still stayed in mine, our gloves almost clinging together with their felt-like texture.
“Do you ever think things happen for a reason?” he asked.
