Hewasn’t exactly sure how he was going to handle telling people they’d broken up.He hadn’t really expected to meet anyone who cared about them aspeople.
Declanhad never lived in a small town. It was already completely different fromliving in a big city.
Notbad, not bad atall, but different.
It’dtake some getting used to.
“Areyou trading me in for a hotter model?” Ash asked, nodding to Marcus.
“He’staken,” Declan said. “And I wouldn’t trade you for anything.”
“Aww,”Marcus cooed. “Cute. I’m Marcus. I own the bakery a couple of doors down, andmy boyfriend runs the florist next door. You’ll see a lot of him, he’s a nerd.”
“You’rewearing aFireflyt-shirt under your apron,” Ash pointed out. “So youdon’t get to talk.”
“Ilike you,” Marcus said grinning. “We’ve gotta go on a double date sometime.”
“Oh,uh…” Declan blinked, unsure how to respond to that. It would have been rude tosay no, but…
“We’dlove that,” Ash said before Declan had a chance to finish. “It feels like wehaven’t been on a date in forever.”
Declanconsidered objecting, but it was too late now. He’d missed his chance to comeup with an excuse.
Hecould go on a date with Ash. They already did plenty of stuff together thatwould have been dates to a romantic couple.
Thiswas only slightly different.
“NextFriday night? I’d say this Friday, but I figure you could use some time tosettle in.”
“NextFriday sounds awesome,” Ash said, beaming at Marcus.
“Cool.I’ll work out details with Lexi and get back to you. Can I make you a coffee?”Marcus asked.
Declan’sheart sank. That washisjob, and while it wasn’t really a big deal…
Itkind of was? To him, anyway. Helikedmaking Ash coffee. It was one of thethings he’d been most excited about when the machine came.
“Iappreciate the offer, but that’s Declan’s job,” Ash said. “Absolutely no offenceto you, but I’m a man of routine.”
“Iget it,” Marcus said. “That’s adorable.”
Ashgrinned at him. “I will definitely eat those doughnuts, though, if they’re onoffer.”
“Figuredyou guys wouldn’t have time to make breakfast. I also open early and I candefinitely give you a discount if you wanna save yourselves the trouble somemornings.”
“Iamsoweak when it comes to offers of pastries, and I already know yoursare great,” Ash said, picking out the cream-filled doughnut as expected. “I mayneed a moment alone with this.”
Marcuschuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it. You’re gonna love Lexi. I can’t waitfor you to meet him.”
“It’sso kind of you to welcome us like this,” Ash said, pausing to take a bite ofhis doughnut, his eyes falling closed as he did so.
Declanknew he’d be preoccupied with it for a few minutes, so he turned to Marcusinstead. “Yeah, seriously. It’s really nice to make a friend.”
“Hey,same here. Us new guys have to stick together, right?”
“Youstill feel new after a couple of years?” Declan asked.
“Nah,not really. People accepted me into the fold pretty quickly. But my boyfriend’slived here since he was born, so… compared to that, I’m new.”
