Travis laughed again and then tipped his head, studying Finn. “You know? If Daphne has the look and you have the”—he waved his fork toward the food—“soul. Maybe the dream team is both of you.”
Finn’s jaw clenched, but he wasn’t sure why. Both of them? Sounded like... a relationship. “We’re not a team.”
“Oh?” Travis tilted his head.
“No.” He forced up his grin again, attempting to shrug off the way Travis’s suggestion twisted uncomfortably into his psyche. “At the moment, we’re... competitors.”
Even if she’d kissed him back.
Finn raised his gaze to the wall, another pang twisting in his chest. He shouldn’t have kissed her. He’d known it before he’d leaned in—knew it as surely as he knew how to time a soufflé. Knew she wasn’t like the others. And instead of dousing his interest in her, the only thing that kiss had done was make him want more. More of her voice. Her laugh. Her stupid tea metaphors. Her heart.
And that was the part that terrified him most.
Because wanting more meant risking more. And he’d done that once. With someone who had promised forever and left anyway. It had gutted him. Changed him. Made him someone who didn’t reach for soft things anymore.
So no—he hadn’t kissed Daphne expecting to fall. But it was happening anyway.
And he had no idea how to stop it.
Chapter 11
@LindsayMonroeOfficial:Wedding tasting at @TeaThymeNC. Pretty sure I’ve just stepped into a dream. If this isn’t the definition of wedding vibes, I don’t know what is. #ElegantEats #SippingPretty #TeaTimeGoals
Comments:
@TravisLangfordConnects:But I had a food tasting at @TGDpub. If this doesn’t end up on the wedding menu, I’m running away with the chef instead. #PubGrubPerfection #SorryLinds
@LindsayMonroeOfficial:@TravisLangfordConnects Nothing is that good.
@CCloves:You two can’t break up because of food. We’ve been following every step of this story from the beginning to now. We are in it for the wedding.
@LindsayMonroeOfficial:@CCloves Our followers are the best, so we won’t let you down. We just have a little problem. We now have to pick a culinary winner. How will we choose? Elegance over comfort food? Style over steaks?
“Okay, what’s going on with you?”
Daphne looked up from her tray of pastries and experimental savory bites to see her brother striding into Tea Thyme, eyes narrowed with the sharp focus of a one-man lie detector.
He was usually a pretty chill guy.
Until he wasn’t. And then he made up for lost time.
But surely he couldn’t read her mind.
Couldn’t see the guilt simmering behind her smile. The flicker of disappointment that hadn’t left since...
Thekiss.
The thoroughly unwise, thoroughly unforgettable kiss.
Which may have sent her into... lowkey falling for Finn a little.
Even though she shouldn’t.
Her stomach tightened.
Besides, Finn probably hadn’t even given it a second thought. Just another kiss in a line of many for him.
She frowned. If only she could forget it so easily!
