Page 39 of Okay, Cupid

“Huy’s parents make the best donuts in the city. I haven’t had one in, like, three years.”

“Oh, sure.” I hand her the bag. “All yours.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back.”

I watch as she strolls out of the store, taking a sharp right toward the bathrooms.

There’s something there in Alice, feelings that linger for Huy. Because she never truly got over him. I can see it because I know those feelings. Because as badly as I want to believe it, I’m not over Leo. If I was, last week wouldn’t have happened.

I wonder if it’s possible to ever get over your first love like that. That first person you choose to give your heart to. There are people in the world lucky enough to be with that first crush forever, to get to fall in love with their best friend, to share their first kiss and so much more with the person they feel closest to. But what about the rest of us, who give everything we have to a person only for it to mean nothing in the end?

I can’t change what happened to me, but I can change what happened between Huy and Alice. I can help to fix Huy’s mistake, set them both on the path to something more with each other, to repairing that relationship.

“Where’d Alice go?” Neve asks, stepping out with the pile of clothes that I delivered to her.

“Bathroom. Anything good in there?”

“You’ve got an eye for colors, Jude.” She smiles at me. “I like the stripes, and I’m sticking with this yellow sweater.” Both of the tops she shows off were my favorites.

Neve hands the things she isn’t taking to the guy operating the changing rooms.

“Shall we go find her?”

“Yes,” I say, standing quickly.

I have work to do.

“You never messaged me.”

These are the first words Huy says when he sits down in front of me in English on Monday morning. I literally stared at his profile all weekend, wondering when the right moment to send my follow request might be.

“I, uh … had a busy weekend. I wasn’t on my phone.”

A complete lie. Leah even called me out for not taking my eyes off the thing all yesterday. She had to save me from walking into traffic when we went out for groceries.

“Come on, I don’t bite.” Huy leans in, his voice going low. Like this is a secret. “Can I see?” Huy holds out his hand, and it takes me a second to register that he’s asking for my phone.

“Oh, uh … sure?” I reach into my pocket and hand it to him. Huy holds it up in front of my face, unlocking it in an instant, and only then do I realize how monumentally stupid I have been to do this. There are countless texts between me, Cal, Leah, Richard, talking about Cupid stuff. There are pictures, and … well … you know, websites that I’ve been to.

Huy keeps the screen in my line of sight, though. Almost as if he’s making sure I know he’s not doing anything weird. He goes to Instagram, where a post from this cute actor I follow pops up. Huy’s fingers instantly go to the explore page, to the search bar, where he types his handle.

“There, request sent.” Then he pulls out his own phone. “Oh, and what’s that? I have a request from one Jude Ricci? What are the odds?”

And then he does the unthinkable. He opens my Spotify.

“What are you doing?” I ask him.

“Just checking out your music taste.”

“Hey—” I want to yank my phone away.

“Uh-huh … I see …” He swipes up, tapping on something. I can see him stall on a playlist called “Cal’s Music,” which contains all the songs Cal has shown me, since my taste in music used to begin and end at Ed Sheeran.

Ed Sheeran.

“Do I pass your inspection?” I ask him.

“You really love Conan Gray, huh?” he asks with a mischievous look on his face.