Page 91 of Okay, Cupid

“Why?” Huy flashes that familiar lopsided grin. “You have news for me?”

My face lights up. “No!” I say a little too quickly. “I was just … I don’t know, curious. We were having a conversation!” I try to twist the words to make it seem like he’s the weird one.

“Yeah, I don’t know.” Huy pauses. “It’s always hard to tell. You know what they say about high school relationships not lasting, so you have to wonder if it’s worth it to get all tied up in another person.”

“I think that’s a little pessimistic.”

“Maybe. Plus, TMI, but my shots tend to ramp up the hormones. Sometimes I’m never certain if a feeling is mine, or just the way my body is reacting. Besides, I’m young; I have my whole life ahead of me to fall in love with the right person.”

It’s not what I want to hear him say. Then again, I doubt even under the most familiar circumstances that Huy would boldly admit “Yes, I’m in love with Alice” here in the middle of a closing donut shop.

“Sometimes, though … I miss that familiarity,” he admits.

Oh?

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Huy pauses. “I guess I have you to thank for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Without you talking to her, I doubt that Alice and I would’ve been able to patch what we once had.” He turns his head, like he’s having a normal conversation. “I’ve known for years that I’ve missed her, that I missed being her friend, whispering private inside jokes in class, staying up all night FaceTiming, walking down to the beach or Golden Gate Park. And now we have that again.”

I want to disappear, to vanish. This is what I’d hoped for, right? This is exactly what I planned. I can’t even ask myself why it feels so wrong, because I know the answer. I know why it hurts, and I can’t stand that I feel this way.

But this is all a good thing.

Huy smiles warmly at me, and I try my best to smile back at him. Because that’s what he needs me to do for him, because that’s what I’m supposed to do. I’ve set the scene for Huy and Alice’s epic love story.

This is all my fault.

“You should give love a chance,” I tell him. “You might be surprised.”

“Maybe.” Huy’s expression sinks, if even for just a brief moment. I notice at least that much. “Where’d you learn so much about love anyway?”

“I watch a lot of rom-coms, remember?”

“Right, right.” Huy brushes his hands on his apron.

“I think I’m going to give you your own advice,” I say to him. “That you should chase whatever makes you happy.”

“After you told me all about how the safe path is the better one?”

“Hey, we’re talking about you here, not me.” I sip my tea again. “It’s easier to give you advice.”

“Very do as I say,” he tells me.

“Exactly.”

He nods, palming his tea in his large hands, playing with the plastic lid. “Okay …” he says. “I’ll think about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah …” He looks at me, and he winks. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

It’s a weird feeling.

Knowing that tonight will be it. I mean, not it, but close to it. In the movie starring Huy and Alice, tonight will be the night that they remember falling back in love with each other. There will be food, shared laughter. Huy will pull Alice to the floor to dance, and the two of them will get all hot and sweaty, escaping outside to the cool night air to steal a moment alone.