Page 86 of The Little Board Game Café

‘Seriously. Not one word about it.’

‘Perhaps,’ said Emily, ‘he doesn’t feel you need to have that discussion. I mean, you spend almost every night there. Neither of you has time to be seeing anyone else.’

‘Actually, you’ve got a point there, Em. And how about you? Isn’t it about time you started dating again?’

‘It’s too soon after Peter.’

‘Really? Or are you still thinking about Ludek?’

‘No. We’ve agreed we’ll just be friends and I’m focusing on the café. If Costa doesn’t affect my trade too much, I’m going to take someone on.’

*

To Emily’s relief, Friday was just as busy as Thursday. All her regulars came in as usual, plus a couple of people she hadn’t seen before and takings were up on the previous day.

At the board games group, that evening, Emily decided she’d had enough of trains and developed an urge to try Dungeons and Dragons.

‘Really?’ said Ludek, baffled. ‘I wouldn’t have thought it was your cup of tea?’

‘It’s very popular,’ she said.

The Dungeons and Dragons guys were lovely, trying to explain the rules to her, whilst clearly being a little confused at her sudden desire to join their table. They were partway through a campaign, they said, but she could be an elf and help them fight off various monsters.

Ludek held back again during the break, waiting till the others had returned to their tables before coming up to the counter for a mug of tea.

‘You enjoying fighting the dragons?’ he asked.

Emily lowered her voice. ‘Not really. You were right. It’s not my kind of thing at all.’

‘Perhaps you might come back to our table next week? We’ve missed you.’

Shame he’d said ‘we’ rather than ‘I’, Emily thought.

‘Perhaps,’ she said.

‘How has trade been? Has Costa had much of an impact or is it too early to tell?’

‘Far too early. But so far so good.’ She held up crossed fingers. ‘It’s been busier since I launched as a board game café and I’ve not noticed any difference since Costa opened.’

‘Fabulous news, Em. We need to celebrate.’

‘Celebrate?’

‘Of course. Dinner at my place? Tomorrow night?’

Chapter Thirty

Books on Emily’s Kate’s spare bedside: Friends to Lovers; Get Out of the Friends Zone;He’s Just Not That Into You. All (reluctantly) borrowed from Kate’s bookshelves.

Emily took every item she owned out of the wardrobe in Kate’s spare room but still couldn’t decide what to wear.

Ridiculous. This was just two friends getting together.

But it wouldn’t hurt to look her best. Just in case.

She managed to ladder three brand-new pairs of tights and didn’t have any others. Wearing one of her usual pinafores was no longer an option; it was too cold for bare legs. Her best jeans, Emily decided. They were a little too tight – scoffing her own cakes at the café wasn’t doing much for her waistline – but they’d have to do.

*