“Happy birthday, Damian.”
He responded by pulling me into his arms and holding me there for a long, long time.
“What was it supposed to be?” Cam asked of the concrete-like substance in the baking pan.
“Brownies.”
“A door stop would be a better application.”
We were at Damian’s. We usually stopped at his place first after school, hung out for a bit, did homework before going home for dinner. I didn’t have much homework so I thought I’d make us a treat, but something went horribly wrong.
“It smelled good until it didn’t.” Cam wasn’t helping with his observations.
“I think I need a jackhammer to get this out of here.” I should just toss the pan and buy Damian a new one.
Damian was of a similar mindset when he grabbed the pan, opened the trash can and tossed it in.
“That was easy enough, but now you’ve got me in the mood for something sweet.” Cam started rummaging through Damian’s fridge.
“I’ll go to the market,” I offered because I wanted something sweet too.
“I’ll take you.”
The bakery section of the market and Damian, it was like I was living in a dream.
“What are you in the mood for?” I asked Damian a little while later as I hunched down in front of the bakery case and eyed the donuts.
“Pie.”
“Pie.” I stood. “You’re on to something.”
The kid working the counter called our number. “What can I get you?”
“What kind of pie do you have today?”
“Pecan, cherry, apple and chocolate silk.”
“Give us a second,” I said as I turned to Damian who stood with his hands in his pockets, grinning at me.
“Which one do you want?”
“Chocolate or pecan.”
“Agreed. My choices too. So which of those?”
“You pick.”
I huffed out a breath because that didn’t help. I could be here for days. I turned back to the kid and leaned against the case. “Which would you get, pecan or chocolate?”
“They’re both good.”
“But if you had to buy one, which would it be?”
“Probably the pecan.”
“It’s not too sweet?”
“No.”
“And the nuts aren’t soggy? I don’t like soggy nuts.”
“No.”
I glanced back at Damian. “Pecan?”
His eyes were bright with laughter but to me he simply said, “Okay.”
“Pecan it is.”
“We should do whipped cream. I can whip it up. Cinnamon or nutmeg?”
Damian glanced at his wrist, even though he wasn’t wearing a watch. “We should make both or we’ll be late for dinner.”
We left his apartment a little after three and dinner wasn’t until half past six. “Are you teasing me? Is Damian Tate teasing me?”
He brushed the hair from my shoulder and my legs went weak. “Maybe a little.”
I had always been addicted to sugar, but I was developing a new addiction, one that was so much sweeter. I didn’t realize I was staring at his mouth until his tongue touched his lower lip…sexiest thing I’d ever seen. That was until I looked into his eyes to see a heat so hot it threatened to incinerate me where I stood. Whatever was going on between us, I wasn’t alone in feeling it.
We were graduating high school soon. Cam and I were starting college in the fall. I wanted NYU, but I wanted Damian too. Ever since the night of our private birthday celebration, something was growing between us. What had been a simple attraction in the beginning had morphed into something so much bigger. I wanted to know him, every facet that made up Damian Tate, and I was running out of time.
He was joining us for dinner like he did most nights. Even Anton was becoming a regular around the table. He wasn’t here tonight, though I suspected he wasn’t because Uncle Tim and Uncle Guy were joining us too. Uncle Tim was a defense attorney and a friend of Dad’s since they were kids. Uncle Guy was Dad’s former partner at the NYPD when Dad was a beat cop before he got his detective shield. The three of them were a riot when together since Dad and Uncle Guy often teased Uncle Tim for his choice of profession.
We were clearing the table while Uncle Tim and Uncle Guy debated a case that was in the headlines. “It doesn’t matter if he is guilty. The search was unconstitutional. It can’t be admissible.”
Uncle Guy made a sound in the back of his throat before he countered Uncle Tim’s comment. “He practically confessed.”
“The law is the law. We start bending it, it is a slippery slope.”
“I don’t know how you do it? Defending people you know are guilty.” I was of a similar mindset as Uncle Guy. I couldn’t do it.