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“Just a few, but I don’t like to take them and leave Sydney in the lurch,” I said. “She trusts me and relies on me, and I want to be there for her. She gave me a chance when not a lot of people would.”

My resume was one of those that was full of red flags, since I’d bounced around so many jobs, so many different jobs. I’d taken what I could, when I could, and had to leave a few times when my anxiety became too much. That had been the worst.

“I understand,” she said. “I can see you when you’re done with work, and there’s always weekends. I just have to figure out what to do during those other forty hours.”

I sat up. “We still haven’t talked about hobbies, so let’s come up with some stuff for you to try. You already know how to cook, so you don’t need to do that.”

Ryan thought for a moment. “I don’t really know how to bake, though. Cooking requires a different instinct.”

“Mama says the same thing,” I said. “Okay, baking. That sounds fun. And, you hopefully get to eat delicious treats at the end of it.”

“Hopefully,” she said. “I do love watching those baking shows where they make the fancy little cakes and things filled with jam and cream. I should probably start with something simple. Like cupcakes.” She reached over and spanked my ass. I yelped and then started laughing.

“As long as I get to try them,” I said.

“I’ll definitely save you one,” she said, and then reached over to get her phone. “Help me find a recipe.”

She searched online and scrolled slowly.

“Ohh, those lemon ones are pretty,” I said, pointing.

“Lemon it is,” she said, saving the link.

Chapter Eleven

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Sydney asked me the next day when I got to work. I was almost late due to needing to make out with Ryan before she dropped me off.

“Yes,” I said, covering a yawn with my hand. “Sorry.”

Sydney went to the little coffee area and plugged it in. “You’re going to need this.”

“Yes, I am,” I said, even though I’d already had one cup with Ryan when she made me breakfast, but it wasn’t making a dent in my tiredness yet.

“Did you stay up late reading again?” Sydney asked. That had happened to me a few times.

“Uh huh,” I said, latching onto the excuse. “Really good book. Really good.” I stretched my back and then smiled as she handed me a fresh cup of coffee.

“Since it’s going to rain all day, things might be quiet, but you never know,” Sydney said, flipping the Open sign and unlocking the door.

“Got it. I’m going to check the orders and start packing. Yell if you need me,” I said.

“You got it,” she said as the first few customers walked in.

We’d gotten slammed with orders for some reason, so I spent most of my morning packing and checking my messages from Ryan. I was still tired as fuck, but that didn’t matter so much. I was happy because I got to see Ryan after work. She’d sent me pictures of her baking process from going to the store to get the ingredients, to mixing it all and then decorating. She wouldn’t show me the final product until I saw it in person after dinner. I felt guilty for not being home last night and having dinner with my parents, so I wanted to at least see them after work to fill them in on the helicopter dinner date and see how they were. Ryan had been completely understanding and fine about seeing me later and I couldn’t put into words how good that made me feel. In the past, people had given me weird looks or made comments about how close I was with my parents. Ryan never did that. She listened as I told her about Mom and Mama and how much I adored them.

She really was great. Not just a hot piece of ass, although she was that, too.

“Sweetie, it feels like we haven’t seen you in a year,” Mama said, throwing herself at me.

“Mama, it’s been less than a day,” I said, hugging her and then hugging Mom.

“Yes, but we want to hear all about your big date!” Mama said, dragging me into the kitchen. “Talk to me while I cook.”

I tried to give them just the highlights, but they wanted to know everything, and it was fun to tell the two people I loved about my date. I guess it was a date, now that I thought about it.

“I see that look in your eyes, Lydia,” Mom said. “Someone wants a helicopter date for our anniversary in August.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mama said, a gleam in her eyes.