Page 9 of Bit's Bliss

“Are you in the middle of something?”

“I was thinking about making breakfast,” I lied. “Want to join me?”

He hesitated and looked down at his feet. “I probably shouldn’t.”

“Sure, um, of course. So, why’d you come by?”

His eyes met mine. “I didn’t say no.”

“Oh, uh, okay.” I spun around and went inside; he was right behind me. “Coffee?” I asked.

“Do you have decaf?” he asked.

I pointed to the selection of pods we kept in a basket next to the smaller of our two coffeemakers.

“This one’s good,” he said, choosing one. “I can do it,” he added rather than hand it to me. “What are you making?” he asked while I pulled things out of the refrigerator.

“Breakfast tacos?”

“Are you asking or telling?”

“Err, asking?”

“I’m not picky.”

“Tacos it is.”

“I’d offer to help, but I’d be in the way.”

I cooked often, whether it was for myself, for me and my dad, or for friends I had over, so there was no reason I should be nervous making something so simple. Except I was. Shaking, in fact. “Why are you here, Trevino?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to see him pull a stool at the counter and sit down.

“To apologize.”

I broke several eggs into a bowl and whisked them. “What for?”

“First, running out on you rather than thanking you for bidding on me. Alex probably worried no one would.”

“It wasn’t me alone.”

“Yeah, but you paid a lot of money. That was nice of you.”

I’d tell him beingnicehad nothing to do with it. It was the opposite. Yeah, I knew nothing romantic would come of our date. Still, a girl could dream.

“You said, first. Was there something else?”

“You took care of me.”

I added chorizo, then poured the egg mixture into a pan. “Are you apologizing for it?”

He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have let you.”

I turned up the heat under the eggs and moved them around the pan with more force than was necessary. So, I set the spatula down, put a hand on my hip, and turned to face him. “You could thank me.”

His eyes bored into mine.

I shook my head. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

He stood and walked in my direction. When it looked as though he didn’t intend to stop, I took a couple of steps backward until I was up against the refrigerator.