Page 179 of Candy Hearts, Vol. 2

CHAPTER 1

CODY

I stared at the clock, willing the minutes to pass faster, begging the universe for mercy as I prayed for a swift end to the workday. I had what felt like the world’s most boring job, working as a clerk at the county courthouse in a very small town. Whenever I told people that, they said it sounded like it could be interesting, but most of my days consisted of giving directions to one of the other offices in the building, taking payments and giving receipts, or watching the clock and hoping the day would end soon—which was exactly what I’d been doing for the better part of that afternoon.

As I listened to the second hand tick away, moving me ever closer to quitting time, I sighed deeply, drawing the attention of my desk neighbor, Sophia. She glanced my way, putting down the book she’d been reading. "Bored?"

I groaned in frustration. "This job is the worst."

She shrugged. "We get paid to sit around all day. We do almost nothing and our boss doesn’t mind if we read or listen to music when there aren’t customers. I’m not sure what could be better, honestly."

"Better pay?"

A laugh bubbled out of her. "That’s fair." She paused for a long moment before speaking again. "So…"

I raised my eyebrows. "So?"

"I know you said you don’t want to talk about it, but how are you handling things? After the breakup, I mean."

I groaned and scrubbed my hands over my face. "You’re right, I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Cody. I’m just worried about you. You and Josh were, like, made for each other."

I snorted. "Until he cheated, you mean?"

"Well, there is that."

"I’m fine. Completely fine. Nothing to report here."

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Somehow I’m not buying it."

With a sigh, I narrowed my eyes at her. "Fine. Yes, Josh broke my heart. I mean, he cheated. Who wouldn’t be at least a little heartbroken? But on the other hand, I think our relationship had run its course anyway."

"Really?" Her tone was disbelieving.

"I don’t know. I’ve got to tell myself something to make it hurt less, right?"

She reached over and squeezed my forearm. "I know. Someday your prince will come, right?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but at the same moment, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, desperate for something to provide a distraction from the conversation.

Unknown Number: Hi James. This is Ben. Again, I’m so sorry. Can I take you to lunch to make up for it?

I frowned at the screen for a few moments before turning to Sophia. "Do you know a Ben?"

Sophia shook her head, her dark wavy hair getting in her face as she did. "No, sorry," she said, brushing her hair back. "Why?"

"Someone named Ben just texted me an apology and asked if he could take me to lunch."

"Ooh, intriguing. What’s the number?" I read it out to her and she nodded approvingly. "Same area code as us, at least. Maybe he’s local."

"Maybe, but people move all the time. The chances of him still living in this area are slim."

"They’re not zero."

With an eye roll, I tapped out a reply to Ben. Before I could hit send, Sophia leaned close.

"What are you going to say?"

"I’m just going to tell him it’s a wrong number."

She sighed and leaned back to her own space. "Boring."

"What would you have me say then?"

"I don’t know. Take him up on his lunch offer. It would be something interesting to do, at least."

"What if he’s a murderer and this is how he finds his victims?"

Sophia laughed and smirked. "You watch too much true crime. But if you’re worried, I’ll go with you. Or you can use me as an excuse to get out of it if something goes wrong. You know, just like you did in college with dating."

I furrowed my brow. "We didn’t know each other in college."

"Well, it’s what I did, anyway," she said with a shrug.

I thought about it for a few seconds before editing my response. It would be interesting.

Cody: Sorry, I think you have the wrong number. I’m Cody. I’ll go to lunch with you though.

I included a laugh emoji to lighten the message and showed it to Sophia. "How’s that?"

"Perfect." She reached over and tapped the screen, sending the message with a little whoosh.

I put my phone face down on my desk, trying not to check it every zero-point-three seconds for a response. A few moments later, a customer came in and had several questions for us. While I was helping the customer, my phone vibrated embarrassingly loudly on my desk. I glanced at it and back to the customer.

"Sorry about that." When she shrugged, I snatched the phone off the desk and stuffed it into my pocket, fighting the urge to check the message. My brain screamed at me, begging for the dopamine hit of checking my notifications, and I tried hard to keep my focus. The second the woman disappeared down the hallway toward the records room, I tugged my phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. I had one new message, from the same unknown number.

Ben: Whoops! My mistake.

I decided to let it go. I didn’t have anything to add. A second later, though, another text came through.

Ben: But… what kind of person agrees to go to lunch with a stranger from a wrong-number text?

He had me there. I turned to Sophia and read her the message. "What do I say?"

"I don’t know. Tell him you’re bored."

"That hardly seems like a good reason."

"Fine." She hummed and tapped a pen on her chin for a moment. "Just tell him you’re a nice guy and you’re up for an adventure."

Frowning, I stared at my screen for a while before responding.

Cody: I’m friendly, what can I say?

I groaned inwardly as I hit send. It was the blandest thing I could’ve said. What was wrong with me? Maybe I was the world’s most boring person. I tried not to agonize over it much, and before I put my phone away, I had a new text.

Ben: You don’t even know me. What if I’m a serial killer?

Cody: What if I’m the serial killer?

Ben: That sounds like something a serial killer would say.

Cody: You’ve been watching too much true crime.

I smirked, pleased with myself for using Sophia’s words, and put my phone down.

"You’re awfully busy on your phone over there. What’s going on with your mystery man?"

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. "Hardly my mystery man. He told me he might be a serial killer."

She snorted. "You people have no sense of adventure."

"Or maybe we have a stronger sense of self-preservation than you do."

Sophia hummed. "Maybe. Or maybe you’re just boring."

"Tomato, tomahto," I murmured.

Ben: Do we even live near each other?

Cody: I live in Silver Creek.

Ben: Okay, fair. So do I.

Sophia cleared her throat. "Why was he texting you in the first place? What was the apology for?"

"Good question." I tapped the question into my messaging app.

Cody: What were you apologizing for, anyway?

Ben responded a few seconds later, to my surprise. Why wasn’t he busy doing something mysterious?

Ben: It’s a long story. I’ll tell you at lunch. Tomorrow?

I grinned, my face heating. Sophia would never let me hear the end of it.

Cody: It’s a date.