Page 18 of Scoop Me Up (Love in Maplewood #7)

Sam

My heart leaped into my throat when the server mentioned a “date night” special.

Was it that obvious that we were into each other?

Did we really give off those vibes that intensely?

It wasn’t like this was the first time we’d been seen alone together in public.

Instead of letting myself dwell on it too much, I focused on the menu—or tried to, at least.

As I worked to read the menu, Sam’s foot moved against mine and I lost all semblance of ability to pay attention to anything besides that sensation.

I let my eyes close for a brief second, hoping I looked like I was fighting a headache, rather than the primal urge to leap across the table.

The intensity of my desire for Sam shook me.

Even with Jennifer, I hadn’t been this much of a desperate, feral creature.

Everything with her had always been easy.

Low-key. No pressure. With Sam, it was as if something had awakened inside of me, something I could hardly control.

Get a grip , I chastised myself. I took a shaky breath and met Sam’s gaze. “What should we order?” My voice cracked as I spoke.

Sam looked like they were facing the same problem I was. As they swallowed, their throat moved and my gut twisted with wanting.

Christ, I thought. How am I going to survive the rest of the summer like this?

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to focus on the menu long enough to actually read it, so when the server returned to take our orders, I internally panicked.

“What can I get you two?” They looked from Sam to me and back to Sam again, a smirk on their face.

My heart raced as I watched Sam struggle to order a sandwich. “I—can I get—” They stopped to clear their throat. “Sorry. Can I get this?” They pointed at the menu instead of fighting for words.

Sage nodded. “Turkey and avocado, coming up. How about you?”

I tore my gaze from Sam and made eye contact with our server. “Waffles?”

“Sure thing.”

After Sage stepped away, I exhaled in sharp relief, feeling like I’d made it through the first of what was sure to be many trials.

“You okay?” Sam asked, their voice quiet as if they were suppressing a laugh.

I nodded, closing my eyes again for another brief second. “Never better.” I shifted in my seat a little.

When I looked at Sam again, they were grinning, cheeks pink. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

As we waited for our food, Mayor Axlerod came into the diner. She quickly caught sight of Sam and me, sauntering over with a bright smile. “Good evening. How are you two doing tonight?”

Sam looked up and cleared his throat. “We’re good. Have you met Gabe?”

She turned her winning smile to me. “Gabe, you’re Ellie’s dad, right?”

I chuckled. Everyone knew everyone in Maplewood. “I am.”

“I think I spotted you two when you entered the flavor contest at Frozen Fest. You put up a good showing for a first-year entry.”

“Thanks,” I said. “It was all Ellie’s idea.”

“She’s going places,” the mayor said with a nod. “So…” She looked at Sam again. “Parent-teacher conference tonight? Here in the diner? That is unconventional. You certainly do go the extra mile, Sam.” She raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face.

“We’re…”

The mayor waited as Sam floundered, her smirk widening.

“Talking business,” they blurted finally. “Gabe is thinking of investing in the ice cream shop.”

“Well, isn’t that an exciting piece of news? Do you think you’ll be staying in Maplewood?”

“I definitely hope to. We’ll see what happens, though. This one doesn’t want any help.” I gestured toward Sam.

Mayor Axlerod laughed softly. “Sounds about right. Sam’s always been pretty independent, as long as I’ve known them. Which is a long time.”

“Thanks,” Sam mumbled, tone skeptical.

“That’s a compliment. Trust me.”

They wrapped up their conversation, the mayor encouraging Sam to keep her updated on the progress of the shop before leaving. A few moments later, Sage arrived with our food. As we began to dig in, Sam pulled out their phone and glanced at the screen.

“It’s Cooper.” A moment later, they rolled their eyes and sighed deeply.

“Everything okay?”

Sam glanced around before looking back at me. “It seems like we’re being watched.” They turned the phone around so I could read the screen.

Cooper: You and Gabe? Having dinner in public?

It was accompanied by the eyes emoji. Sam shook their head. “I’m sure Coop’s not the only one.”

I laughed a little, uncomfortable at the thought of being watched. “You really think so?”

“You think the mayor stopping by is coincidence? This is a small town. Everyone notices everything.”

Heat flared up my neck and ears. I hadn’t thought of it like that, and to be honest I didn’t know what to do with the idea that the whole town had their eyes on us—especially considering we’d not an hour ago promised to keep things discreet.

Sam must’ve noticed my internal panic. “Eat your waffles. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

I picked up my fork and just then, the doors to the diner opened and Jennifer walked in with Ellie. I dropped my fork and it clattered loudly onto the plate. “Shit,” I hissed.

Sam glanced around and spotted the two of them at the same moment that Ellie noticed us.

“Daddy! Mix!” She barreled over to say hi, climbing into my side of the booth and throwing her arms around me.

“Hi, Bug,” I murmured into her hair, reluctantly removing my foot from Sam’s proximity, breaking the contact.

“I didn’t expect to find you two here.” Jennifer looked at us each in turn.

Ellie slid down, sitting next to me in the booth and picked up my fork to take a bite of my waffle.

“We just…” Sam started, shifting in their seat uncomfortably.

I cleared my throat. “Dinner. We were hungry and neither of us felt like cooking.” It was the truth, in its most basic version.

“Can we eat with you, Daddy?” Ellie asked around a mouthful of my dinner.

I laughed and ruffled her hair, ready to agree, but before I could answer, Jennifer interjected.

“Let’s let them have a grown-up dinner tonight, huh, El? You and I can sit over there and get a piece of pie for dessert. How does that sound?”

Ellie sighed and slipped out of the booth. “Okay. Bye, Daddy! Bye, Mix!”

Jennifer turned to usher Ellie away, but before she did, she glanced in my direction and gave me a knowing look, raising her eyebrows a couple of times. Again, heat burned on my face and I prayed Sam wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

As we ate, I tried hard to ignore the glances from other tables, the looks we were getting. Sam sparked up a conversation, asking me about city life, and it seemed like they were trying to distract me from paying attention to what felt like the rest of the town watching us eat.

“So, what’s it like, living in a city?”

I shrugged and swallowed a bite of waffle. “Burlington’s great. It’s just too far away from here.”

They nodded slowly. “Probably more business opportunities there.”

“That’s true. There are definitely more businesses that need work up there. And I can branch out to nearby areas. Montpelier isn’t far from where I am, for example.”

I stretched my leg out and returned my foot to its place touching Sam’s, and the moment I made contact, they looked down bashfully, their cheeks coloring. Just as it seemed our dinner was going to end quietly, someone came up from behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to find an older man looking down at me, a fond smile on his face. “I’m happy for you. We all are. Welcome to Maplewood.” Without another word, and before I could respond, he nodded and walked away.

When I turned my attention back to Sam, they were chuckling softly and shaking their head.

“What the hell was that? ”

Sam put a hand over their face for a moment, eyes closed, before looking at me again. “That was Mr. Watkins. He’s harmless, but…”

“But what?”

“I think our plan to keep this undercover is shot to hell. We’ll be in the Maplewood Matters blog before the sun comes up.”

Confused, I narrowed my eyes and frowned. “The what? ”

“Maplewood Matters. It’s a gossip blog about the people in town. Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. What had I gotten myself into? In Burlington, people minded their own business. Apparently, not so much in Maplewood.

Sage stopped by again as my mind was racing with ways to keep our secrets secret. “Can I get you two anything for dessert?”

Swallowing hard, I looked at Sam. Did I want to stay and have a piece of pie? Hell yes. Did I want to race back to Sam’s house and see what kind of trouble we could get ourselves into? Also, yes. I shrugged, raising my palms. “Up to you.”

Sam shook their head, a mischievous glimmer in their eye. “I think we just need the check.”

“Sounds good,” Sage said with a nod.

Once we’d paid our tab and left the diner, I felt like I could breathe again.

The night was beautiful and the fresh air and space was a welcome change from the small-ish diner.

We walked along the sidewalk, our shoulders occasionally bumping, my hands stuffed in my pockets to keep them to myself while we walked.

“Sam, I—” When they looked at me, dark eyes shining in the moonlight, my breath caught in my throat.

I’d wanted to tell them I liked them, not just in a physical way, but maybe in a relationship kind of way, but the more I thought about the words I wanted to say, the sillier and more self-conscious I felt.

There were too many unknowns and too many potential eavesdroppers around.

Even though it looked like we were mostly alone on the street, I knew better than to think the well-meaning townspeople wouldn’t have found a way to spy on us.

“Yeah?”

I shook my head. “Never mind.” We kept walking, tension building inside of me. What was going to happen when we got back to Sam’s place? So many questions spiraled through my mind. I realized, though, for the first time since the divorce, I didn’t feel quite so alone, being in Sam’s presence.

When we made it back to the house, the tension seemed to stretch between us. The air was thick with anticipation as Sam opened the door and held it for me. And the moment it was closed behind them, I turned, shoved Sam against the door, and captured their mouth in a searing, desperate kiss.