Page 21 of The Baby Dragon Bakery (The Baby Dragon #2)

The yard was big, with lots of room to play for the dragons.

There was also a vegetable garden and flower bushes, and strings of fairy lights that crisscrossed over the patio.

Sparky was flying overhead with Torch, Emmeline’s dragon.

When he spotted them, he headed down, landing in front of them with flapping wings to receive pets and kisses from everyone.

Emmeline held the basket with Motu, and Sparky came over to lick the baby.

“Sparky, no,” Emmeline chided, laughing. Sparky’s tongue was the size of the baby. Still, Sparky watched the baby with big eyes, bouncing on his feet with excitement.

“He’s still a baby, but he thinks Motu is so cute,” Saphira said, smiling fondly. Then, Sparky came over to Saphira, nudging her shoulder with his head. He looked at her with big purple eyes, and Saphira laughed, seeming to understand whatever it was he was communicating.

“Alright, alright,” she said, then turned back to them. “He wants me to saddle up and show you our progress.” She looked at Lavinia. “As long as it’s alright with the good doctor?”

Lavinia laughed. “The good doctor thinks it’s completely fine.”

Aiden grabbed the saddle, strapping it onto Sparky with an apprehensive look on his face. Once the saddle was set, Aiden checked all the buckles again, then a third time, just for good measure.

“Aiden,” Saphira said, gently pushing her fiancé to the side. “It’s fine!”

He furrowed his brows as Saphira approached Sparky, then put his hands on her waist, hoisting her up, though surely Saphira could have done it on her own. Once Saphira was safely atop Sparky, Aiden’s hands lingered, until Saphira nudged him away with her foot.

Purple eyes bright, Sparky lifted his chin, trotting proudly. “He’s just getting used to my weight right now,” Saphira explained. “We haven’t started flying yet—the most he does is jump.”

Hearing the word jump, Sparky jumped up. Aiden let out a loud gasp, reaching out with both hands, but Saphira only threw her head back, giggling. She was giddy as she petted Sparky’s black scales.

“Aiden! Stop stressing out,” Genevieve said, hitting his arm.

“Honestly,” Emmeline said, voice disapproving. “You’re acting like you’ve never been around a dragon before!”

“Dragging the good Sterling name through the mud,” Genevieve added, shaking her head.

Aiden frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Excuse me for caring about the love of my life’s safety,” he said.

“Aiden, it’s okay,” Saphira said, voice coaxing as she and Sparky trotted over to him. Sparky licked Aiden’s cheek, and Aiden scrunched his face, though his lips did twitch with affection.

Sparky did another lap, bouncing around, and Saphira held on tight to the pommel. The girls cheered, and Sparky began showing off, flapping his wings this way and that like a prize dragon.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Aiden said, waving his hand. “Sparky, come on.”

“You are such an old man,” Genevieve said. “You do realize you’re practically at death’s doorstep now that you’re turning thirty in a few months, don’t you?”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “This from the girl still in her cradle. How do you even know how to talk? Shh. Babies don’t talk so much.”

“Excuse me! I’m turning twenty-one in a few months, and then I’ll have a baby dragon of my own,” she replied, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Genevieve turning twenty-one suddenly made Lavinia feel ancient . Aiden was turning thirty, so twenty-four was young in comparison, but Aiden was already happily settled with the love of his life.

The winter was fast approaching. She needed this to work with Calahan, or she would miss her chance at true love and everlasting happiness.

The morning after that calamity of a kiss with Theo, Calahan had called Lavinia.

He had been apologetic for missing the pottery class and had immediately scheduled another date.

Which meant that he did , in fact, like her. He hadn’t stood her up; he wasn’t trying to get rid of her, and she certainly wasn’t a bad kisser. These were all good things, and yet, they did not feel like it.

Saphira dismounted from Sparky and skipped over to kiss Aiden’s cheek. He pulled her into him, hugging her close. “Don’t worry,” she said, looking up at Aiden. “I already know thirty is going to be incredibly sexy on you.”

Finally, Aiden smiled. Sparky skipped over, wrapping them both in his wings. Aiden and Saphira laughed, falling into Sparky.

“Barf,” Genevieve said, going inside, but Lavinia thought it was sweet. They were their own little family. She wanted a love like that—one that was strong enough to take root and grow.

Her thoughts strayed to her parents, and then, inexplicably to Theo. Her heart ached, and she shoved the thought of him aside with vehemence, going inside with Emmeline. Aiden took Sparky’s saddle off and put it away, while Sparky flew up in the sky, free.

Inside, Saphira set the food on the table until Aiden came inside and took over, and then they all went to the table, looking at the delicious spread: a hearty chicken pot pie; an autumn salad with sweet potatoes, apples, and a maple vinaigrette, and a loaf of bread with clove butter.

The table was decorated with burgundy candles and a vase of sunflowers, as well as bud vases with marigolds and daisies.

The table-scape was completed with little assortments of pinecones and pomegranate seeds.

Even their place settings were autumnally themed, the porcelain plates rimmed with a gold and cornucopia design along the border.

“Everything looks amazing,” Lavinia said, taking her seat. “I need to take a picture for my mom.” Lavinia pulled out her phone; Beena would love this.

“Send it to Theo, too!” Saphira said, sitting on Aiden’s right. “Tell him we miss him.”

Lavinia’s stomach flipped. She forced a smile. Truthfully, she didn’t just want to send him a picture, she wanted to video-call Theo, but after their kiss, she didn’t know how to proceed.

And as the dinner party continued, everyone eating the delicious food and chatting, Lavinia couldn’t help but look over to the empty seat beside her, where Theo was supposed to be.

Everything felt unbalanced without him here.

She bit her bottom lip hard, trying not to focus on his absence, but it was impossible not to.

Lavinia turned her attention to Aiden and Saphira, to them in their home. The love between them filled this entire house and made it radiate warmth. Lavinia knew she wasn’t stupid to believe in love, in true love—not when the evidence was right in front of her.

“So Lavinia, how’s school going?” Emmeline asked, taking a sip of her blackberry mint cocktail. She was seated on Aiden’s left; Genevieve was beside her and across from Lavinia.

Lavinia laughed. “It’s good! I mean it’s been really busy and a lot of work, but still, it’s okay,” Lavinia said, tearing off a piece of her bread. “Grad school is no joke.”

“ I , for one, can’t wait to be done with school,” Genevieve said, stabbing a piece of sweet potato. “It’s so tedious.”

“Barely a semester and a half left now, Ginny,” Saphira said with a smile. “Now, use those brains to think of a dragon puppuccino equivalent for the cafe. And that’s an order for all of you!”

“Hmm,” Lavinia considered it, but nothing was coming to her at the moment. No one else had any suggestions, either, and Saphira let out a breath.

“I should have been able to come up with something by now, but I’ve just been so busy with managing everything!” Saphira played with the end of her wavy hair.

“I’m telling you, darling, you need to hire a managerial assistant,” Aiden said. “Someone to help with the business side of things.” Theo had mentioned this.

“But I don’t trust anyone!” Saphira pouted. “The cafe is my baby.”

Lavinia wanted to suggest Theo for the job, but she didn’t want to speak for him, especially not when he wasn’t sure himself. Instead, she said, “In another life, I would love to be your business-partner-in-crime, but unfortunately, in this life, I love being a vet (in training) too much.”

“Ugh, in another life, that would have been so fun,” Saphira said. “But don’t worry, I know, and I love you being a vet, anyway. Don’t forget about my private island.”

Lavinia smiled. Being around her friends did help her feel better but, at the same time, it also underscored just how much she was missing Theo.

She had no choice but to grapple with that fact when she got home at the end of the night.

In her bedroom, Lavinia met her gaze in the mirror above her vanity, and she saw just how sad her eyes were, though she had no reason to be sad.

What was wrong with her? She never could stop thinking about him, and after that kiss it was just a hundred times worse. Tasting him had unlocked all this desire from deep inside of her, the intensity of which astounded her.

Kissing him had been better than she could have ever imagined or dreamed of, and now she wanted more. She was desperate for it, and just the thought sent the blood racing in her veins. Her entire body ached.

Lavinia’s phone lit up on top of her vanity, and her stomach flipped. She snatched her phone, looking at the notification—but it wasn’t Theo. The energy that had shot through her dissipated.

It was Calahan, texting to confirm that they were still good for their date tomorrow.

She was a tornado of mixed emotions. While kissing Theo wasn’t cheating on Calahan because she and Calahan were not boyfriend/girlfriend or exclusive or anything that serious, she still felt .

. . guilty. And she felt even more guilty by how much Calahan cared for her, even though that shouldn’t have made her guilty, but happy!

The part of her that was mature and logical had been upset when she thought Calahan was growing tired of her, but the delusional and silly part of her that still liked Theo was relieved when she had thought it wasn’t working out with Calahan.

She needed the different parts of her to start aligning real quick, because while they didn’t, she was getting a headache!

The lines were blurring between all her shifting emotions and feelings: burning desire from their kiss and her subsequent outright lewd dreams; the feelings for him from her crush that she perhaps never moved on from entirely; and the fact that he was her best friend, so of course she missed him and wanted to see him all the time.

What she knew for certain was that she needed something to work.

She needed her happily ever after. Especially with the way time was moving—winter was creeping closer, and she needed to find her person by then, the same way her mother had.

If she didn’t find her person by then, she never would, and she would just be alone for the rest of her life.

Lavinia released a groan, throwing open her vanity drawer. She needed to get her hair out of her face, and she gathered it up into a ponytail, reaching into the drawer with her free hand for a scrunchie.

As she did, she saw a little bottle in the corner. Hidden, but not hidden enough.

Theo’s cologne. Lavinia dropped her hair, letting the strands fall forward. She reached for the bottle, her fingers touching the cool glass. She was tempted to spray it, to inhale the smell of him.

“ No ,” she scolded herself.

She shoved the drawer shut with a resounding snap.