Page 3 of The Baby Dragon Bakery (The Baby Dragon #2)

L avinia opened her eyes and saw that Theo had jumped a foot back, no longer near her. It was like being doused by a bucket of ice water. He was avoiding looking at her. Horror at herself gripped her with frozen fingers.

“It’s getting late,” Theo finally said, and she was astounded by how normal his voice sounded. Lavinia herself was trembling, throat thick. “Do you want to head out?”

“Mhm,” she managed to squeak out. Theo stood, turning toward her. He offered her his hand, but she did not take it. Her hands were shaking, and she didn’t want him to see. She stood on her own, regret chilling through her. All the warmth from a moment ago was long, long gone.

As she followed Theo back to the party, staying a step behind him, she shook her head, mentally smacking herself. She could be so delusional. Of course he wasn’t going to kiss her. God, she was so stupid.

Lavinia felt like her head was made of stone, it felt so heavy. Through a haze, she followed Theo to where Aiden and Saphira were on the side of the dance floor, sharing a glass of champagne.

“No, don’t tell me you’re leaving already!” Saphira said, pouting. She tossed her dark hair back over her shoulder, and Lavinia took a deep breath, giving her friend a brave smile.

“Unfortunately,” Lavinia said. Usually, she would tease, or say something clever, but her brain was hardly working, still processing what had just happened.

“Thanks so much for coming,” Aiden said, giving them both a warm smile.

“Congratulations again,” Theo said, shaking Aiden’s hand while Saphira gave Lavinia a hug.

Lavinia reciprocated the hug quickly, not wanting to hold on for fear of letting her emotions overtake her.

She could not be messy at her friend’s engagement party; Saphira would worry and fuss, and that was the last thing Lavinia wanted.

When Lavinia pulled away from Saphira, she gave Aiden a hug as Theo kissed Saphira’s cheek.

Saphira glanced between Theo and Lavinia, her eyebrows crinkling slightly.

As she was about to open her mouth, Lavinia heard someone call Aiden’s name.

They all said their goodbyes, but Saphira looked over her shoulder one last time as she was whisked away.

“I love you!” Saphira called, blowing a kiss. “See you soon!”

Lavinia went to say goodbye to Genevieve then, who was dancing with her grandfather, a jovial old man with snow-white hair. After they hugged, Genevieve gave Lavinia a curious glance, looking closely.

“You okay?” Genevieve asked, holding Lavinia’s arm.

“Yeah, just tired.” Lavinia forced a smile, then blew Ginny a kiss before heading to the valet, who brought round Theo’s car.

Lavinia got in, and once the door shut, she was enveloped in stifling silence as Theo drove her home.

She felt as if she was underwater, with no sight of the surface to break.

It wasn’t a long drive, but to Lavinia the ride seemed endless.

She kept opening her mouth and shutting it.

For the first time in her life, she couldn’t think of anything to say to her best friend.

The car suddenly felt small and cramped, the space oppressive.

Tears welled in her eyes and she rapidly blinked them away, chewing on the inside of her lower lip.

She had been rejected. He did not feel the same as she did, not at all.

There was nothing wrong with that, she knew there wasn’t. It wasn’t his fault, and there was nothing she could do about it, and it was fine, really it was—but what wasn’t fine was how awkward things were now between them.

She couldn’t mess up her friendship with Theo. She wouldn’t.

When Theo pulled up in front of her house, she tried her best to act normal.

“Thanks,” she said, but the word sounded mechanical even to her own ears. She inwardly winced. “Um. Well, bye.”

Theo was quiet for a moment, his knee bouncing. But then he looked up at her, giving her his usual smile.

“See ya,” he said. She couldn’t bear to look at him.

Lavinia got out of the car, her high heels in her hands, and ran barefoot to the door of her home. Closing the door softly behind her as she let herself in, she released a long breath, feeling nauseous. The house was quiet, her parents and little brother asleep.

Tiptoeing up the stairs, Lavinia maneuvered through the dark until she reached her room.

She flipped on the lights and shut the door.

Her heels fell to the floor with a resounding thud, and once they did, Lavinia’s knees felt weak.

She walked to her bed and collapsed face-down onto her pillows, wanting to cry.

She had been rejected by boys in the past, but no matter her experience with the emotion, it always hurt in a way that was so personal and shattering. Deep down, she always knew things happened for the best, but that didn’t stop the reality from hurting.

And now Theo was just another one of those boys, which felt impossible to understand. He was Theo, he was her Theo.

She rolled off her stomach until she was lying flat, staring up at the ceiling as she took deep, deep breaths, listening to the sound of air entering and leaving her lungs. It was difficult to digest how wrong she had been, but that wasn’t new either.

She could be so delusional when she liked someone; it was horrifyingly embarrassing.

But she had to face reality now. Lavinia sat up, slapping her cheeks to keep the tears at bay. She would not cry over this. She would forge forward, just like she always did.

Lavinia got off her bed and unzipped her dress, grabbing a nightshirt and throwing it on. She pulled her straight hair back into a ponytail, reaching for the scrunchie she had put in her clutch, but it wasn’t there.

She went over to her vanity, grabbing another one from the drawer, meeting her gaze head-on as she looked in the mirror.

This was fine. She was fine.

In the mirror, her face broke. Anxiety spiked through her with a thousand needles. All these months she had nursed her feelings for Theo, thinking that eventually he would feel the same, that things would work out between them, and she would get her happily ever after.

But now? Things had decidedly not worked out, and such a miscalculation brought her dangerously close to her deadline.

She had always thought she would follow her mother’s path: excel in undergraduate school (check!), then find the love of her life in the winter after her twenty-fourth birthday, and get married after graduate school.

In her mind, because Lavinia wanted a love like her parents’, she needed to follow a similar timeline.

Her head pounded, and she rubbed her temples.

“That’s enough,” she chided herself. She couldn’t think about this any further tonight; she needed some sleep before she could come up with a game plan to try and salvage some dignity from this calamity.

She went to the bathroom, washing off her makeup and getting ready for bed. When she came back to her room, she grabbed the lip balm from the top of her vanity, where it was laid out with all her makeup from when she had been getting ready.

As she did, she spotted a dark bottle of cologne.

Theo’s.

He must have forgotten it; he had come over after work to get ready there before they headed over to the engagement party together.

Lavinia’s fingers itched as she held the bottle. A dangerous shiver ran through her. She knew she should give it back, but she pulled the cap off, then sprayed.

Mist filled the air and she inhaled the scent of sandalwood, feeling warm. Lavinia closed her eyes. He usually smelled like this, except mixed in with the scent of dough and sugar, all warm and sweet.

Surrounded by the scent, Lavinia felt as if he was there, his body just beside hers, like that moment under the stars, his hand in hers.

They were best friends; they grew up together, of course they had touched a million times before, but that moment had felt different—and the memory of how wrong she had been brought tears to her eyes. Her lower lip trembled.

Lavinia opened her drawer, putting Theo’s cologne away. She wouldn’t give it back. Instead, she hid it away, then shut the drawer with a snap.

She would do the same with her feelings. She would bury them.

It was time to grow up.