“I don’t want to walk any further. Let’s take a cab.”
Kayla laughed. “Not a chance. You need to cool down, and you should have quit when it was too much.”
He turned red. “It wasn’t too much at the time. It’s more the after effects that are too much.”
She threw her head back as she laughed. “Right.”
As they exited the park, Evan moved around her, keeping himself between her and the traffic just past the sidewalk. When they passed other people and had to give up their spot on the sidewalk to let them pass, his hand would always rest on the small of her back, keeping her with him and moving.
These little touches and thoughtful things he did always gave her butterflies in her stomach even as she told herself these things were just habits for him. He was probably attentive like this to everyone.
“Grab us a seat and I’ll order,” he told her as they entered Deja Brew.
She nodded and did just that. The butterflies were back to their steady flutter when he said it. Without a doubt, she knew Evan would come back with both the coffee and the muffin she wanted. That he remembered was what got to her.
She noticed Cade walking in and pulled another chair to their table, expecting his presence. Cade was just a hair taller than Evan but wider, more muscular. Not that Evan was scrawny, but Cade definitely worked to build muscle, where Evan stayed in shape.
He was handsome in his own right, but Evan was her preference. She could appreciate other men, but the one she wanted was him, and him alone. Evan’s dark hair and always well-groomed beard did things to her she would never admit out loud.
“Here you go.” Evan passed her a cup and a bag.
She opened it, knowing already that it was the banana muffin she would have ordered herself. A sip of the coffee confirmed it was the right order. Not that she even needed to check.
“Where’s Cade?” she asked him, looking around.
“Flirting with the barista, as usual.” Evan rolled his eyes.
Kayla spotted him, chatting with the barista as Evan had said. The barista moved through the orders, setting coffees on the counter and calling out names while Cade chatted with her.
“He should just ask her out,” Kayla noted.
Evan snorted. “Good luck convincing him of that.”
“When does he get a blind date turn? Maybe she could be your pick for him?” she suggested, still watching the pair.
Evan looked over and rubbed his beard. “I think that’s not a half bad idea.” He turned to face her. “Any luck with my profile setup?”
Kayla quickly took a sip of her coffee, prolonging her answer as long as she could. “Almost.” She took a bite of her muffin to keep from saying anything else.
“Do you think that when you do, you can open it up like a regular profile too?”
Kayla inhaled so quickly she forgot she was chewing her muffin. Immediately she began coughing, drawing the attention of everyone around her.
Evan was up and patting her back in the blink of an eye, handing her a napkin as he did. She struggled to recover, reaching for her coffee to help wash it down.
“I’m okay,” she waved him off through a few final coughs.
He looked like he wasn’t sure but eventually moved back to his seat. “You sure?” he asked, concern clear in his eyes.
She nodded. “It just went down the wrong way.” She shrugged and hoped she didn’t look freaked out.
“Everything okay over here?” Cade joined them.
Kayla gave Cade a smile. “I just forgot how to eat for a second.”
“These muffins are delicious though, so if you had to go out on something, at least it was good,” Cade joked.
It was weird when she ran into Cade here versus when she saw him anywhere else. At Deja Brew, he was much more relaxed and friendly. Not that he wasn’t friendly elsewhere, but it seemed forced and less casual.