Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating(28)

Hazel tilts her head side to side. “I’m interested. Baristas tend to like the peculiar girls.”

Something pulses in me when I hear her describe herself that way.

“So we have a plan then?” Emily asks. “Hazel will talk to her stylist and Dave can talk to the hot barista. We’ll meet back here to finalize the details?”

Hazel offers a hand and I reach over to shake it. This is all becoming very … communal. I just hope no one gets invested in someone for me before I do.





NINE


HAZEL


Unfortunately, I spend the Saturday morning after date number two searching for a new stylist.

I’m scrolling through Yelp reviews when Winnie starts to bark, her wet nose pressed against the front room window. Poor Josh and his once-spotless glass.

Winnie can barely contain herself and races back and forth, tail wagging furiously and feet slipping along the wood floors. There are only two people who get that kind of reaction. One of them woke up with a headache and has gone back to bed, and the other is my mom.

“Calm down,” I say, pulling her back by her collar so I can open the door. “You’d think nobody pays attention to you.”

“There she is,” my mom croons. “There’s my pretty, good girl.”

I’m shocked—shocked, I say—to find that she’s not speaking to me.

Winnie dances around Mom’s legs as she comes inside, and I close the door behind her. “I’m so happy to see you, too, Mom!”

“You hush,” she says, and hands me a white paper bag that smells suspiciously like blueberry muffins. All is forgiven. Doing a quick glance toward the kitchen she adds, “I see you haven’t burned the place down.”

I deliver a thumbs-up over my shoulder. “So far so good!”

Thank God my apartment should finally be ready soon. I’m excited to be back in my space with my rabbit and bird and fish. Still, I’ll admit I’m going to miss cohabitating with my new best friend.

Winnie follows Mom as she crosses the room, settling comfortably at her feet beneath the kitchen table. “Where’s that captivating boy?” Mom asks.

I pull a couple of plates from the dishwasher and put a muffin on each one. “You know, most moms would have more to say about their daughter living with a random dude than how captivating he is.”

“Are you saying I’m wrong?”

“Oh, not at all. But don’t let that face fool you, he’s a captivating pain in the ass.”

“Must be why you get along so well,” she says with a winning smile.

“Ha, ha.”

“So where is he?”

The coffeemaker gurgles in the background and I carry the plates to the table. “He went back to bed.”

She looks at her watch and then back up to me, lips turned up in a knowing smirk. “What did you do to him?”

“Me?” I do my best to look innocent. She isn’t buying it. Busted, I set her muffin down in front of her and turn back to the kitchen. “Let’s just say date number two was a doozy.”

“Remind me again? The coffee guy and—” She pauses when she sees me nodding. “Oh dear.”

“Yeah.”

“You guys were excited for that one. It wasn’t fun?”

I’m not sure I’d describe it as fun, but it was definitely something.

Going off what little I’d told him about McKenzie, Josh had arranged for us to spend the day fishing on the Columbia. I’d been so excited I was up and dressed and in the kitchen making sandwiches before he was even out of bed.

We were set to meet and check in at the dock before sunrise. Hot barista—aka Kota—was already there, a drink tray with four coffees in hand. Points for the boy. I made a mental note to thank Dave, because looking at Kota? Dave did not oversell.

The sky was sherbet-colored and blurry, the air still dawn-cold while we introduced ourselves. Kota had dark hair that was shaved over his ear and dyed red at the tips. He had earrings, and a tattoo that peeked out the back collar of his shirt. I’m not even going to lie, I was smitten.

Then McKenzie pulled up.

We’d been standing at the side of the boat, conversing easily as we warmed our hands on the cups of coffee, when a red Honda Civic pulled into the lot. I noticed the way Kota stumbled in his story about the time Dave ate a bad egg salad sandwich at the shop. But he was still talking, and he was still pretty, so I didn’t let it distract me too much.

I heard a car door close and then the sound of boots crunching across gravel echoed through the early morning. I turned to McKenzie and smiled, waving an arm over my head. As she waved back Josh quieted, obviously checking her out. I assume it went something like this: Hot, good body, not immediately crazy. I owe Hazel big.

At least it should have.

But next to me, I felt Kota stiffen, and watched as recognition straightened his easy smile. As McKenzie neared, I saw it flicker across her face, too.

Huh.

Shrugging it off, I rushed forward to meet her.

“You’re here!” I said, wrapping her into a tight hug. She smelled exactly like the salon I’d grown to love and I hoped Josh was paying attention as I subliminally threatened his balls if he somehow screwed this up. I stepped away, bouncing a little on my feet and clapping. “I’m so happy you came.”