The Proposal(30)

He couldn’t look at Nik, otherwise he knew he would laugh out loud.

“See what I meant about her freaking out?” Nik said as soon as Courtney went back inside.

He nodded.

“You weren’t kidding about a cupcake crisis.”

They unceremoniously tossed all of the crap that had been in both his and Nik’s trunks into the back room at Cupcake Park to maximize the space for the cupcakes. When they were all loaded up to Courtney’s specifications, she programmed the address of the place they were going into Nik’s phone, and took Nik’s car key out of her hand.

“I’ll take your car and meet you two there.” She pointed her finger at Carlos. “No crazy driving, do you hear me?”

He turned to Nik.

“Why would she say that to me? I’m an excellent driver.”

Nik laughed at him and got in the passenger seat.

“You’d better drive like you’re transporting a tiny baby. If a single one of those cupcakes arrives with even slightly smashed frosting, Courtney will murder you.”

He pulled out of the alley and zoomed toward the freeway.

“I’m offended that you would even feel the need to tell me that. I’ve been driving on L.A. freeways since I was practically a toddler. Those cupcakes will arrive in perfect condition, mark my words.” He revved the motor at a stoplight, and Courtney, in the car next to his, looked over at him in horror.

“You just woke up the baby in the back seat, and it’s pissed,” Nik said.

He sped through the light when it turned green and laughed on his way to the freeway entrance.

“I was in a terrible mood, but that look on Courtney’s face just cheered me right up. She might kill me, but it’ll be worth it.”

“Oh, she will definitely kill you, but she’ll kill you after you get her cupcakes to the event.” Nik relaxed into his passenger seat. “Speaking of babies, how’s your cousin?”

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

“She’s hanging in there, thanks for asking. Oh, she told me she tore through that Jamestown book and loved it. I’m not sure if that’s because she was anxious or bored, but either way it helped, so thanks for the recommendation.”

“My pleasure.” He glanced back in her direction just to see her smile. “It’s always good to find people who seem nice and normal and share my love for this genre. It makes me feel less evil to be so into such terrible stories. Wait. Your cousin is nice and normal, isn’t she?”

To be honest, he’d always kind of thought that Jessie’s love of true crime showed the evil side to her, but he probably shouldn’t say that out loud.

“I guess that depends what you’re comparing ‘nice and normal’ against,” he said.

Nik laughed.

“Well, you and your sister both seem . . .” She looked sideways at him. “Nah, I take that back. Your sister seems nice and normal, maybe. You, I don’t know.”

He shook his head.

“See, this is what happens when you go out of your way to help people—they spend the whole time insulting you.”

Nik patted him on the thigh. He wished she would leave her hand there, but no luck.

“But seriously,” she asked, “did you have to go far out of your way to come help? Where do you live, anyway?”

He pretended he was checking to change lanes just to look over at her. He would have driven from clear across the city just to see the way she looked in that tank top.

“Atwater Village, not too far from here. But I was even closer, because I was at the Vons in Silver Lake when I got your text.”

“Oh wow, Atwater Village is such a great neighborhood,” she said. “How long have you lived there?”

Her hair was back in one big ponytail. His fingers ached to pull it out and run them through it.

“Let’s see, it’s the end of May? Almost six months. I bought it in January, which is a terrible time to move, especially with a brand-new job. But it was all kind of a fluke. I lucked into it. The seller had just gotten a new job on the East Coast and had to sell fast, so I got a good deal.”

“Congratulations, that’s fantastic,” she said.

“I still can’t believe I’m a homeowner.” Sometimes when he looked at his house keys, it still blew him away that the place was all his. “It’s tiny, but it works for me.”

He pulled onto the freeway exit.

“Oh look, there’s Courtney in my car,” Nik said, gesturing to the car in front of them at the light.

“Have you been friends for a long time?” Carlos asked.

Nik nodded.

“We went to Stanford together. We lived next door to each other junior year. One night she got locked out and knocked on my door, and we’ve basically been friends ever since.”

He and Courtney both turned to head up into the winding roads into the hills. He hoped that none of the cupcake boxes moved while they went around curves. As much as he’d teased both Nik and Courtney on the way here, he really did want the cupcakes to arrive looking perfect.

“Is that how you met Dana, too?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, but not in the dorms. I met Dana through a theater group on campus. One night, the director hit on Dana in a pretty gross way, and Courtney came with me to rescue Dana.” She shook her head and laughed. “Long story short, that guy woke up the next morning with spray paint all over his beloved car. I’m not going to say how it happened, because no one ever found out. I’ll just say that Courtney is a really good person to have on your side.”