This Side of the Mirror: Wyatt - 1. Chapter 1

“Wyatt, Tim, I’m going to the bakery!” Mom called, letting us know she’d be gone for about an hour forty-five on her bi-weekly ritual.

“K, can you bring back some of those chocolate bread-things?” I shouted downstairs hopefully.

I could hear her laughter faintly from the front door. “It’s called ‘pain au chocolat’,” she told me for the thousandth time, “and fine, but you’re gonna get fat.”

“Love you too,” I called sarcastically, an amused smile on my face, and I heard her laughter again before the door closed.

I looked down at my bare stomach, knowing she was just joking – we joked like this all the time, it was how we showed love – but checking anyway. It wasn’t like I ate the delicious treats often; my mom usually ‘forgot’ to get them when I asked. Sure enough, my stomach was still flat and semi-muscular, without a hint of fat, and I snorted. I got way too much exercise to get fat, compared to the amount of junk food I ate. Between a demanding dog that wasn’t even mine, an active – and slightly sadistic – best friend, and all the time I spent swimming, it was a wonder I was still visible when I turned sideways.

I stood up from my desk, logging out of my computer just in case, and adjusted the waistband of my board shorts – the only clothing I was wearing – before walking to the door of my room. I needed to talk to Tim, and I was hoping by catching him this early after Mom left I’d avoid interrupting his wank. Just like Mom had her schedule, he had his, and he was always grumpy if something interrupted it.

I opened his door and walked in, sighing as I saw him in front of his computer with his hand moving furiously up and down in his lap.

“Hey, Tim,” I said, sitting down on his bed and kicking his chair to get his attention.

“Can it wait?” He asked, annoyed, not taking his eyes off the brunette woman on his screen as she… pleasured herself.

“No,” I said stubbornly. “And it’s more important than you getting to cum.”

He sighed, hitting spacebar to pause the video and cease the annoyingly fake moans, and spun his chair around to face me.

“What?” he asked, exasperated, as he tucked his cock back into his boxers. His piercing green eyes, almost twins of mine, looked unimpressed as he saw me sitting shirtless on his bed, and I was again surprised by the similarities and differences between my older brother and I. His unbuttoned shirt parted in the middle to reveal a slight paunch, evidence that he never came to the pool or went walking, and his jeans were pulled down far enough to reveal his hairy white thighs. I was the opposite: slim, tanned, and practically hairless. It wasn’t a matter of age, either – he was only a year older than me, and we’d both developed early. It was just one of our differences, like how I needed glasses but he had perfect vision. What was a matter of age – I hoped, at least – was the size of the package he’d just stowed in his boxers. He was probably almost eight inches, whereas I was slightly over seven. That was one difference I hoped would soon become a similarity like the others: our short charcoal-black hair, full lips, vibrant green eyes, medium height, or any of the million other traits we shared. Nobody ever had to ask if we were brothers or not.

“What do you want, Wy?” he asked again, getting my attention back. I turned my focus back to him and saw him trying not to smile; my inability to focus always amused him. I ignored him and leaned forward excitedly.

“It’s almost May,” I told him, my grin widening.

“So?” he asked, his annoyance slowly fading away like it always did. He could never stay irritated at me, although with anyone else he could hold a grudge forever.

“Mother’s Day is almost here!” I said, excited, and he covered his face with a hand, laughing softly into it and shaking his head.

“What’s so exciting about getting gifts for people?” he asked, like he did every time I dragged him along to pick out the perfect gift, and just like every other time, I had no answer.

“I don’t know, but it’s fun,” I said. “Now what are we going to get her?”

“Can’t we just go with a card and a gift certificate?”

I pouted at him. “This is her last Mother’s Day while both of her kids are still… kids,” I told him, leaning back onto his bed. Next year, Tim would be eighteen and I would be seventeen; he’d be an adult. “We need to get her something special.”

“Well whatever it is, it has to be cheap, Wy; you blew most of my money on a knife for her birthday.”

“It was her father’s knife,” I reminded him. “All we did was get it refurbished, but look how much she loves it!”

“It’s a knife,” he snorted. “She uses it to cut bread every day, and that’s it.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “That’s the only knife she uses to cut the bread,” I said. “She uses other knives for anything else, but she keeps her favorite knife for her special bread, and she smiles whenever she uses it. You can’t tell me that’s not worth a little bit of money out of our pockets.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “I have no idea how you notice things like that,” he said absently. “Fine. Whatever you’ve got in mind, I’ll pitch in. How much is it this time?”

I grinned at his reluctance, knowing it was just a show. He loved Mom as much as I did; he was just embarrassed to admit it.

“I don’t have anything in mind this time,” I told him, rolling onto my stomach and resting my chin on my arms at the edge of his bed. I softly drummed my feet against the wall as I thought, and Tim smiled. “That’s why I’m here. What do you think we should get her?”

“I think,” he said, turning his chair to snatch my glasses off playfully like he always did when he wanted to tease me, “that you should go think about this on your own. You know I’m not gonna be any help.”

I snorted with annoyance, blinking as everything went blurry, and I bounced to my feet and plucked my glasses out of his hands. I flipped them right side up and slid them on, watching as my brother’s playful grin jumped into HD.

“See you, Wy,” he called after me, and I waved behind me, letting the door drift shut behind me as I left. I could hear the fake moaning resume just before the door shut it off, and I snorted as I walked back into my room and flopped onto my bed. I pulled off my glasses as I lay on my back, absently toying with them as I thought. I was pleasantly surprised that Tim had let me go so easily; usually he’d have made a joke about whether or not they worked for 3D movies. He found it funny that I’d chosen glasses so similar to the new ones handed out at movie theatres, ever since they’d switched from the red and blue ones, anyway, but I liked the simple almost-flat top and rounded bottoms. It was only really the frame that looked like 3D glasses, anyway. The lenses were clear on mine, so I could use them at any time I wanted. I tended to leave my contacts in favor of these, both because I liked having something to toy with when I was thinking and because I liked the feel of wearing them. Another reason, one I was less eager to admit, was that Lana said I looked cute in them.

As if thinking her name had summoned her attention, my phone buzzed across the room. I rolled to my feet and jumped into my swivel chair, spinning around once before snatching the phone off the desk and quickly unplugging it so my spinning didn’t pull the charger from the wall. I pulled my heels up to the edge of the chair, resting my phone on my knees and slipping my glasses back on as the chair’s rotation slowed. When I could see everything clearly again, I swiped the text across the screen to open it, quickly typing my passcode. There were three texts from Lana over the course of the last few minutes since my mom had left, and I smiled as I read them.

Do you wanna come here, or do I go there?

You need to stop forgetting your phone.

Ugh, hurry up and answer, Wy!

Three dots in a speech bubble were fading in and out to show she was typing, and I waited a moment to see what she’d say before responding.

That’s it; I’m coming over there. If you’ve got a guy over then prepare for a surprise.

I laughed as I read that, shaking my head. Lana always said that my mom’s trips to the baker were the perfect time to have a guy over without my family knowing, and it had become a joke between us that whenever I should be answering her and wasn’t, it was because I was having wild and kinky sex with a guy I’d brought home.

Don’t worry, he’ll be gone by the time you get here, I sent back.

Yeah, you would be quick on your first time. I’ll be there in five minutes, have everything cleaned up by then.

I laughed and absently set my phone on the desk again before throwing a shirt on, wandering downstairs, and hopping onto the counter, sitting there and idly kicking my legs as I munched on an apple I’d grabbed from the fruit basket. I patted my pocket, looking for my phone, and then realized I’d forgotten it upstairs. I shrugged, continuing to eat my apple, and waited. Lana would just have to tell me anything she wanted to say in person.

I’d almost finished my apple when the door opened and a huge hairy beast burst in, claws scrabbling on the floor as it raced towards me. I jumped off the counter, grinning, and tried to catch the giant ball of fur as she jumped up on me. I wrapped my arms around her, giving her a hug, and she tried to lick my ear. I pushed her head away, laughing, and she dropped back to four paws and promptly began sniffing around the house to see if anything had changed from a few days ago, when she was here last.

“I swear I’m gonna staple that phone to your wrist,” Lana told me, crossing her arms.

I gave her a wry grin. “I’m not that bad,” I defended myself, moving to take another bite out of my apple before noticing how it was covered in fur and reconsidering. I tossed it into the compost bin, ignoring Lana’s laughter; there hadn’t been much left anyway.

“So where’s the mutt dragging us today?” I asked, turning back to her. I frown as I noticed her hair; the long brunette strands were gathered into a ponytail, and that never boded well.

She laughed as she saw the look on my face. “Don’t worry, I just didn’t want to get all done up today. The hair doesn’t mean we’re doing anything intense.”

“Good,” I said happily. “'cause we need to be able to think. I need an idea of what to do for Mother’s Day.”

An excited smile immediately spread over her face, and we collected our furry accomplice and headed out, brainstorming ideas already.

__________

I sat on a branch of a random tree, kicking my legs happily as I broke off small twigs and dropped them, watching the bits of wood fall ten feet to be snapped up by the sharp teeth of the playful dog. Even though this happened every time we were in here, I still found it funny to watch the crazy animal jumping in the air to catch the twigs. Lana was watching from the ground like she always did, our conversation momentarily paused. We’d just been talking about everything from what I should get my mom to hot guys, but when Mocha – or as we more commonly called her ever since we’d realized her name sucked, ‘the cuddle machine’ – started getting particularly enthusiastic we’d gotten distracted.

I loved coming out here with Lana; it was the only time I could talk about guys. Lana was the only one who knew I was gay, and she was totally accepting of it. She’d been delighted when she found out, actually, because she figured that meant she could drag me around on all her boot camp-ish activities and still get to talk about boys. We’d already been best friends, but now that we had even more in common, we’d stopped even pretending to have secrets from each other.

“So will I have to come over and drag you out of bed for our jog tomorrow, or will you be up?” She asked, breaking our temporary fixation on Mocha.

“I’ll be up,” I assured her. She wasn’t kidding; she’d done it before, and it was how she’d learned I slept either naked or in my boxers, whichever I felt like that night. That in itself didn’t really bother me, but she’d threatened that next time she had to wake me up she’d be bringing an ice cube with her. There was no question of whether or not she was sadistic enough, so I believed her.

“Good,” she said, straightening up from leaning against a tree and walking over to Mocha. I recognized that we were leaving and dropped from the tree, catching a branch a few feet down and swinging off it to slow my momentum before I hit the ground. I tossed the last twig to the cuddle monster as we walked, laughing as she chewed it into pieces and ran off to explore more.

“Let’s go back to my house,” I suggested. “My mom must be back by now, I wanna see if she got those chocolate things.”

“Pain au chocolat,” Lana corrected, in a perfect impression of my mom’s amusement, and we laughed.

“Whatever,” I huffed, pouting at her. “I only remember things that interest me.”

She just grinned. My chronic inability to remember names for things like that seemed to be her main source of amusement sometimes.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s race Mocha back.”

_________

We lost, of course, but when we got home the lower floor was empty. I ran upstairs, checking there, but Mom was nowhere to be found.

Opening Tim’s door, I walked into his room and sat on his bed again. He was fully dressed this time, and far less reluctant to give me his attention.

“Hey Wy,” he said. “Did Mom tell you where she was going?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” I said. “She hasn’t come home?”

“No, I guess she’s got more to talk about than usual,” he said. “Or maybe the bakery was busy, so they haven’t had much time to chat.”

I nodded. “It is almost Mother’s Day, people might be buying cakes.”

Tim laughed at me. “Almost to you is different than it is to other people,” he told me. “For anyone who’s not obsessed with giving gifts, twenty days isn’t ‘almost’. I doubt they’ve even started taking orders for cakes yet.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, heading back to the door. “It’s not an obsession,” I said as I left, but the door didn’t close quick enough to cut off his snort of amusement.

I walked down the hall and into my room, finding Lana wrestling with Mocha on my bed. I grinned and joined in immediately, siding with the huge cotton ball and helping pin Lana for face-licks, at least until Mocha got too ambitious and tried to lick me too. Lana and Mocha teamed up on me, and soon I was just as slobbery as Lana.

When we’d been lying there for a few minutes and all the giggles had made their way out of our systems, I sat up and walked to the door, peeking down the stairs. The bottom floor was still empty, and Lana saw the slight frown on my face and left Mocha to go downstairs with me.

“Wanna go check the bakery?” she asked.

“I’m not sure where it is,” I admitted. “I haven’t been since I was a kid.”

Lana shrugged. “Let’s just go in the general direction, then. I’ll get directions if we can’t find it.”

“Sure,” I said, slipping my flip-flops back on and heading out.

_________

We hadn’t found the bakery, although we had been fairly sure it was close, when Lana got a text from Tim.

Wy’s with you, right? It asked.

Yeah, she responded, looking at me.

Tell him Mom fell and broke her hip, she’ll be perfectly fine, but she’s in the hospital right now.

The blood drained from my face as I read the text, and Lana’s hand flew over her mouth as she finished it a second after. She looked up at me, putting her phone away, and threw her arms around me reassuringly.

“She’ll be OK,” she told me. “He said she’ll be fine.”

I nodded numbly, hugging her back out of habit, and she pulled away after a moment and took my hand in hers, comforting me as she pulled me along.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go to the hospital.”

I nodded again, thankful that she knew what I wanted before I did, and we hurried over.

The hospital wasn’t far from where we’d been, so even running we were only a few minutes behind Tim. He was waiting for us in the lobby, and as soon as we burst in he went to the desk, getting us admitted into the room. Lana took a minute longer than I did because she tied Mocha up in the shade outside, but by the time the receptionist had given us directions and a room number, she was back and we were off.

When we entered Mom’s room, I realized I was holding my breath. I let it out in relief as I saw her sitting up and awake, and she smiled at me as I came in.

“Hey Tim, hey Wyatt,” she said. “Oh, hi Lana. I don’t know why I’m surprised to see you here.”

Lana and Mom grinned at each other, amused, but I ignored them and moved to the bedside.

“You’re gonna be OK, right?” I asked, almost desperately. “Tim said you would be, but…”

Mom nodded. “The doctor says I was really lucky, actually,” she said. “I won’t even need surgery, and I’ll be fully recovered in about six months.”

“Good,” I sighed, relieved.

“How’d you break it?” Tim asked.

Mom grimaced. “I was crossing Main Street and some idiot ran a red light,” she said. “He didn’t hit me, but I had to dive out of the way. I dropped the bag, too. Wasted perfectly good bread,” she lamented, before getting back on topic. “Someone else got out of their car and brought me here, and once the checkup was done I called you guys.”

“Why didn’t you get the hospital to call us earlier?” I asked. “We could have been here sooner!”

Mom smiled wryly at me. “What would you have thought if you’d had to wait before they let you see me? You’d both have been worried out of your minds. At least this way you didn’t have to worry for long, right?”

I frowned, not really agreeing with her but letting it go.

“Oh well, I’m just glad to hear you’ll be OK,” I said.

“Thanks,” she replied, smiling. “There is some bad news though… one of the two of you,” she winked at me, knowing that whatever it was, I’d end up being stuck with it, “is gonna have to go to the bakery instead of me.”

I groaned, and Mom laughed.

“You guys love that bread as much as I do,” she said. “Don’t let your laziness break our family tradition.”

I pouted, knowing I’d do it anyway. My grandfather had made bread for a living, so my mom had grown up on homemade bread; after he’d died, she’d never found a bakery that made the same bread. She’d ended up going to this one for convenience, and had been surprised when, after mentioning it in casual conversation, the owners of the family run business had offered to try to make it for her. They’d tried tons of different recipes before finding the right one, and ever since my mom had been coming here and chatting with them as they made a loaf of her special bread up. It never took long, so she’d tell them how much she wanted and they’d chat as it was made. She always said the bread reminded her of her grandfather, so there was no way I could not take over for her now.

“You won’t have to worry about me forgetting the pain au chocolat,” she offered in singsong, and I laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll do it,” I promised.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. “Now you guys go home; I’ve already wasted enough of your day, go have fun with the rest of it. The doctor says I’ll be home around eight, so order pizza or something for dinner, ‘K?”

Tim and I nodded, and we allowed ourselves to be herded out of the room after Mom said bye to all of us.

When we’d collected Mocha again and were waiting by the car, I let them get in and stepped away. “I’ve got something to do here, you guys go home,” I said. Tim nodded, and an arm stuck up from under Mocha, waving to show Lana had heard. Tim pulled out of the parking lot, heading back to drop Lana and go home, and I began to walk. Soon, I was kicking rocks cheerfully, my good mood restored. Mom would be OK, the lack of mobility wouldn’t affect her much, and it could have been much, much worse. Comparatively, this wasn’t bad at all, so I smiled as I wandered.

After a little while, I’d found the bakery, and I walked in the door accompanied by the sound of ringing bells. I walked right into a wave of delicious smells, and I took a huge breath, liking this place already. It was empty of customers at this time of day, and there only seemed to be one person on duty. He turned, leaving whatever he’d been working on, and by the time I reached the counter he’d washed his hands and come back. I only saw his shoes as he stopped on the other side of the counter; the assorted treats under the glass casing were demanding my full attention. They looked amazing, and I mentally sighed as I realized the family who worked here would think I was an idiot when I couldn’t remember all those names.

“Oh, hey,” the man’s voice said friendlily. “You’re… Wyatt?” he guessed, sounding unsure but hopeful of being right.

I looked up, blinking at what I saw, and when my brain paused my mouth took over. “Yep,” I said cheerfully. “Felix?”

He looked surprised, and he paused for a moment before responding. “Did Annie mention me or something?” he asked.

I grinned and tapped my chest in the same spot his nametag was on his, and he looked embarrassed as he realized. “Oh, oops,” he said.

“She has mentioned you once or twice, though,” I told him. “If my memory was better you’d have been right.”

What she didn’t mention, though, is that he’s really cute! She’d said the owners had a son my age, but I hadn’t expected… this. He had light brown hair – medium length and a bit messy – along with beautiful slate grey eyes and a friendly smile that lit up his face. He looked to be a little bigger than me, maybe an inch or two taller and a little more muscular, and I could smell scents almost as mouthwatering as he was coming from him. All of a sudden picking up the bread didn’t seem like such a chore anymore.

“Oh,” he said, smiling. “That makes me feel like slightly less of an idiot, then,” he joked. “So, what’re you here for? Decide to get some pastries too?”

I shook my head, my smile lessening a little. “Actually, I’m here for more bread. My mom… she broke her hip earlier today – she’ll be OK, don’t worry – and long story short the bread was ruined and I’m on bakery duty for a while.”

Felix stopped short, genuinely concerned. “How’s she feeling?”

“She’s doing well,” I said, smiling slightly as I thought of how lucky it was. “She’s still her usual self, and she’ll be fully recovered in half a year.”

“That’s good to hear,” he said, relieved. “Not to be nosey, but you guys are gonna be OK, right?”

I nodded, grateful for his concern. “Yeah, it won’t interfere with her work much, and my brother has his G2, so we’re good for any driving that needs to be done.”

“Awesome,” he said happily, and I returned his smile.

We were quiet for a few seconds, until I realized that I was doing nothing but admiring his smile, probably weirding him out, and I blinked myself out of it, embarrassed.

“So,” he said, moving over a little and adjusting some pastries that already seemed to be arranged fine – to me, at least – before turning back towards me. “All you need is the bread?”

“Yeah,” I said absently, trying to get the image of his ass out of my mind so I could stay standing without embarrassing myself.

“OK, that’ll take about forty minutes to make,” he told me. “Are you gonna stay here like your mom does, or…?”

“I’ll stay,” I decided. “I’ve never seen how the bread’s made before.”

Felix gave me a secretive grin. “Wanna come back here for a closer look, then?”

I felt my eyes light up, but I tried to be responsible. “That sounds awesome, as long as you wouldn’t get in trouble for it or anything.”

He shrugged. “I doubt I will. If my parents know you’re Annie’s son, and not a random teenager, they’ll probably be OK with it.”

I grinned, excited. “Sweet, thanks!”

“No problem,” he said, opening up the counter for me. “It’s not like this is selfless; I’m getting company out of it.”

I laughed, ducking under his arm as he held up the board and looking at everything from the new perspective.

“Wow,” I said, eyeing the huge counter of sweets. “I don’t know how you resist those; if I had to be this close to them for any length of time, I’d buy more than all the customers.”

He grinned. “I don’t need to buy them; at the end of the day, if we’ve made too much, we give it out to the homeless. If we don’t get many takers, or we made way too much, then there’ll still be leftovers, and I get to eat as much as I want.”

“Huh,” I said, practically drooling at the thought. “I guess it’s too late to try to be adopted into your family so I can work here too?”

He laughed. “Yeah, but it doesn’t happen too often anyway. Usually our estimates are pretty close, so we have just enough to give away.”

I smiled. “I can tell; there’s no way you’d be able to fit behind the counter if you got food like that every day.”

He snickered, but then paused. “Hey,” he said, a playful shine in his eyes, “wanna help make the bread?”

“Really?” I asked, excited, and he nodded.

“It might take a bit longer, though, so is there anywhere you need to be?”

I shook my head, grinning, and he happily led me to the sink.

“OK, first we need to wash our hands.”

When our hands were perfectly clean, he led me into the back and through a doorway.

“Huh,” I said, looking around the tiny room. It was obviously only made for one person; there was hardly enough room to stand without bumping into each other. Everything that we’d need – to my limited knowledge, at least – was here, except for the oven, which I’d seen further in the back.

“Welcome to the bread room,” he told me, gesturing expansively, and I laughed. “OK, first…” he began, and we got to work.

__________

Almost an hour later, we were covered in flour up to our elbows and laughing like idiots. The whole process had been fun, and it had given me a new appreciation for all the products displayed out front. I couldn’t believe the amount of skill and work put into this bread; without Felix to guide me, I’d probably have ended up with a charred stick of flour.

“Let’s wash up,” he suggested, eying his arms and then mine pointedly.

I laughed and nodded, and we went back to the sink where we’d started, scrubbing the caked on dough off our hands. When we were done, I leaned against the counter, taking a deep breath and trying to get my smile under control. The tiny size of the room had been my favorite part of the experience. We’d had to stand close together to make it work, and it had gotten hot in a way that had nothing to do with the ovens.

“And now we wait,” Felix said, resting next to me. “That was fun.”

I nodded, laughing happily. “I can’t believe you can do that so quickly,” I said.

He shrugged. “Practice makes perfect,” he told me, grinning. “Wanna come by again sometime and try to improve your time?”

I looked over at him, smiling widely. “Definitely.”

He laughed happily before straightening and moving back to the table he’d been at when I’d arrived. “How do you feel about helping with some of these while we wait?” He asked, indicating what looked like chocolate covered hot dog buns.

“I’d love to,” I said, excited, and joined him at the table.

“Sweet,” he said, picking up a white bag with a metal nose on the end. “See these?” he asked, indicating the prongs in the hole at the end of the metal nose.

I nodded, examining them. “For shaping the white stuff, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. When you put it on, make sure not to go too fast. Slowly squeeze down the bag with your hand, kinda like putting toothpaste on a brush, and move the nose as the cream comes out. Just be careful to do it all in one line, without any breaks.”

He demonstrated, doing it slowly for my sake, and I nodded my understanding. He passed me the bag, and I tried the next one. I went even slower than he had, not wanting to ruin it, and it came out just like it should.

“Nice,” he said, smiling. “Now we just drizzle chocolate on top and it’s done.”

I finished off the rest of them as he got the chocolate ready, and then we started on that part.

When the weird hotdog buns were done, Felix put them on the shelf with all the other goodies, and we headed back over to the oven to check on the bread. It was almost ready, but as soon as we settled in to wait, a customer came in. I hesitated, unsure if I was supposed to be hiding or something, but Felix grabbed my arm and towed me up front to stand at the counter with him, turning back to give me a secretive grin out of the customer’s view.

“Hello, sir, what would you like today?” Felix asked politely, letting go of my arm.

The customer didn’t even look twice at me, instead examining the products, so I relaxed a little bit. “Which pastry is the best?”

“The éclairs are freshly made,” Felix told him, darting a glance at me as the corner of his mouth twitched up.

“I’ll have one of those then, please,” the man decided.

Felix nudged me, tilting his head towards a pair of tongs and a pile of paper bags, and my eyes shot open as I realized what he meant. I shook my head, startled, but he casually leaned unnecessarily far towards me to reach the cash register, ‘accidentally’ shouldering me towards them. I stumbled over, making the customer look up.

“Oops, the floors can be slippery,” Felix said innocently, giving me a mischievous grin when the man looked back at the éclairs.

I stuck my tongue out at him, grabbing a bag and the pair of tongs and heading over to the counter.

“That’ll be a dollar twenty nine, please,” I heard Felix say as I picked one of the pastries up, careful not to damage it, and slid it into the bag.

The man handed Felix some coins, and I passed him the bag when he had his change.

“Thanks,” the man said to us pleasantly.

“Thank you, come again soon!” Felix said, waving.

“Have a nice day!” I added, grinning at Felix as the man turned to go.

“You too,” he said, and left with a jingle of bells.

We barely managed to hold in our laughter until the door closed.

“Have a nice day!” Felix echoed, giggling uncontrollably. “You cheeky bastard! You’re better at this than I am!”

“You’re the one that made me get the damn thing,” I snickered, lightly shoving him as revenge. “Watch your step,” I teased as he stumbled back, and he laughed even harder.

“C’mon, let’s go pull the bread out,” he said, shaking his head and trying to get his laughter under control.

I followed him into the back again, and we pulled the piping hot bread out of the oven, putting it on a rack to cool for a moment.

We leaned against the wall as we waited, and Felix looked over at me and smiled.

“Here,” he said, moving back to the counter and putting more éclairs into a bag. He managed to fit four before the bag was stuffed full, and he handed it to me with a grin.

“There’s you salary,” he joked. “Considering you might as well have been an employee today, it’s only fair that you get to have some of what you made.”

I smiled. “Thanks, but the fun was more than worth it. If anything, I owe you.”

He shook his head. “No way, it was just as fun for me, and look how much we have out there. Our dinner crowd is never that big; tonight’s one of the nights there’ll be extras, anyway.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, and it wouldn’t matter if I was wrong. We were working for what, an hour and a half? Even if we were paying you half the minimum wage, you’d have earned more than this is worth,” he said, nodding to the bag. “It’s yours.”

“Thanks, then,” I said, smiling. “I’ll take it… as long as you have one too.”

I reached into the bag and handed him one, and he grinned. “You realize I’ll be practically rolling in these things tonight?”

I poked his muscular stomach, snorting. “Something tells me you won’t be eating many,” I said. “At least have one now.”

“OK,” he agreed, giving in, and the corner of his mouth curved up. I took another out of the bag, and we ate them together as we waited for the bread to cool. I finished a few seconds before he did, and I heard chuckling as I popped one of my fingers in my mouth absently, trying to get every trace of the cream off my finger and into my stomach.

“Suggestive,” he commented, nodding his head to indicate my passionate sucking on my finger, and I blushed, realizing what it looked like.

“It tastes good,” I said defensively, and his lips quirked up. I stuck my tongue out at him, not wanting to hear whatever thought that mischievously cute smile signified, and his hand darted out and wiped a small blob of the cream onto the tip of my nose. He stood, laughing, and I looked down at the blob before pouting up at him.

“Mean,” I accused, wiping it off with my finger and licking it as non-sexually as possible.

He laughed again, sliding a bag over the fresh baked bread without touching it so he didn’t have to wash his hands yet, and then handed the bag to me as I stood up. I took it, reaching into my back pocket for my wallet, but he smacked my hand away as he walked past.

“Nuh uh,” he said, grinning back at me. “This one’s not negotiable either. The bread’s free.”

“Umm, actually, I don’t think I have my wallet anyway,” I said, checking again. It wasn’t there, and I blushed, embarrassed. “Damn, it’s still at home. I forgot I came straight from the hospital.”

“Doesn’t matter anyways,” Felix said, smiling. “The bread was free from the moment you walked in. Don’t worry about it.”

“B-” I started.

“Take it and go,” he said seriously, pressing the bag into my hands. “Or stay, for as long as you want, but we’re not talking about this anymore, ‘kay?”

“Fine,” I agreed, giving him a thankful smile as I gave in.

He returned the smile, lifting the counter for me, and I ducked underneath.

“See you Wednesday, then?” I asked.

“Yep,” he said, nodding happily. “See you, Wyatt.”

I paused at the door, as close to shy as I ever got. “Umm…” I started. “My friends call me Wy.”

A beautiful smile blossomed on his face. “Well then see you Wednesday, Wy,” he said happily.

I felt my face doing its best to imitate his, and I waved, opening the door and walking out into the evening air.

I can’t wait to tell Lana!