Finding the Way Back (gxg)

Chapter 5

"Leipzig, huh?" Emily asks as she eyes the jersey I am wearing. "Interesting choice for watching the Euros."

I give her a grin. "My jersey, my name, and the reason I want to go out and celebrate."

"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

"I will when we get to the bakery." I step past her and begin making my way to the front of the apartment building. "And I get to control the music on the way there."

I can hear Emily chuckling behind me as we make our way out of the building.

~~~~~

The ten-minute ride was more than long enough to annoy Emily with my choice of music, all for my entertainment. I wasn't playing my usual taste in pop music, but I spent the ride playing Weird Al Yankovic's parodies of popular songs.

I enjoyed it, but she spent the ten minutes of me occasionally giving directions complaining about the fact that I couldn't pick normal music. Told me I was somehow worse that Beth Mead and Kate McCabe combined, which I found amusing.

"I am not letting you control the music again," Emily says as we get out of the car and I give her a grin. "That was unbearable."

"Just a rite of passage for having me as your passenger. You should ask my U20 national teammates about the terror I unleashed on them during the U20 World Cup as we drove between the hotel and wherever we were going."

"God, I can only imagine."

I can't help but let out a laugh, finding myself feeling the most relaxed I have been since being injured. My chest feels light, and for once I don't feel like the weight of everything going on is dragging me down, making me grateful for the distraction that she is providing me.

As we step inside the bakery, I hear Emily gasp behind me.

"Damn," she says, "this place really is nice. How did you find it?"

I shrug. "Random suggest from Google when I was trying to find places I could go to get out of the apartment. Was tired of being couped up with noting to do."

"Fair enough."

I grab a pair of menus off the counter before leading Emily to my favorite corner booth. Then, as if by instinct, I let my eyes wander to the glass wall in search of a certain girl, and to my dismay I didn't spot her working.

Sighing, I turn my attention to the menu, looking for something new to try, while also putting a dent in Emily's wallet.

"Looking for someone?" Emily's voice cuts through the silence while wearing a smug smile, causing my cheeks to heat up.

"No," I say, trying to hide behind the menu, knowing full well that I am not being believable.

"Uh, huh? You just had the same look I've had to watch Lauren have for the last two weeks whenever we would eat at her favorite restaurant and she would look for her boyfriend, who manages the place. Can't hide that one from me."

I let out a groan. "Fine. There is this girl who usually works here. Maybe one or two years older than me at most. Looks adorable when she is in her groove decorating cakes. She even had frosting on her cheek the first time I came here."

Her smirk intensifies. "First time, huh? So you came back just to watch her?"

I can feel my cheeks rapidly heating up even more. "I was just working on my schoolwork. She just happened to be working again."

Emily practically snorts before letting out a chuckle. "This is so much more entertaining that spending time with my family. America's next superstar has a crush on a cake decorator that she has probably never talked to."