Puppy Love (bxb)

Chapter Eighteen

It took a solid five minutes for Jeff and Barb to stop kissing. Henry had to tap Jeff on the shoulder and motion for them to leave the building.

"We should go on a date," Barbara said with a sassy shoulder wiggle.

Jeff held out his arm and Barb took it. Together they strolled out of the bakery.

Which left Henry and I with a heartbroken Declan.

"Are you okay, man?" I asked, nervously inching forward.

Declan sighed.

Henry rested a hand on Declan's shoulder. "I'm sorry he treated you that way. ...Andrew is a terrible person. He cheated on me and I really had a hard time getting back in the romance scene afterwards."

I smiled. "To be fair, I kind of hauled you back into the scene."

Declan straightened up. "I'll be fine, you guys. We really weren't together for long. ...It's just a hit to my ego, you know?"

We nodded. Declan hugged me and pulled away.

"I'm gonna go, okay? You guys have fun. I just kinda...need ice cream and a movie," he sighed.

"We can eat ice cream and watch movies with you!" Henry offered, shocking me. "I don't want to leave you alone after this."

"Nah, it's cool," he waved us off. "You guys are all happy and shit. It wouldn't mix well with the aura of misery I'm trying to project."

We gave him pity laughs and he walked out of the bakery.

I collapsed against Henry's chest. "I feel like I fucked up...did you see how sad he was?"

Henry wrapped an arm around me and kissed my head. "It was Andrew who made him sad, not you. He'll thank you for showing him the truth later."

"I hope so," I sighed. "Declan will find a man who loves him, I know it."

Henry squeezed me in a hug and kissed my head again. "Want a slice of pie?"

He was always shoving food at my throat. As far as affectionate ticks go, I really liked his.

"I could go for some pie."

Henry grabbed us both slices and we sat on an aluminum table in the kitchen to eat. I held his hand and he gave me a little squeeze.

Oh, I totally made him fall for me. He was living the Dillon Dream, baby.

"So what now?" Henry asked. "Declan's heart is broken, I think I have a new dad, and we're... what? Dating?"

My heart jumped a little in my chest. "I know we've only been on one date and this is a little premature, but I really like how things are going. I'd love to go on another date and then another one and then date each other and then..." I blushed. "Well, you get the idea."

Henry smiled and kissed my cheek. He was doing an awful lot of kissing lately. "Date number two tomorrow?"

I grinned and squeezed his hand. "Sounds like a plan."

Henry gave me a shy look. "Just because we have a date planned for tomorrow doesn't mean we have to stop hanging out right now, right?"

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm free all day. Let's do something fun together."

And that was how Henry and I winded up hopping in his car and driving to nowhere. We chatted and listened to the radio, basically doing nothing until was saw something interesting—

"A psychic!" I screeched. "Henry—pull over!"

He made a big fuss of acting scared and yanking the wheel, but I hadn't been that loud.

"You scared me shitless," Henry grumbled. "You want to get a psychic reading? You know those are fake, right?"

I stared at him, horrified.

His expression turned deadpan. "Oh wait, you believed a soulmate Buzzfeed quiz. Alright, let's go in."

We hopped out of the car and were met with a sign in the window that said, "$100 per thirty minutes of reading."

"Jesus fucking Christ," I blurted out. "I work at a dog kennel. No thanks."

We stared at the sign a little sadly. "Well...I mean there's probably a psychic reading app?" Henry consoled, with a little pat on my back. "Want to head to the park and maybe download one?"

I perked up. "Fuck yes!"

We ended up at a local dog park, sitting on a bench and enraptured by the App Store. We probably looked like the most pathetic couple out there, completely zoned in on our technology.

"This one is 99 cents..." I mumbled. "But that's so expensive for an app."

"What about that one?" Henry scrolled down a little. "It's free and there's a little witchy lady on the front. That has to be legit."

"Done."

The witchy lady told us to pick a card out of a bunch of little animated ones. "I wanna pick," I demanded, because I was the boss.

Henry reached down and picked one.

I gasped. "What the heck! We've only just started to date! Isn't this the phase were we agree with everything the other does?"

Henry snorted. "This relationship began with you stalking me. Excuse me if I'm not gonna let you boss me around, your choices are poor."

"Bruh! I just popped in to say hi every once in a while," I whined. I had even given him presents, which is the farthest from stalking ever.

He pointed at the phone. "Look, it read our cards."

Because I had the attention of a goldfish, I dropped the defending of my honor and I looked at the cell phone.

The lady's text popped up. She said, "If you are in a relationship, this card indicates that you will sense a new excitement and zeal in your love life. You will need to let go of your past relationships and look into your future, which looks beautiful and joyous."

"Oh my God!" I squealed. "That's so us! You had to let go of Andrew and now you're with me, actually happy!"

Henry laughed and kissed my cheek. "Wow, you're sure confident in your boyfriending abilities. I think it's just a coincidence."

"You're just a skeptic. I'm telling you, this lady knows what's up. Just like that Buzzfeed quiz did." I believed what I said with my whole heart, and I gave Henry the heart eyes so that he knew it. "We're meant to be together, Henry."

He blushed a little and smiled small. "I think you might be right, pick up lines."