A few minutes later she was out her door, basket in hand, and on her way to his place. When she got to his door, she took a deep breath and knocked. He opened it quickly, taking her breath away—again. Lifting the basket, she showed him the gift she came bearing.
“I made muffins.”
“Muffins?” he asked with a somewhat confused smile.
“Yeah,” she explained as she walked into his place. “I do a lot of baking when I’m at home. Cooking too. Comfort foods for my brothers and stuff. But I’m not good at proportioning down to cook for just me, so I rarely make any of the things I make back home here. Muffins are one of them. They only last so long unless you freeze them, and I don’t like freezing them.”
Emi realized she was rambling, but it was better than getting all tongue-tied and feeling uneasy.
“Now that I have a friend in the building, maybe I can cook more often and share.” She smiled, glad he was smiling now too as if he approved of her suggestion. “I haven’t made muffins in a long time. I hope I got it right.”
“They smell delicious,” Sydney said, leaning over the basket.
“They’re poppy seed,” Emi said, smiling proudly. “They’re my favorite, but”—she tapped the side of her behind—“if this bubble butt gets any bigger, I’m gonna have an even harder time finding jeans that are comfortable and don’t look like mom jeans. Not that I’m complaining about it. I like it just fine. My sister and I both inherited the big booty from our mom. She taught us early on to embrace it. In time, she said, we’d come to love the attention it got us.” She laughed softly, lifting the towel to peek in on the muffins. “I’m not there yet—the loving it part—but I won’t knock it either. I’m not one of those girls who dreams about a stick figure. I like a little junk in my trunk.”
Emi took one of the muffins and brought it to her nose. It did smell heavenly. When she glanced up at him, she wasn’t sure what to make of the strange expression on his face.
“Well?” she asked. His eyes widened, and she shook her head, confused. “Aren’t you going to try them?”
His expression softened a bit as his Adam’s apple moved with an apparent swallow, distracting her so easily.
“I will in a minute,” he said, turning his attention back to the laptop in front of him. “I think this is done. I just want to make sure it’s all good once it reboots again.”
“What was it?” she asked curiously.
“A virus,” he said. “I took the liberty of uploading a different type of virus and spyware protection software. The one you had was outdated, and this one I uploaded for you is as foolproof as you can get.”
Emi was back to feeling the way she had that past weekend, comfortable around him. She even bit into her muffin, smiling, relieved until he added one more thing.
“I should know.” He winked, making her swallow hard this time. “I designed it.”
“You did?” she covered her mouth, and he handed her a napkin.
“Well”—he lifted and dropped a shoulder—“it wasn’t all me, but it’s one designed by the previous company I worked for, and we all had a hand in perfecting it.”
Emi wished she wasn’t such a tech idiot. She might have more to say or add to that other than “that’s so cool.”
She watched as Sydney clicked the keys on her laptop like the obvious pro he was, and a few minutes later, he glanced up and smiled. “Good as new.”
“Oh, thank God,” Emi said as she glanced at her screen saver and smiled.
It was a photo of her and her siblings, Livi’s husband Lorenzo and baby Enzo included. In it, Emi was squatting in front of them all with one arm around Livi’s dog, King.
“That’s an awesome-looking dog,” Sydney commented as he picked up one of her muffins. “Is it yours?”
“No.” Emi shook her head. “He is awesome but way too high maintenance for me. He’s my sister’s. She’s a pet groomer, so she can more than handle him. Keeps him looking immaculate all the time.”
“I was gonna say,” Sydney said, glancing back down at the photo again, “he looks like it would take a ton of work to keep all those dreads from knotting up and becoming a mess.”
“It does”—she clicked on the photo gallery icon—“but Livi’s talented when it comes to what she does, and she trained his locks early on.” A window popped up with more photos and she smiled. “See. That’s what he looked like when he was a puppy.”
“Oh wow. I would’ve never thought that was the same dog.”
“Yeah, and he’s just the sweetest thing.” She clicked on another folder, blushing when a set of selfies popped up.
It was an old folder from when she was younger. Why she still had those stupid photos of her making pouty faces and trying to look sexy she didn’t know, but it annoyed her as much as it embarrassed her.
“That you?” he asked, and she turned to see him smirking as he bit into the muffin.
“Yes,” she admitted, unable to hide her own smirk. “A long time ago. I don’t even know why I still have those.”
“Couldn’t have been that long ago,” he said, standing up and off the breakfast stool he’d been sitting on. “You look the same.”
“I was very young,” she said, looking back at the photos.
“You are very young,” he pointed out. “You want something to drink? That muffin made me thirsty.” He opened the door to his fridge and studied its contents for a moment. “I’ve got milk, juice, water, and I could make you a cup of coffee if you want.”
“I’ll take water. Thank you.”
Emi closed out of the embarrassing photo file. He’d just handed her the bottled water when his phone rang. “Give me a sec,” he said, answering it and taking a few steps away.
Taking advantage that he wasn’t within view of her laptop, she clicked on that folder again to examine her old selfies. She didn’t remember how old she was, but she remembered she was in high school when she took them. Over two years ago. She did not look that ridiculously clueless still. Did she?
“I’ll meet you there in an hour. Sounds good.”
On that cue, Emi began shutting down her laptop. As soon as he was off the phone and her laptop had shut down, she started putting it away in the carrying case.
“I’ll get out of your way now.”
“No rush,” he said as he took a swig of his glass of milk. “That’s what’s cool about living in this area. Most of the time when I go out for drink like this, I don’t even have to drive. I’m meeting someone in an hour, but it’s a five-minute walk from here.”
“That’s what I like about living in this area too,” Emi agreed. “Of course, I can’t enjoy any of the trendy bars yet, but I can indulge in all the restaurants and shopping.”
“That’s right. You’re just a baby,” he teased, flashing a smile that showed off his perfect teeth, reminding her how right she’d been.
Emi’s place was a mess compared to Sydney’s. She could see now even his apartment was perfect. His car had been spotless too. Emi’s car was full of books, fast food wrappers, receipts, and cups. She wasn’t a slob. The junk in her car wasn’t much different from the junk in most people’s cars. Although at the moment her kitchen looked like a flour bomb had gone off in there. For the most part though, she was tidy enough. She just wasn’t anywhere near as organized as Sydney was.
“Don’t you start calling me that too.” She zipped up the computer bag, lifting a brow at him.
“Well, for a baby, you make some kick-ass muffins.” Sydney took another bite, nodding in approval. When he was done chewing, his brows lifted “You make these from scratch or out of a box?”
“I make everything from scratch.” She lifted the strap over her shoulder and smiled. “But thanks. I’m glad you liked them. I really appreciate you doing this for me. I just wish I could do more to pay you back.” She frowned, angry at herself that she’d gone there again. “Oh I know,” she added quickly, before he could put too much thought into what she’d just said
. “I’ve been craving chicken dumpling soup. You like it?”
“Not sure I’ve ever had it,” Sydney said, shoving the last piece of muffin into his mouth.
“What?” Emi’s mouth fell open. “Oh, I’m making it now. I hadn’t because just like with the muffins I can never make just enough for myself. I’d make way too much, but now I can bring you some. I make a kick-ass chicken dumpling soup, adding my own Mexican flare to it. You’ll be begging for more.”
Sydney smiled sweetly, saying he’d look forward to it, and Emi left, feeling much more at ease than the first time she’d walked out of his place.
“See,” she said to herself, feeling very satisfied as she walked down the hall toward the elevator. “You have a new neighbor and friend and someone who can help you eat all that food you’ve been holding off making. A friend. Easy peasy.”
Chapter Five
Sydney
As the months passed, a few things Sydney had suspected about Emi and her family were confirmed. First of all, her brothers had contacted him in regards to Emi—more than once now. Fortunately, on both occasions, Sydney knew for a fact she was fine because one of the times she’d just left his place and the second time he’d been out by the pool with her. Apparently, she didn’t answer her phone or respond to their texts when she was around Sydney.
Second, the reason he’d had her over to his place when he’d vowed to keep things as distant as possible with her, was that he’d found it impossible to not just go along with what had begun to happen. The thing about Emi was, as unfriendly and anti-social as she’d professed to be, she was comfortable around Sydney and got even more so with every interaction they had. The only plus on what could possibly turn into an awkward situation as they began to get closer and hang out more, was Darren, the guy she mentioned at the repast she’d begun seeing.
Since she was comfortable talking to Sydney about Darren, Sydney figured maybe she did see him like one of her older brothers. He was Lynn’s longtime trusted friend, who was safe to talk to about these kinds of things—someone more experienced than she was—and she’d sought his advice a few times. She’d asked for his male perspective, and he’d happily obliged.
Sydney was now seeing someone too, and after nearly a year of knowing Emi and having her around—often— it felt far less dangerous than what he’d initially been nervous about. He was beyond any of those fears now. Emi was a bright young girl with lots of different ideas about what she might do with her future, and she enjoyed discussing them. As Sydney would’ve guessed from a girl her age, she’d since confirmed none of those plans included a serious relationship anytime soon. Even Darren, her on-and-off boyfriend this past year, was just a fun guy she admitted she had zero intentions of getting serious with. Sydney now believed, as sweet and as likeable as she was, there was no danger of him developing feelings for Emi as he had with Lynni.
Admittedly, he’d never laughed as much as he had since he’d started hanging with her. But just as he thought from the very beginning, it wasn’t just her age. She was level-headed and mature enough that he could spend time with her without feeling like he was hanging with a kid. They were just in way too different places in their lives for him to even consider anything more than a friendship with her. While Emi was dating guys for the fun of it—Darren wasn’t even her one and only—Sydney didn’t even consider seeing someone more than once unless he thought she had potential for being a real prospect. At almost twenty-nine, he didn’t have time to put any effort into something that wasn’t going to amount to anything. So either the women he dated knew it was just for the night—for one thing only and with no other expectations—or they were in agreement and also interested in more than just one night. But he wasn’t about to play games with anyone he wasn’t interested in more with.
Not that he was accusing Emi of doing that with these guys. She just didn’t seem too serious about either of the two guys she’d been juggling, yet she continued to see them—Darren more so than the other one, Steve something or other.
“Are you taking Cheryl this weekend?”
Sydney glimpsed up from his tablet. He was sitting at Foams, the coffee shop in their building, reading an article about the possible acquisition of his company by another bigger company based out of New Zealand. It took a moment to register what Emi was talking about: The Taste of La Jolla food and wine festival that weekend. He hadn’t been to one in years, and Lynn invited him every year. This year they were ending it with a big bash Sunday evening at the original Moreno restaurant. It was the anniversary of when they’d first opened.
Emi sat down in the chair across from him, holding her book bag on her lap.
“I haven’t decided,” he said then sipped his coffee, glancing down at his tablet. “You taking Darren?”
“God no!”
That made Sydney smile as he peeked up to see her unzip her book bag and pull out a wallet.
“No way,” she reiterated, digging into her wallet for money. “You know what my family is like. It’s not even about them being so loud or that I’m embarrassed by them or anything. It’s just I’ve told you what my brothers are like. They’ll ask a million questions about anyone I bring home. If I were serious, I wouldn’t mind so much. It’s inevitable, and when the time comes with the right guy, when I’m ready for something that serious, then I will, but right now? Not happening. Things between Darren and me are so hot and cold all the time. He is so not worth the inquisition.” She looked up once she had her money in her hand. “What’s there to decide about with Cheryl? I thought you two were getting serious?”
“I said that?” he asked, trying to remember if he ever had.
“Well, no, but”—she stood up and took a few steps toward the register then turned back to him—“I just assumed. You’d been out with her more lately than anyone else.”
She turned her back to him to put in her order, allowing Sydney a nice long perusing stare. She wore slacks that unintentionally accentuated what she endearingly referred to as her bubble butt. Like everything else, Emi spoke of it so openly and without a trace of bashfulness. It was why Sydney felt like he’d known her for longer than just under a year and why it seemed no subject was off limits between them—for her anyway. Maybe it was the first impression she’d made on him that’d made her feel like they could skip the whole demure and modest getting-to-know-each-other phase of their friendship. She’d skipped right over that part. He still remembered the very first time she’d mentioned it. She’d said it as casually as if she were talking about her earlobe or wrist or some other less unmentionable body part.
It was the first time she’d ever stopped over at his place. That’s how early on Sydney knew his plan of keeping his distance was not going to go his way. It started off with her telling him about how much she loved baking. Next thing he knew she was talking about her bubble butt and how she couldn’t make such large meals unless someone would help her eat them or it’d get bigger. Sydney had glanced up at the muffins but dared not glance at her butt. He’d had zero intentions of touching on the subject of her bubble butt. Then she’d gone on about how her mother had told her sister to embrace it or something. That in time she’d enjoy the attention.
Since then he’d had plenty of peeks at that plump ass of hers, but now he could really take a moment to admire it. Her mom had been right on the money. Hot damn, it was nice. She may be young but without doubt had the body of a woman.
His intentions of keeping his distance had gone up in smoke because, ever since those first visits to his place, Emi had been back plenty more times. Apparently, from what she explained, she was used to always being around her big family. While her brothers could be overbearing, she actually missed them being in her business all the time and having someone always there to watch TV and even movies on lazy Sunday afternoons with.
Emi had taken to texting either Saturday or Sunday after having gone out the night before and swearing she’d either never drink again or stay out so late or both.
She was usually in a lounging mood and always asked if he wanted to hang out—maybe order takeout and watch a movie. But it wasn’t limited to the weekends. Even during the week now, she often offered and made them lunch or dinner, which he’d since gotten quite used to and looked forward to now. Since being on his own, he ate out way too much, so home-cooked meals were a welcome treat. She didn’t just bake sweets. She was into baking casseroles and making what she called comfort foods, something she’d done often for her brothers
Emi had so seamlessly made herself a fixture in Sydney’s life she’d never even given him a chance to protest or try to do anything to evade it as he’d first planned to. It happened so fast he’d had no choice but to just go with it or come up with a reason why he couldn’t, but he had to admit now he enjoyed having her around. The only thing he had taken the time to do was make a few decisions about this new and unexpected friendship. As much as he told himself it was innocent and harmless, it still felt too weird to go to her place. For some reason, it felt better to mention to Lynni when she asked if he’d seen or talked Emi lately that she’d dropped by or that they’d ordered and shared a pizza at his place.
So far, Emi had made all the moves in the friendship. Even after knowing her for nearly a year, Sydney had every intention of letting her keep making them. He knew he was probably just being overly cautious, but he was old enough to know better. He didn’t want to be accused of anything by anyone. Allowing this young girl to come over and hang out, vent, and discuss her worries about her future or even get his perspective on her love life was one thing. Making himself comfortable over at her place would feel just too awkward—wrong.