Or was it because he’d been looking forward to seeing Amanda today and this was a way to still make that happen?
He’s probably just being a nice guy,I told myself as I turned my attention out the window, trying not to let the thought ruin the quiet, lingering warmth from the balloon ride.
The store stop was quick. Theo grabbed a green stuffeddinosaur from one of the aisles, along with a “feel better soon” card.
It was simple.
Thoughtful.
Exactly the kind of thing you’d expect from him.
But when we were in the checkout line, his attention seemed to catch on the floral display close by. After glancing at the various flower arrangements on display, he turned to me, quickly saying, “Can you hold these for a sec?” while handing me the stuffed dinosaur and card. So I took them, watching as he stepped forward to pick out an arrangement of flowers already set in a glass vase.
Are those flowers for me?My stomach gave a small, hopeful little flip.
No… They were probably for his mom as athank youfor watching Charlotte today.
But still…
Theycouldbe for me.
I tried to keep my expression neutral as he walked back. Casual. Unassuming. Like it was totally normal to stand there while a guy you’d just shared a near-kiss with bought flowers.
“What do you think of these?” he asked, holding them up.
“They’re beautiful,” I said, taking in the soft pink roses, the white daisies, and all the greenery woven in between.
Honestly… I couldn’t have picked out a more perfect arrangement myself.
“Awesome,” he said, stepping back into line beside me. “Hopefully, Amanda likes them.”
“Oh.”The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Of course. That made sense.
“That’s really sweet of you,” I added quickly, forcing a small smile I didn’t mean. “I’m sure she’ll love them.”
He gave a small nod. “I just figured… after the night she had, it might be nice.”
Nice.
Right.
My chest tightened as I stared down at the flowers again.
Because getting a woman flowers didn’t exactly feel like acasualgesture.
Not when they looked like that.
Not when he’d taken the time to pick them out so carefully.
I pressed my lips together as I looked at the beautiful bouquet.
Yeah… those definitely weren’t the typical yellowfriendship flowers.
Amanda’s neighborhood was quiet when Theo parked along the curb.
“I don’t want to wake her, so I’ll probably just leave everything on the doorstep,” he said, glancing toward the front porch with a navy-blue door.