Blueberry Scones (MxM)

Chapter 10 - Camping pt I

After two days of trying to sort myself out, I decided it was finally time to get back up again. I had to open up the cafe again and move on. Erin and I would work out, I knew we would. All I had to do was be patient and hope that he'd come to me soon so we could go back to the way we were. I worried that if I took things into my own hands, he'd just push me away. Erin was stubborn. If he didn't want to listen to me, he wouldn't listen to me. So, I was stuck waiting. It sucked, but what else could I do?

The jingle of the bell over the door brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up from my position at the counter to see a familiar smiling face. Joshua walked over, offering a wave on his way over. "Good morning, Wren," he greeted casually.

"Good morning. Do you want the usual table?"

Joshua nodded his head, leaning his arms on the counter to lean against it. He'd been coming in for a few days now. We'd built up a routine: he would always ask for a table close to a window, right next to the counter. He said it offered the best view. Then, he'd ask for a blueberry scone and a coffee.

"How has your morning been?" He asked me, trying to start a short conversation.

He'd been trying to do that since he told me he was staying in the pack for a bit. He was still a really weird guy, but fun to be around. It was nice to have someone around during work. Joshua usually stayed for a few hours. I always wondered why. He was supposed to be with his mate, working things out, not at a cafe chatting it up. When I'd asked him about it, he just smiled and said that he liked to start his morning off like this. Once he started he couldn't stop, whatever that meant.

"It's been okay. And yours?"

"Good. Mark keeps calling me to see how I'm doing," Joshua said with a small laugh.

I shook my head. "He's just worried. You shouldn't be here too long, not when you have responsibilities back home," I reminded him.

He glanced down for a moment before replying with a simple, "Yeah, I know."

"Well, how's it going with your mate anyway?" I asked him, trying to steer the conversation.

"It's going okay, I guess. We're still talking things out." He took a moment to run his hand through his hair. "I just wonder how long this will take."

"Well, you guys just recently met, right? I'm sure you guys just go at a slower pace than other couples. It'll be fine, so long as you're actually working stuff out."

He nodded. "Well, I'm gonna' go sit down," he said, jerking his thumb over at his usual spot.

I nodded my head, watching him go before turning back to the front. Farah came by a minute later to take his order. As I busied myself with work, I looked up when the bell rang. "Oh, hey, Marie."

Marie, Ryder's mate, smiled at me, walking over. "Hey."

"Were you looking to sit down?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I actually wanted to talk to you. Do you have a moment?"

"Sure."

She smiled, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "So, Ryder and I were planning on taking a small trip to the town nearby, right by Whitewater, did you want to maybe come along? Ryder said he wanted to get the whole group together and have some fun. Aaron already agreed to come."

I could tell by her face at the end that she'd wanted some time with her mate, just the two of them, but she also wanted Ryder to have fun; the guy could be a bit dense at times and we both understood that. Still, a trip sounded nice, and I almost agreed to it, when I realized one small detail. "Wait, is Erin...?"