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Janna loved her job, seriously. Not many people could say that, but she really, really did. She'd had her own bakery for nearly a decade, one of the best in Beacon Hills, if she did say so herself. No matter how much work it was, she always went home bone-tired and more content and satisfied than she'd been in years.
But her favorite part was this: the cake tastings for weddings.
Janna walked into the front room for her last appointment of the day and smiled brightly at the group of four already crowded around the table. "Okay, so who's tasting today?"
The two men on the right side of the table shot their hands up. "We are!"
The one closest to her, with the dark brown hair and crooked smile with adorable dimples, extended his hand. "Scott McCall."
Janna couldn't help but return the grin and the handshake. "Janna Evans. And you are?" She directed her question to the other man who'd raised his hand.
He scrambled up out of his chair, nearly knocking it over as he reached for her hand. "Stiles Stilinski."
"Stiles?" Janna repeated, before she could stop herself.
He grinned sheepishly, and the terrifyingly attractive (or maybe just terrifying and attractive) man across from him snorted. "Nobody knows his first name except for Scott."
"And I've been sworn to secrecy since we were six," Scott said.
Six? That was impressive. Before now, she'd only had one other couple who'd known each other so long, and they'd met when the woman moved to town at age 11. "So you've known each other your whole lives?"
Scott and Stiles nodded in unison. "Met on the playground when we were four," Stiles said. "I gave Scott a moat for his sandcastle."
Scott wrinkled his nose. "You mean you peed on my sandcastle."
Janna choked on a laugh. Probably not professional, but they were adorable. She really loved it when couples had known each other for years. They always seemed so much more at ease around each other.
Scott and Stiles introduced the two other people with them. The third man was Derek ("he's here to be a tiebreaker on the cakes"), and Lydia was the immaculately dressed redhead with a tablet and stylus, like she was prepared to take notes.
Once they sat back down, Janna pulled out a tray of prearranged cake slices and reviewed the ones they'd be tasting. "We've got several of our basics: vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, Italian wedding cake, a German chocolate--"
"No coconut," Stiles broke in. "Scott hates coconut."
"Aw." Scott grinned. "You remembered!"
"You threw up on my bed the first time you had it, kind of sticks in the brain."
Scott winced. "Yeah. Sorry about that."
Janna immediately pulled the two coconut cakes from the tasting. "That's all right, we've still got plenty more to choose from."
"Oh, and nothing with fondant," Scott said. "Stiles hates fondant."
Stiles made a face. "It tastes weird. Doesn't it taste weird to you?"
Scott rolled his eyes. "You are the only one who thinks that."
"That's perfectly fine," Janna cut in, before an old argument could erupt. She was a pro at defusing these situations. "We have buttercream or cream cheese icing on all the cakes today, so we can discuss what goes on top later."
Both Scott and Stiles snickered, and Janna realized just what she'd said. Heat crept up her face. Oh, God, how much more embarrassing could you get? "That is--I--"
"Oh, ignore them." Lydia waved her hand. "They're actually twelve. Besides, I'm the one who'll be deciding what goes on top."
She leveled a glare across the table at the last two words, and Scott and Stiles both settled down, looking appropriately abashed.
Janna decided to be grateful to Lydia, and started putting the cake slices on the table. "Well, we have here three chocolate cakes--double chocolate, chocolate with peanut butter buttercream icing, and chocolate with vanilla and strawberry swirls. After that, we've got the red velvet cake, a carrot cake, our special vanilla citrus cake, and a banana cake with plain vanilla icing." She set out two forks on the plates closest to Scott and Stiles. "And, of course, if none of these work for you, I have some others I can bring out."
Scott and Stiles dove in the moment she stopped talking.
Stiles made noises Janna had never heard over her cakes, which made her both pleased and absolutely embarrassed at the same time, because she was pretty sure those noises shouldn't be heard outside of a bedroom.
"Dude, Scott, this one." Stiles moaned around a mouthful. "You have to try this one."
Stiles held up a forkful of the chocolate cake with the peanut butter icing, and Scott obediently opened his mouth to take a bite.
"That's good," he agreed after a moment. "Put it in the keep pile."
They spent a thorough amount of time tasting the cakes, muttering to themselves quietly enough that Janna couldn't overhear what they were saying, and occasionally feeding each other whatever cake they were tasting at the time.
It was so cute, Janna almost couldn't get over it. This was a couple that was going to make it. After 10 years of making wedding cakes, she had a sense about these things.
Scott vetoed the carrot cake and Stiles didn't argue, neither of them put any of the vanilla cakes into the "keep" pile, which soon held three cakes: the red velvet, the chocolate peanut butter, and the double chocolate.
They pushed the cakes over to Derek, who looked like it personally offended him to try them. But he did, chewing thoughtfully over each one.
"Double chocolate's the best," Derek finally said.
Janna smiled; she was particularly proud of that cake, and not many people wanted it for an actual wedding cake.
Scott punched the air. "Haha, yeah!"
"But it's too sweet!" Stiles complained.
Scott snorted. "I can't believe you're saying something is too sweet."
Stiles stuck out his tongue. "Chocolate is a wonderful flavor, perfectly delightful, but this? This is too rich. Nobody's going to be able to finish a whole piece and you're going to end up with four layers of double chocolate wedding cake in your freezer for a year."
"Derek liked the double chocolate," Scott pointed out. "It's two against one."
Across the table from them, Derek held up his hands. "Oh no. I was told to give my opinion, I gave it, I'm done. Don't bring me into this."
Stiles rolled his eyes so hard he nearly fell off the stool. "Dude. Derek would eat s'mores for breakfast if he could. His taste is not the one you should be concerned with."
Janna covered her mouth with her hand and hoped her laugh turned into a convincing cough. "If you'd like, I can bring out full pieces of these three, and you can give them another try?"
"No," Scott and Stiles said together, fixing angry stares at each other.
Uh-oh.
"Dude, Scotty, chocolate with peanut butter," Stiles said. "It's fucking orgasmic. It'll be a hit."
Scott frowned. "I like the double chocolate better."
Lydia drummed her nails on top of the table. "Guys, for God's sake, just pick one."
"Hey, this is an important decision, okay?" Stiles said. "This is the wedding cake. How many times are you going to have a wedding cake in your life? Well, for your wedding, you know."
"We're almost there," Scott assured her.
Lydia looked like she was considering whether she could eviscerate one or both of them with her nail file.
Janna decided it would be best to step in before blood actually did end up being shed. She clapped her hands. "Well! Mr. McCall, you and your husband-to-be can take all the time you need--"
She didn't get to finish, because both Scott and Stiles turned to look at her in abject horror.
Scott choked. "What?"
"What?" Stiles echoed beside him, eyes comically wide.
Janna had a sinking feeling she'd miscalculated somewhere. "I was just saying--"
"I'm not getting married to Stiles!" Scott broke in, and pointed to Lydia. "I'm getting married to Lydia!"
Wait, what?
Derek raised his hand and nodded to Stiles. "That one's mine, actually."
Oh Lord. For the third time in less than an hour, Janna felt the heat of embarrassment on her back and neck. She'd definitely miscalculated somewhere.
Stiles grinned and reached across the table to grab one of Derek's hands. "Aw, yeah. I'm your huckleberry."
The severity of Derek's glare was ruined by the soft, fond smile he gave Stiles in return. "You're completely ridiculous. Also, no more Tombstone."
Janna didn't think she'd ever been so confused. "But... if..." She turned to Lydia. "If you're the bride, why aren't you trying the cake?"
"Because I don't care how it tastes," Lydia said. "I care how it looks. I'm only deciding on the decoration. Besides, if anyone knows how to pick a quality cake, it's those two."
"Thanks, I think," Scott said.
Lydia hopped off her chair to walk around the table and wiggle into Scott's lap. "Just so you know, I wouldn't mind having four layers of double chocolate cake in the fridge."
His eyes lit up and he slid an arm around her waist. "Really?"
Lydia pecked him on the cheek. "Really."
Stiles scowled. "Dammit, Lydia, don't encourage him!"
"Three votes to one, double chocolate cake wins." Derek stood and gave Janna a winning smile. "Thanks for the taste test."
"So... I'll put you down for a double chocolate, then?" Janna asked tentatively. She was starting to wonder if this was some sort of a prank.
"Double chocolate would be perfect, thank you," Lydia said.
Stiles groaned. "Heathens. Every last one of you."
Derek rested a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry. You can pick the cake for our wedding, okay?"
"I'd better," Stiles grumbled, and then he flailed so hard he almost knocked the cakes off the table. "Wait, what? Our wedding?"
Derek was already walking out the door, Stiles scrambling after him. "Derek, did you just propose to me? Hey, wait! I have questions! Derek! I NEED TO SAY YES!"
The door to the bakery swung shut behind them. Janna stared after it, still not entirely sure what had just happened.
At the table, Scott cut off a piece of the double chocolate cake and held it up to Lydia. "So...cake?"
Janna collapsed into a chair and took a gigantic bite of the red velvet cake. Hell, after this tasting, she probably deserved a whole one of her own.
Next time, she'd make sure to ask which of the group was actually getting married.