Winners of Bite-sized Love Buffet 2023 - Favorite Day Pick category

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Day 5: Story-bytes > Sun and Stars by sinfully-sarcastic 

If I am the bright sun, he is my dark galaxy full of stars. 

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Day 6: Favorite Beverage > Debate on The Treachery of Snapple by emluminate

Paisley waltzed to the iced tea aisle of the grocery store, desperately in need of a Snapple to cheer her up - bad biology exam grade.

Her favorite part? Reading the fun facts on the bottle cap.

Paisley plucked one from the shelf and did not hesitate to pop it open. Yes, she was going to pay. She just wanted look at the new tidbit of information she'd add to her collection:

Fun Fact #1579:

The average raindrop takes 2 minutes to hit the ground.

"You know those are bogus, right?" A male voice uttered. She whirled around to face the mystery man who was ruining the magic of her favorite drink.

Paisley half-expected the person to be a store worker. No, he was just a buzzkill.

"Totally knew that," she lied. The expression on the man's face illustrated that he didn't believe her.

He chuckled, a snark edge behind the laughter. "I presume you're going to pay for that, too?"

Paisley scoffed at the man's gall. "Do you just wander around grocery stores looking to judge other people?" She took a rebellious swig of her Snapple to prove her point.

To taunt him further.

Paisley found him cute. He exuded an effortlessly casual aura that Paisley always found herself gravitating towards at parties. With the pretty blue eyes and baby blonde hair, Paisley found it hard to contain her attraction.

The man held up his hands to deter her from escalation. "No, no. I just came here to grab my own therapy drink." He picked a Gold Peak iced tea from the shelves.

Paisley laughed judgmentally. "Gold Peak. Makes sense."

"What's that mean?"

"Nothing. Only that you're bland and hate on the dreamers who drink Snapple. Like me," Paisley said with a shrug.

"What's your dream?" He asked, grinning, the informal expression not matching the sudden seriousness. Paisley liked it better when they stuck to iced tea debates. She decided to indulge.

"Physical therapist - if I can pass my classes. You?"

He bit the inside of his cheek, as if not expecting her to ask back. "Sort of in a transitional period. Thought I wanted to do law. Now it just feels . . . wrong."

"Hmm." Paisley hummed.

"To life decisions." He gave Paisley a wry smile as he held up his Gold Peak bottle. Paisley strolled a few paces forward to clink her Snapple. A truce.

"It's Garrett, by the way," he added.

"Paisley."

A dangerous thought whizzed through Paisley's head. She shouldn't, but she had her therapy drink and . . . why not? Their chemistry was palpable.

"Want to go to a Starbucks and debate the best coffee sometime?" Paisley asked.

Garrett nodded, a surprised expression flit across his face. "Yeah, actually, I do. Put your number in."

Paisley did. Before she began to walk away, halfway between Garrett and the end of the aisle, she hollered, "By the way, did you know that the average raindrop takes two minutes to hit the ground?"