Cassie
“I’m just saying, you’re not living if you’ve never tried a finger in the ass before,” Jess says with a shrug, not the least bit ashamed, just as I reach the small table in the middle of our campus coffee shop.
I blink, dropping my bag into the only open chair. “Well, conversation at Joe’s has certainly progressed.”
Jess smirks, waggling her eyebrows at Ashlei who just shakes her head. I try to fight back my own smile, but give up when Jess starts fingering her donut.
“Gross, J-Love!” Erin tosses her napkin and it hits Jess square in the nose, but she just laughs and keeps violating her pastry.
Cup O’ Joe’s is a small coffee house, dimly lit and walls peppered with local student art.
The open roof and piping paired with the wood and rustic furniture give it a modern, hip vibe.
It’s one of my favorite places on campus to study, and I talked the girls into meeting for coffee this morning before my second class.
Spring semester has already kicked off and we had yet to all be together outside of sisterhood functions, so I wanted us to make time to catch up.
Jess demonstrating anal on a glazed donut wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
“I think I’m with Jess on this one,” Skyler chimes in. “I mean, I’m not saying it needs to get crazy. Just a little boop, you know what I mean?” Skyler and Bo crack up laughing while Erin covers her face with her hands. Ashlei smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her soft brown eyes. She seems off.
“I’m grabbing coffee. Anyone need a refill?”
They all shake their heads, holding up full cups. Retrieving my wallet from my Vera Bradley messenger bag, I take my place in line, scanning the menu.
It feels kind of strange being back at Palm South, especially after how my first semester ended.
I shift at the thought of Clay and Paris, but shake it off quickly.
Winter Break was my time to regroup. I opened up to my older sister about what happened – everything from losing my best friend to losing my v-card to a complete douchebag.
Surprisingly, she had some pretty great advice.
The best piece being that, at least for freshman year, I should just avoid boys in general and focus on myself.
So that’s exactly what I’m doing.
No boys, no drama — that’s the way it works. And I am more than looking forward to being drama-free.
“Excuse me,” a smooth voice says over my shoulder. I turn in place, swallowing when I see the exotic creature the voice belongs to. “Just going out on a limb here, but are you by chance a caramel latte girl?”
My mouth is so dry. Why can’t I swallow? Is it hot in here? Oh God, I hope I’m not sweating.
I’m totally sweating.
Of course, this creature picks the semester I choose to be boy-free to waltz up behind me in line at the coffee shop.
His long chestnut hair is pulled back into a messy bun, giving me full access to stare into his glorious blue eyes.
They’re peppered with flecks of gold, and I’m sure he’s some sort of god.
He’s just standing there, crooked smile beneath his beard, tattoos lining the muscles of his right forearm like a warning sign to the mortals.
The way the sun is streaming through the tinted windows of the coffee shop illuminate him in a way that lets me know I’d be cursed if I touched him.
Probably dead if he touched me.
He clears his throat, cocking one brow. “Is that a no, or did I forget to put pants on again?” He chuckles, but I squeeze my eyes tight.
Do NOT think about him without pants on, Cassie.
“Sorry. I, uh, no.” I shake my head, nervously reaching for a strand of my fiery red hair to twirl. “I mean, yes, I like caramel lattes, but no, you can’t buy me one.”
“Good thing I didn’t buy these.” He holds up the two cups in his hands.
I’m confused.
“I work here,” he says, gesturing to the small stage on the book store side of the shop. A lone guitar is propped up against a tall metal bar stool and I stare at it a moment, blink, and then find his eyes again.
Of course he plays guitar. Of course he does.
“They give me a free drink when I play, and they accidentally made two cups. So, I have this extra one, and I figured it’d be better served in the hands of a pretty girl than getting cold at my feet while I play.
” He smiles, this time showing a row of beautiful teeth that make me forget how to breathe.
“Well, I appreciate it, but I can’t take your coffee.”
He frowns. “Why not?”
“Because you’re a boy.”
“That is a fact,” he says with a soft laugh. It’s a soothing sound, the sort of laugh that makes me feel like I can trust him.
I blush just as the girl in front of me leaves the counter and it’s my turn to order.
“Exactly. So, thanks, but no thanks.” I offer one last smile before turning to place my order.
I still feel him behind me, his godliness just radiating off of him, but I don’t dare turn around.
He finally chuckles, and I feel him leave, which allows me to finally release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
I quickly pay for my order and rejoin the girls at the table.
“So, Skyler became famous over break, Jess watched a lot of porn, Bo ate shit trying to figure out how to ski and I suffered through a stomach flu in Europe, which wasn’t half as bad as suffering through my mother when I got back home,” Erin summarizes, lazily dunking the tea bag in her large beige coffee cup.
“Ashlei, Cassie, you’re the only ones left. What’d you do over break?”
Ashlei’s chewing her straw, avoiding all eye contact. She looks tired, and I notice dark circles under her eyes that weren’t there before break. I’m not that close with Ashlei, but even I know there’s something she’s not telling us.
“I just worked.”
“Worked?” Jess asks, pausing with her cup halfway lifted to her mouth. “What are you talking about? You don’t have a job.”
“Well I had one over break,” Ashlei spits back. She’s definitely sassy today.
“Doing what?” Jess challenges.
“Bartending.”
“Bartending,” Jess repeats flatly.
“Well, I swore off boys forever,” I chime in, trying to take the heat off Ashlei. She gives me a thank you smile, but Jess is still eying her. “Or at least, for the rest of freshman year.”
“I like that idea,” Erin says with a smile. “Maybe I’ll join you in that initiative, G-Little.”
“Speaking of boys, how weird is it that I have a boyfriend?” Skyler asks, sucking the last of her iced coffee drink dry and shaking the ice in her cup.
“Super fucking weird,” Jess replies quickly. Skyler laughs. My stomach turns.
“Sorry to interrupt, ladies.” I hear the voice and I don’t even have to turn around to know who’s standing behind me again, especially when every jaw at the table drops. “I just had to come over because, well, because your friend here has completely shattered my confidence.”
I turn slowly, my eyes trailing up his god-like body until I meet his own blue pools. He bends down on one knee, bringing us face to face.
“You see, I didn’t actually get that coffee for free, I bought it when I saw you walk through that door over there.
” He points, but no one’s eyes move from his face.
Rubbing his hand over his beard, he shrugs.
“I had no idea what kind of coffee you drank, but I figured it didn’t matter — I just wanted to talk to you.
” Someone sighs. My money’s on Erin. “But then you totally shot me down, and at first I was going to let it go, but my mom raised me to always go after what I want and never stop fighting for it. And what I want right now is your phone number.”
This is not happening.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he holds it out for me to take, his eyes still fixed on mine. “Well, your phone number and your name.”
“Her name is Cassie,” Skyler says quickly and he chuckles, that same smooth sound giving me chills.
“Cassie,” he tries it on, testing how it feels on his lips. “What do you say? Make my mom proud and give me your number?”
“Oh my God, give me,” Erin says, snatching his phone from his hands. She types out what I can only assume is my number and hands it back to him. “Thank me later, baby G.”
I try not to laugh, but fail miserably. He smiles in triumph.
“Well, I guess you can live to be a momma’s boy another day…” I trail off, waiting for him to tell me his name.
“Grayson,” he says, holding the hand sans-phone out to me. My eyes trail the tattoos. “Grayson Anderson.”
Yep, even his name is one of a god.
“Cassie McBee,” I reply, tentatively taking his hand. He lifts it to his bearded mouth and kisses it softly.
I’m really trying not to swoon, I swear.
“See you around, Cassie McBee.” He stands with a wink and a half-wave to the rest of the girls before making his way back to the stage. I stare long enough to watch him strap on his guitar before turning back around.
And everyone is staring at me with a shit-eating grin.
“I hate you all.”
“I’m sorry,” Jess offers through a laugh, throwing her hands up. “The no-boy rule doesn’t apply to boys like that.”
“Neither does the three-dates-before-he-scores rule,” my Big adds.
“Little!” Erin chastises Skyler, but we all laugh regardless.
My eyes find Grayson across the room just as he begins strumming out a soft acoustic tune.
He smiles, one strand of his hair falling from the bun he’s haphazardly tied at the back of his head.
Each strum of the guitar calls attention to the muscles in his arms and I allow myself to stare for just a moment longer before snapping my attention back to the girls.
They’re all staring, too.
Well, so much for that plan.