8. Walt
EIGHT
Walt
Malikai clears his throat, straightening his silverware with precise movements. “I’ve been terribly rude, haven’t I?” He looks at Malia with genuine regret. “Here I am, interrogating Walt about Guardian operations when I haven’t asked my own sister a thing about her new business venture.”
The change in topic visibly brightens Malia’s expression. The tension in her shoulders eases as she leans forward, and I find myself completely captivated by the transformation.
Gone is the woman fighting for composure under my touch. In her place sits someone enthusiastically radiant.
“The Guardian Grind is amazing,” she says, her eyes sparkling. “Though I still can’t believe Jenna offered me a partnership. I mean, I was just her employee before…”
“Before everything went sideways,” Malikai finishes, his expression darkening slightly. He glances around the restaurant, lowering his voice. “Speaking of which, are you sure it’s safe? Working there? Given Jenna’s—situation?”
I notice the subtle shift in his posture—how his shoulders tense and his eyes scan the room. It’s the same heightened awareness I’ve observed in him all evening, but now it’s directed at his sister’s safety.
“Guardian HQ is the safest place she could be,” I interject smoothly, my hand moving from Malia’s thigh to rest protectively against her lower back. Not to tease now, but to reassure. “The entire compound is secure.”
Malia shoots me a grateful look before turning back to her brother. “Seriously, Kai, it’s fine. And the Grind? It’s become this amazing hub for the whole compound. You should see it in the morning when the Guardian teams come in after training…”
I lean back, letting my hand drop away as she launches into animated descriptions of her daily routine. The way her face lights up as she describes experimenting with new coffee blends, the pride in her voice when she talks about their customer base—it’s mesmerizing.
“…and we’ve started doing these specialty drinks named after different teams,” she continues, gesturing expressively. “The Alpha Ambition is pure adrenaline in a cup,” Malia explains, her hands animating her words. “Four shots of espresso with caramel and vanilla, topped with cinnamon-dusted foam. Alpha team runs hot and fast, so their drink matches their energy.”
“Four shots?” Malikai’s eyebrows shoot up. “That’s practically rocket fuel.”
“You should see them in the morning,” I add, grinning. “They order doubles like it’s going out of season. Malia is not just the best barista at HQ; she’s a caffeinated chemical genius.”
Malia looks at me with genuine pride and keeps rolling. “There’s the Bravo Boldness.” Her enthusiasm is infectious. “It’s this amazing cold brew that we age in bourbon barrels. It’s not alcoholic, of course, but it picks up these incredible notes of oak and vanilla. We serve it over coffee ice cubes with a splash of cream and maple syrup.”
“Coffee ice cubes?” Malikai leans forward, intrigued.
“So it doesn’t get watered down,” she explains. “Bravo team hates anything diluted. They’re all about intensity.”
“And Charlie team?” Malikai glances at me with a knowing smile. “What’s your poison?”
“The Charlie Challenge.” Malia’s eyes dance as she looks my way. “Dark chocolate mocha with a hint of ghost pepper and sea salt. Smooth at first, then it hits you with an unexpected kick.”
Just like you . I love watching her describe my team’s signature drink perfectly.
“Then there’s Delta Darkness. It’s an incredible dark roast with hints of chocolate and cayenne that took forever to get the balance right, but now it’s one of our best sellers.”
“Sounds amazing.”
“But my favorite to make is the Tech Tempest,” she adds, and Malikai perks up at the mention of the technical division. “It’s for all the brainiacs at HQ—you know, your kind of people, Kai. We do this incredible fusion of matcha and espresso layered with honey and lavender. It’s precise, complex, and totally unexpected, just like them.”
“The tech division must be fascinating,” Malikai says, his earlier tension momentarily forgotten. “All those brilliant minds working on cutting-edge systems…”
“Oh my God, you should hear them when they get going.” Malia laughs. “They turn the Grind into their personal think tank some afternoons. All these incredible discussions about quantum computing and artificial intelligence go completely over my head. You’d love it. It’s like a coffee-fueled genius convention.”
Malikai’s eyes light up at this, his fingers tapping thoughtfully against his wine glass. “Sounds like my kind of crowd.” The tension from earlier seems to fade.
“They’re definitely your kind of people,” Malia agrees. “Total science nerds, but in the best way. They make me feel like I’m serving coffee in the future.”
The pride in her voice as she describes her creation makes something warm unfurl in my chest. She’s built more than just a coffee shop—she’s created a nexus point for the entire organization, understanding each group’s personality so well that she can capture it in a cup.
“You always did have a knack for flavors,” Malikai says fondly. “Remember that summer you insisted on making your own tea blends?”
“Oh God.” Malia laughs, the sound pure and unrestrained. “Those were terrible! But hey, failure is the best teacher, right?”
I find myself smiling, caught up in her enthusiasm. I haven’t seen this side of Malia before—passionate, creative, and completely in her element. Her talk about coffee like it’s an art form, her eyes dancing as she describes the perfect crema on an espresso shot—it’s intoxicating in a completely different way from our earlier tension.
“The best part,” she says, “is watching people connect over coffee. We’ve got these beautiful reclaimed wood tables that Jenna found, and sometimes, I’ll look out from behind the counter and see operators from different teams sharing ideas or tech specialists brainstorming over lattes. It’s become this amazing community space.”
“You’ve always had a gift for creating welcoming environments,” Malikai observes. “Even as a kid, your treehouse was the neighborhood gathering spot.”
“The Fort of Perpetual Snacks.” Malia giggles, and the sound does something to my chest. “I forgot about that!”
I watch her laugh, really watch her—the way her nose crinkles slightly, how her whole face lights up with joy. My earlier plans of domination and control seem suddenly out of place. Yes, I want her body, but watching her now, I want so much more.
I want to know every story behind that laugh, every memory that shaped her into this vibrant woman who can turn a simple coffee shop into a sanctuary.
“What about you, Walt?” Her question pulls me from my thoughts. “Any favorite Guardian Grind creations?”
“Besides watching you work?” The words slip out before I can stop them, softer and more honest than intended. Her cheeks flush, but it’s different from her earlier embarrassment—warmer, sweeter somehow. “I love how focused you get when challenged.”
“Like the Charlie Challenge,” she admits, meeting my eyes with a hint of shyness. She turns to her brother, animated and excited again. “I worked on that one for weeks, trying to perfect it. Had to capture that whole ‘dangerous but sophisticated’ vibe.”
I remember those weeks, watching her experiment behind the counter. The cute way she scrunched her nose when a blend wasn’t quite right, her triumphant grin when she finally nailed it. I’ll never admit it, but I purposely started arriving early for my morning coffee just to catch those moments. To see her lost in concentration, hair twisted up in a messy bun, completely absorbed in her craft.
“The ghost pepper was inspired,” I say, and her whole face lights up at the compliment.
It hits me then—I could spend hours watching her like this. Her hands dance through the air as she talks, and her eyes sparkle when she’s excited about something.
In the inventory room, I thought I knew what I wanted from her. I thought it was all about claiming her body and marking her as mine.
But this? This vibrant, incredible woman who puts so much thought and care into everything she creates? Who knows that Charlie team needs that extra kick of heat to match our intensity?
She’s gotten under my skin in ways that have nothing to do with physical desire.
Something shifts in my chest as I watch her describe her dreams for the Grind’s future. The raw desire is still there, burning hot and insistent, but it’s joined by something deeper—something that makes me want to protect not just her body but also her passion, this ability to create warmth and connection in even the most unlikely places.
God help me. I’m not falling for Malia; I’m already in deep. So deep there’s no climbing out.
Watching how her whole being lights up when she talks about her passion, I realize I passed the point of no return weeks ago.
This isn’t desire or possession or even falling in love. I’m already there. Already completely, irrevocably in love with every facet of her—from her creative spirit to her fierce independence, even that stubborn defiance that drives me crazy.
I want it all. Want to be the one who makes her eyes light up like that, want to protect her dreams as fiercely as I want to protect her body.
I want to wake up every morning to her experimenting with coffee blends, be the first to taste her latest creations, and hear every story and memory that crosses her mind.
The realization should terrify me. I’ve never wanted anyone like this—wholly, completely, with a depth far beyond the physical.
But as I watch her laugh at something Malikai says, all I feel is certainty. She’s it for me. The beginning and end of everything I never knew I was looking for.