Chapter 9 Elijah
Elijah
I tap my fingers impatiently on Tobias’s desk. My heart won’t seem to settle down. You’d think I was going on a first date or something.
I made it here ten minutes ago and have been bouncing in this chair ever since. My knees bounce so hard they’re probably denting the desk. A week without Tobias has felt like torture. I drove here so fast, I think Tobias would have an aneurysm if he knew.
I fix the sunflowers on the desk that I got for him, wrapped neatly in the brown paper. I thread my fingers through my hair, but strands fall into my eyes, just like they always do.
Fuck, I’m so excited to see my Prince Charming.
He should be here any minute—
Suddenly, the office door opens. My breath hitches as I prepare myself.
My face falls when there’s no Tobias at all. Instead, in comes a good-looking young man, carrying two Bloom & Brew labeled coffee cups.
My stomach drops. It’s Gabe. THE Gabe.
“Oh! Hey.” He flashes me a sickeningly handsome smile that sends a pang of heated jealousy through my chest. He looks even better than he does online. Tall. Dark hair. Tattoos. Are you fucking kidding me? He looks like every bad-boy lovers’ dream.
I clench my jaw. Is he Tobias’s dream guy?
“Hey.” I mutter, smoothing my hand down my black crewneck sweatshirt. I suddenly feel self-conscious with what I chose to wear.
“Elijah, right? I don’t think we’ve properly met before,” he says, walking over and placing the cups down on the desk.
I quickly realize I’ve been staring, not saying anything, so I quickly clear my throat. “Yeah. That’s me. And you’re–” I stick out my hand, and he takes it happily. Strong grip.
Bastard.
“Gabriel. Or, Gabe for short.” He grins.
I squint my eyes, looking back down at the coffee sitting on the desk.
“Oh, right. This one is mine, and that’s for Tobias.” He picks one of them back up, holding it close to his chest.
“You got him a coffee?” I ask, unable to hold myself back. Thankfully, he clearly doesn’t hear the sting in my words.
“He got it for me, actually. I’m just dropping it off.”
My eyes narrow. Why would he—
Suddenly, Yasmin pokes her head into the office. “Gabe, a couple just sat down at the bar. Sorry! I saw you and Tobias walk in and thought it was okay to seat you.” She cringes.
“Nah, it’s okay, sweetheart. We just got in. I’m coming right now.” He waves at her. He turns back to me and gives me an apologetic smile. “I’d better get running. It’s nice to meet you. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to speak with you more soon.”
“Yeah. Right.” I nod slowly. He quickly slips out of the office, leaving me there speechless. I can’t help but stare down at the waiting coffee cup. Tobias’s cup of coffee.
Tobias bought them coffee? Why? And they got in together? Did they go to Bloom & Brew together? Our spot? Irritation bubbles inside me.
What the fuck?
Brushing my hands through my hair, I focus on my breathing. I really need to calm down.
In a rush, the door swings open again and before I can even form a coherent thought, warm lips are on mine.
Soft, luscious, beautiful lips that taste heavenly.
Tobias walks me backward until I hit my butt on the desk. His body molds into mine, his legs tangling with my legs.
My brain turns to mush at the feel of his big hands roaming underneath my sweater and feeling my skin. I always get this feeling from him that he can’t be close enough. It’s intoxicating.
Needing someone so badly.
“I thought you were supposed to be back later tonight.” He pants against my lips.
“I couldn’t wait. I had to see you.” I breathe deeply as he bites and kisses up and down my neck.
“Holy shit, I missed the way you smell,” he groans, pressing himself into me.
“Hey. You’re going to knock over your coffee,” I say, softly pushing him away. He gives me a soft chuckle, still not letting go of my waist.
Right. The coffee that Gabe and him got together. Tobias’s kisses almost made me forget. Fury rises in my chest yet again.
“Wouldn’t be the first time today. I knocked over Gabe’s coffee at Bloom & Brew,” he says, shaking his head. He stops moving and just looks at my face. I feel the love radiating off of him. “Fuck, I can’t believe you’re here.” He sighs, smiling into another kiss.
“You two were there together?” I breathe, trying to stay on course.
Tobias pulls back so he can look into my eyes. “We ran into each other there, yeah.” He swallows for a second, shifting. His eyes drift beside me onto the desk. “Sunflowers!? Woah, E, you really went all out.” He smiles, lifting the flowers to his face.
My face turns hot. “Well yeah…I missed you.” I breathe, watching him admire his gift.
If it really was just a coffee, maybe I shouldn’t be so angry.
I try to shake off the feeling. I don’t want to ruin this moment with him.
Not when Tobias looks so beautiful. Not when he’s here, right now, in front of me, and I can touch him all I want.
I grasp the back of his neck with my hand, pulling him in for another passionate kiss.
“Fuck,” Tobias breathes, moving his waist so I can feel his hard-on brush against my leg. “Look what you do to me,” he says, biting my jaw. “How am I supposed to go back to work like this?”
“Don’t. Just stay in here with me.” I inhale sharply, tangling my fingers in his hair. I can feel him softly laughing against the skin on my neck.
“Mmm, don’t tempt me. I’m already so close to walking out of here with you,” he groans, leaning his head on my forehead.
Suddenly, three knocks against the door pop our bubble.
“Toby-bear. I need you.” Claire’s muffled voice says behind the door.
He shakes his head quickly, mouthing ‘don’t’.
A flirtatious smile spreads across my face. I love it when he gets shy. It’s endearing in a twisted way. “Come in,” I call out, squeezing his waist in my hands. He awkwardly tries to escape but I hold him firmly so he can’t budge.
Claire sidesteps in, eyes covered by her hands.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but–” She quickly removes her eyes to smile over at me.
“Hi, Elijah! Missed you!” She waves. I smile back at her and give her a quick wave.
She quickly returns to throwing her hands over her eyes.
“One of the pool tables isn’t dropping the balls again, and these college douchebags are getting rowdy about it. ”
Tobias drops his head to my shoulder. “I’ll be out there in five.”
“Okay, thank you!” She sings before slipping back out.
“The night has begun.” He mutters into my sleeve. I wrap my arm around his neck and hug him tightly.
“You’re holding this all together and…I’m just so thankful for you.” I sigh. He picks up his head and looks at me, eyes bouncing back and forth between mine.
Something flashes across his eyes. I can’t decipher it, but it’s gone before I can look deeper into it.
“I’m so happy you’re here.” He smiles, resting his forehead again on mine.
“I’ve got an idea,” I say, standing up. “How about I deal with the pool table? You take a second to drink your coffee and breathe.” I say, rubbing my hands up and down his arms.
He thinks this over for a second, before a slow smile creeps on his face. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”
I lean in, planting a soft kiss against his lips. “You’re not alone. Don’t forget that.” I place my hand on his cheek and rub his jaw gently with my thumb. His eyes shut as he leans into my touch.
“What would I do without you?” He hums.
“You’ll never find out,” I say, guiding him to his chair.
***
Mission tonight? Make Tobias’s shift as easy as possible. I know I may not be here for a while, but for the time that I am, I could help take some pressure off his shoulders.
I’ve stayed busy fixing the pool tables, refilling the ice buckets behind the bar, and cleaning off tables during the rush, and now I’m taking the end of the night as the perfect opportunity to update our social media.
“One more time,” I repeat, waving for Claire to walk into the camera frame again. I’m recording all of the staff for a social media trend where they slow-mo walk into the video one at a time to a short, funny audio clip.
Claire exaggerates a hair flip while walking forward. Perfect.
“Was that good?” She giggles, clapping her hands excitedly.
I nod my head, replaying the clip. “Oh yeah, they’re going to eat you up.” I laugh. Claire has one of those universally attractive qualities about her. If you’re into women, you’d be into her. Her lingering cheerleader personality only adds to it all.
“Do you need one of me?”
A low, smooth voice comes from my right. I turn my attention to Gabe, sending me one of his perfect smiles while pouring a Guinness from the tap.
I did film everyone else in the restaurant. I guess it’d be rude not to include him.
I guess.
“Sure.” I perse my lips, starting up my camera again.
He nods his head before sliding the glass to another one of our servers. He returns his attention to me, wiping his hands off on his black apron.
“What should I do?” He shrugs, scratching the back of his neck.
“Whatever, man. It’s not that serious.”
His eyes light up as though he remembers something. “I know!” He grabs a couple of silver cocktail shaker tins from behind him on the shelf and picks up the scooper from the ice. Pouring some ice into one of the shakers, he looks up at me with excitement written all over his face.
“Okay, I got it. Press play.” He nods his head at me.
I do as he says, pressing play and positioning him in the frame.
Gabe goes off, tossing the cups into the air and catching the ice-mid throw.
He pops one cup off the inner side of his elbow and simultaneously catches the other, full of ice.
He does this a couple of times before throwing one of the cups behind his back and catching it with the other, again, mid-air.
All the while, his black hair hangs in front of his green eyes, and he can’t stop biting his damn bottom lip.
He’s a total lethal weapon and I hate him for it.
“Okay, that’s good, I got it,” I call out, pressing stop on the camera.
A laugh slips out of his mouth as he catches it all in his hands.
Wooing and cheering erupt around the restaurant, and my lip curls. Of course, they’d eat it up. Of course, he’d be that guy. Everyone looks at Gabe with awe, and I just feel… inadequate.
I quickly look around. Hopefully, Tobias missed that little show.
Thankfully, I see Tobias talking to a family of our regulars at a booth.
He’s none the wiser as he throws his head back, laughing at something the mother says as the family looks at him with love and admiration in his eyes.
Now, Tobias is a whole other type of energy.
He never showboats or flashes how cool he is…
he just is. People gravitate to him because he’s a loving and kind person with the aura of warmth and sunlight. It’s mesmerizing.
The dad lifts up his hand and tugs on Tobias’s arm as he laughs, as the little son and daughter scramble over each other to show Tobias the drawings they’ve both made. It’s the cutest thing.
Claire sighs beside me, awakening me from my blissful daydream. “To have someone stare at me like that.” She leans her back on the bar beside me.
“Do they always stare at each other like this?” Gabe laughs, collecting coasters off the bar.
“Yeah. Just thank your lucky stars it’s just their eyes all over each other right now. When they’re not staring, they’re doing much, much worse.” She giggles, nudging my shoulder with hers.
“Hey,” I roll my eyes, but I can’t help but feel the heat rush to my cheeks. I avert my eyes from my hot, sexy boyfriend and turn into the bar, leaning my arms on the wood.
“I don’t judge. I would too.” He winks at me, wiping off the beer taps.
I squint my eyes. I don’t like the sound of that.
Suddenly, two hands close in around me on top of the wood. I immediately can feel his body heat surrounding me and his gorgeous scent engulfing my senses.
Fuck, I’m lucky.
“Every second away from you hurts.” He whispers in my ear.
I bite my lip and look back at him as he leaves his hand on the small of my back.
Heat darkens his eyes, and I feel a rush of need take over me.
“If you two are done eye fucking each other, my last table just left, and I need to be cashed out,” Claire shakes her billfold in our direction.
“Yeah, come on,” Tobias laughs, waving her over. He winks at me before leading her toward his office.
I stand there star-struck. How can he be so compelling?
“How long have you guys been together?” Gabe asks, cracking through my thoughts.
“It feels like forever, but I guess there were a few messy years in the middle so…officially together for almost two years?”
He chuckles. “Seems like a lot of history between you two,” he says, wiping down the wood.
“Definitely. We were inseparable for a very long time all the way up until high school.” I explain.
Gabe nods his head. “Oh, right, right. The picture.”
I narrow my eyes. “What picture?”
We don’t have many pictures taken together during that time. If we have, I’ve never seen them.
He shakes his head, looking away. “Just…uh, I could’ve sworn I saw a picture of you on Tobias’s Instagram. You two were younger.”
I frown. “Huh…” Weird but okay. Neither of us has any pictures of each other from when we were younger on our Instagram. Is he lying or is he just mistaking us for someone else? I’ll have to check our socials later.
I look him over. This may be the perfect opportunity to find out more about him.
“You’ve got a special someone yourself?”
He throws the cloth in his hand over his shoulder and thinks about his answer. “Nah. I’m a free agent at the moment.”
“Oh, not looking for anything?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m open to it.” He shrugs, casually. “It’d just take a really special person to deal with me and my shit.” The corner of his mouth perks up into a smile.
I nod my head and look down at my hands. So, he’s single, open to new relationships, and he looks like that.
I’m not jealous.
I’m not.
So why the fuck am I gripping the edge of the bar like it owes me money?