3. Gage
Three
Gage
“ S o you did end up eating her?” Horatio asked Gage as they walked into the coffee house.
It wasn’t Gage’s first choice to hang out here tonight, but it was three against one when the others requested another visit. He didn’t mind, though, because he was in a much better mood after his meal from earlier.
“Yeah, she pissed me off enough that I didn’t even mind the plastic taste.” He smiled a cocky smile as he leaned against the counter, and thought about the woman he and Nikolas had found trying to sell heroin to a teenager. Nikolas had been right—Botox did change the flavor of blood.
He had still been full from the unplanned meal he had made out of Destiny. Usually, they only killed when they needed to, but watching the haggard woman entice the pimply-faced teenager down a path of self-destruction made him relax on his rules. He knew if he was going to become a strong leader like his father used to be, he would have to practice better self-control and set firmer rules, but lately that had been difficult. So he’d pulled her aside and sank his teeth into her jugular.
He watched the hazel-eyed barista take their orders. He noticed her eyes looked browner than the previous night, with dark circles under them as she avoided his gaze and coyly tucked a loose curl behind her ear. Her voice was also less enthusiastic as she asked what they were having.
Matteo was the first to order. “Same thing as yesterday. A double—”
“A double shot venti caramel macchiato.” She finished his sentence and grinned at the impressed look that crossed Matteo’s face.
“I have a pretty decent memory.” She pointed to Horatio and Nikolas. “You had the same but without the caramel, you had a large black house coffee, and you—” she paused and lowered her finger “—you prefer beer.”
“And did you get that liquor license yet?” Gage asked.
She pursed her lips. “No. Now are you willing to try something new, or would you prefer a cup of black coffee to stare at all night?”
“Just give him the black coffee.” Nikolas responded, looking like he clearly did not want to deal with Gage’s rude attitude.
Between feeling energized from his latest snack—probably due to the methamphetamines she had been on—and feeling bad for the girl who looked so sleep deprived, he decided to do something rash. “Hold on, I’m in a good mood tonight, so fuck it. Surprise me with something different.”
The girl’s eyes grew big, like she had discovered an answer to the mystery of the universe. “Do I have complete freedom, or do you have any requirements?”
“I literally do not care what you make. You can go crazy.”
The girl clapped her hands in excitement and twirled around to begin creating her concoction, completely forgetting to take the money Nikolas had been holding out. Gage frowned at her excessive reaction and sat down in a booth, leaving his friend to pay. Like clockwork, the group of nurses that were sitting in the next booth got up and left. Nikolas joined him, but Horatio and Matteo stayed up at the counter to talk to the girl as she prepared their orders.
“Did Clay’s bid get accepted on that plot of land?” Nikolas asked.
“No, he got outbid. He was pissed about it and went on a rampage remodeling the office at the marina. I got sucked into helping him somehow.”
“That’s what he does when he’s mad? Hell, if I piss him off do you think he would remodel my room?”
“Nah, if you piss him off he’ll just throw you off a cliff. He got so mad this time because he jumped the gun. He wanted that land to turn it into a campground and already had the layout all planned out, along with contacting some companies to build the office and restrooms. I told him that was a stupid idea, there’s already too many campgrounds around here. It’s fricken Florida, vacation central.” Gage gave an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his thick hair.
His father was an excellent businessman and investor, but sometimes he tried to take on too much. He would grow tired of whatever his recent purchase was, then pawn it off on Gage to find a new investor. The only consistent businesses he kept were the casino, the marina, a handful of apartment buildings, and the old video store-turned-smoke-shop on the boardwalk. The only perk to his dad’s career in investment was that Gage never had to get a job. His dad would always keep him busy as a maintenance man for the properties, and paid him well.
“Yeah, but all the current campgrounds are booked for the whole year already. People love camping, and it’s an easy business to manage. Not much maintenance besides the lawn and bathhouses, plus if a camper gets too rowdy and destructive you can just kill him and blame it on an alligator. It’s a perfect business, really.” Nikolas shrugged his shoulders like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Gage sighed and rubbed his forehead. “My dad already has too many businesses, though. He doesn’t need a campground on top of it all. It’s one more responsibility he will expect me to help with. It’s like he forgets that I’m trying to rebuild this family and start my own motorcycle shop. I want something that’s my own and not part of my dad’s empire, but how am I supposed to start it when he makes me help manage all his properties?”
“Wasn’t he supposed to buy you a shop for that?”
“Yeah, I’m still waiting for that. That’s part of the deal with me helping him, he was supposed to find me a good location for a shop. Every time I try to find one myself, he says it’s not good enough or there is too much wrong with the building and it would need too many repairs, so he never puts a bid down.”
“What if you start running it out of the garage? It’s big enough to fix up and store a couple bikes, plus I live there so I’ll always be available to help.”
“With what time? This week alone I have to finish up the marina’s office, help plan and set up a tent for the casino at that music festival on the beach, and it’s nearing the end of the month which means I have to help collect rent. That’s not even including all the maintenance orders we have from our renters.”
“Sounds like your dad needs to hire another manager.”
“He’s going to have to someday, because I’m not doing this forever.”
“Scoot over, asswipe.” Horatio interrupted the two and shoved Nikolas over, placing a coffee cup in front of him. “One black coffee for you.”
“And one mystery liquid for you, Prince of Asswipes.” Matteo copied his brother, pushing Gage over and placing a cup in front of him. “I couldn’t see what she put in it, but it smells good.”
Gage eyed the frothy cream on top of his coffee and poked it with his finger. Part of it stuck and he licked it off, intrigued at how sweet it was.
“What did you two talk to the coffee girl about?” Nikolas asked the brothers once they were settled in the booth.
“First of all, her name is Willow, not coffee girl. She was named that because she was born under a willow tree,” Horatio said.
Gage squinted his eyes in confusion. “She was born under a tree and not in a hospital?”
Horatio shrugged, “Her parents were Irish Travellers born and raised in Ireland, so I’m guessing they were a little different.”
“She seems a little different herself,” Gage mumbled under his breath.
Matteo picked up in a long-winded rush where his brother left off. “Don’t be rude, you don’t even know her. Her parents came over to America before she was born and she was raised traveling around in an RV, but lived her last few years in Detroit, Michigan. Both her parents died and she has no one, so she moved to Florida to start fresh. And she is still single, in case you were wondering.”
Gage’s ears perked up at the last sentence, but he brushed it off. It didn’t matter to him if she was single or not, his father would kill him if he got involved with someone that rented from him. Especially since he almost killed the last girl he was seeing. One of his biggest rules was to never mix business with pleasure.
“Does she know about vampires? I know some humans don’t pay attention to our kind and live in obliviousness,” Nikolas asked.
The twins shrugged.
“So you two asked her a million questions about her personal life, but not about that. If she doesn’t know about us, don’t you think that’s kind of important, since vampires are going to make up half of her customer base?”
“I’m assuming she knows, and if she doesn’t, then I don’t want her to know. I like that she treats us like normal people,” Horatio answered .
“I want to become her favorite regular. She’s so pretty,” Matteo gushed as he looked over to her.
Gage rolled his eyes. “Please mop up the drool dripping down your chin. It’s unattractive and grossing me out.”
He looked over to Willow to see what enthralled Matteo so much. She looked like a pale version of Esmerelda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame , complete with large golden hoops dangling from her ears and bracelets jingling as she stirred a new customer’s drink. He had to admit that even with her eyes dull and tired and her face plain with no makeup, she still had a certain quality about her that made her pretty. Perhaps it was the thick, dark lashes that gave the illusion that her eyes were lined in charcoal. Or the thick halo of long, brown hair that hung down her back in a ponytail.
He turned his attention back to the table, but shifted in his seat so he could keep her in the corner of his eye. He took a sip of his coffee as the boys discussed the lineup at the upcoming music festival. Most of the time he helped set up the tent advertising the casino and then was able to attend the festival as a normal patron. This year, due to being short staffed, Clay had requested Gage’s help in running the tent throughout the night. It would be the biggest tent at the festival, and they needed all hands on deck to make sure it was successful.
Horatio scoffed at Matteo’s suggestion that they start the night off with an 80’s hair metal band. “Dude, I don’t want to waste time listening to some shitty old metal band when we could be listening to a dozen other artists that don’t suck.”
Matteo scoffed back. “Excuse me? W.A.S.P. is iconic and the members will probably be dead soon, so we need to see them while they’re still alive. And who are you to judge me for who I like while you’re over there listening to country music?”
“Country music is America’s music and tells relatable stories through song. ”
“Dude, we’re two Cuban stoners born and raised in a giant beach side city. How is anything about bonfires, beer, trucks, and women in cowboy boots even slightly relatable?”
Gage interrupted them before the brothers could start arguing over their music tastes. “How about instead of watching bands you come help me out at the tent? I’ll pay you guys well and none of us have to be stuck there all night. We can take turns watching it.”
Nikolas and Matteo confirmed they would, but Horatio hesitated. He looked like he was nervous as he said, “I actually kind of won’t be able to. I, uh, have plans.”
“He’s got a hot date with a girl he doesn’t want to eat.” Matteo winked at his brother.
“Well, I’d eat something on her,” Horatio smirked back. “But yeah, her name’s Sammy and I’ve been taking her more seriously than just for a blood supply. This is our first official date, so I want it to go well.”
“Where did you meet her?” Nikolas asked.
“She works at the marina. Clay asked me to repair one of the docks and she came up to me while I was cussing up a storm after I’d nailed my finger into a board. I kind of owe her a nice date because I may have accidentally caused her to fall into the water. She’s a little bit of a spitfire.” His grin turned into a large, dopey one. “I like them sassy. Plus, she knows I’m a vampire and is cool with it. Clay likes her and wouldn’t mind making her part of the family if she ever wants to turn.”
Gage was dumbfounded. “Jesus dude, fall in love much? You haven’t even been on a date with her yet and you’re already talking about adding her to our family. You know she has to get my approval first before she’s turned.”
“I’ve been visiting her at the marina for a while, I just haven’t talked about her. I didn’t want to piss you off. You’ve always been weird about girls ever since Venice left. ”
Gage felt his rage beginning to creep in and his good mood disappeared. “I don’t care if you’re dating, but I did tell you to never mention that whore’s name again.”
“See what I mean? You’re getting all weird.”
“I’m only getting weird because you said that name.”
“Guys, chill. Willow’s coming over,” Nikolas cut in.
Gage looked up and made eye contact with Willow, whose face was full of anticipation. The eagerness in her eyes was almost childlike and he was able to get a handle on his rage, even though it still simmered in the back of his mind.
“So? How did you like it?” She bit back a smile and waited for his answer.
He looked down at the sweet drink that tasted of chocolate and hazelnut with a hint of vanilla. It was delicious and could easily become one of his new favorite drinks if he was planning on continuing to come here.
“It’s alright.”
Her face fell, and an unusual pain tightened in his chest. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of making something he actually liked, but he also felt bad for destroying that glowing smile and causing that tired, dull look to return to her eyes.
He grunted and surprised himself by continuing, “Actually, it’s pretty good. But I’m not a coffee drinker so I don’t know if that means much.”
Her face lit up again. “I’m glad you liked it! I was worried you would be a hard one to impress. I felt like even if I made it with coffee beans I’d harvested myself and served it in a cup made of pure gold, you still wouldn’t be amazed.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t be. Also, I didn’t say I was impressed, just that it was good.”
“Good is better than mud.” She gave him a smug smile like she had won some battle. “Don’t forget I’m closed tomorrow night, but I’m sure I’ll see you guys Monday.”
“You’ll for sure be seeing me.” Matteo smiled at her. She patted him on the shoulder before heading back behind the counter to serve two new customers that had appeared.
Gage realized that the prickling sensation of rage had completely dissolved. The boys went back to their discussion of the music festival, but he zoned out, caught up in his thoughts.
As much as he wanted nothing to do with Willow, he couldn’t stop himself from complimenting her drink and returning that glow to her face. Even the color of her eyes shifted from a muted brown to a piercing greenish brown. There was something addictive about knowing he’d caused that change.
He used to feel that way about Venice.
The rage started to return again, so he pushed Matteo out of the way and exited the booth, leaving the half-drunk coffee on the table.
“Where are you going?” Nikolas asked.
“I need a ride before I work a long night,” Gage called over his shoulder. As he left, he noticed Willow’s reflection in the glass door watching him with a curious expression.
Once outside, he started his bike and swung a leg over. He dared a glance back toward the coffee house, but by now Willow’s attention was turned to another customer. He drove out of the parking lot and hit the throttle, speeding off into the night.