Epilogue
“Tell me again why you’re allowed to name the specials,” I said.
I stood on the low rung of the bar stool and leaned over the counter to look at the piece of paper Cole was hunched over.
His handwriting was atrocious at the best of times and the pink gel pen he was using—the only spare one I’d had in my bag when he asked for one—was making the words smudge on the page, but he had a list of over ten new names for the summer drink specials written out.
Cole didn’t look up. “Because I’m funnier than my aunt and Katie combined.”
“What about me?” I asked. When he finally looked up, I batted my eyes flirtatiously. His only response was to flick me in the forehead, and I laughed, dropping back down onto my seat.
The bell over the front door jingled as it was opened and three girls in Crofton uniforms walked in.
It was still early in the afternoon, so they were the first of the students to arrive in the afternoon rush aside from me.
(And no, I wasn’t here because Cole convinced me to skip school again, although he’d been trying relentlessly since the weather had gotten nice.
My last class had just been cancelled and when I considered where I wanted to spend my free time, this was always the first place I thought of.)
None of them glanced my way as they sauntered up to the counter. Cole slipped into work mode. Which mostly meant leaning one elbow on the counter and looking vaguely unimpressed. I covered my laugh with a hand.
“What can I get you?” he asked.
The lead brunette tucked her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know what I want.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“I want something different,” she added quickly. She leaned in, like she was whispering a secret to him. “Like… not basic. You know?”
Katie, who had only arrived a few minutes ago and was busy pulling on her apron, shot me a look. We had a running bet on how many girls would flirt with Cole every week, with me thinking much higher than her.
“Different,” Cole repeated.
“Surprise me,” she said. There it was.
He tapped the register screen thoughtfully. “All right. I’ve been workshopping something.”
I tucked my face away to hide my smirk. He had not actually been working on something—whenever this situation happened, he came up with the most disgusting drink he could think of on the spot just to see whether the girls would take it.
His Aunt Amelia hated the game, saying they would never return if they thought all The Corner Cup’s drinks were that disgusting, but Katie and I found it hilarious.
“Quad-shot espresso,” he began. “Half oat milk. Half lemonade. Two pumps hazelnut. One peppermint. Whipped cream. Chili flakes.”
Katie made a choking sound that she disguised as a cough.
“Chili flakes?” one of the girls asked.
“For the kick,” Cole said, completely straight-faced.
I dropped my gaze to my cup so they wouldn’t see me grinning.
The girl hesitated for half a second—just enough to show she had survival instincts—and then smiled. “Yeah. Okay.”
Her friends stared at her.
“Are you sure?” one whispered.
“It sounds… fun,” she said, like she was convincing herself.
Cole rang it up without blinking. “Name?”
“Whitney.”
They shuffled to the side to wait. Close enough to my spot at the counter that I didn’t even have to try to overhear.
“That sounds disgusting,” one of them whispered.
“Yeah, but he suggested it,” Whitney whispered back. “This is my in.”
“You really think he’s single?” her friend asked, her gaze flicking to Cole. “I mean, look at him. Plus, they say he’s like super dangerous. That he went to juvie.”
“Which just means he’ll be protective,” Whitney said. And then they all giggled.
I’d suggested to Cole that he could try to combat the rumors in town if they bothered him, but he told me it was a lost cause.
Everyone here had already made up their minds about him and he didn’t want to spend his last year and a half of high school trying to convince everyone of what they should believe.
He’d kissed me gently and said all the people who mattered already knew the truth.
Behind the counter, Cole moved with easy efficiency — pulling shots, steaming milk, measuring lemonade like he was building something precise instead of catastrophic. When he sprinkled chili flakes over the whipped cream, he did it with the focus of a surgeon.
He glanced toward me briefly. Just a flick of his eyes. I raised my brows. He almost smiled.
“Whitney,” he called, sliding the cup across the counter. She looked mildly disgusted as it slid across, but to her credit, she bravely picked it up and took a sip, barely even making a disgusted face.
“Uh… Wow. That’s…”
“Layered?” Katie offered.
“Yeah!” Whitney agreed immediately. “Layered.”
Katie disappeared into the back room immediately. I swore I could hear her laughing in the back room, but the girls didn’t seem to notice.
The girls lasted another five minutes before fleeing, Whitney clutching the cup like it was a test she couldn’t fail. The bell chimed behind them.
Cole wiped down the counter, said something under his breath to Katie that made her snort, then made two quick drinks.
He carried one over to me and set it down carefully.
“No chili flakes,” he promised.
I took a sip.
Caramel, chocolate and something else, though I wasn’t sure exactly what. Regardless, it was delicious.
“You’re getting predictable,” I told him.
“Oh yeah?” He rested his hands on the edge of the counter, leaning in just slightly. “Ask me what the drink is named.”
I looked at the side of the cup, expecting to see it written along the side, but all that was written there was Princess.
“It’s only my name,” I said, looking at him again.
He raised a brow and whispered, “That’s because it’s the name of the drink, Princess. It’s our new specialty.”
Before I could respond, he reached across the table, curled his hand around the back of my neck, gentle and familiar, and leaned down to kiss me. I wrapped my hands in his black apron, pulling him back in when he went to stand up. Based on the smile I felt against my lips, he didn’t mind.
When he finally pulled away completely, he brushed his thumb gently along my chin. The side of his mouth pulled up in the hint of a smile.
“Refill?” he asked.
“I’m good,” I said.
He smirked. “Yeah. I know.”
He went back to the counter just as two more girls walked in, whispering and glancing his way. I just took another sip of my drink and smiled to myself.
Let them wonder.
I already knew.
Thank you for reading!