Chapter 6
“We don’t have time for all your failed flirting this morning,” Wes warns as I tug open the door to Blank Page. He follows Kellan inside and halts an inch from me. “It’s bad enough that I’m going to have to witness such a pathetic attempt, but I don’t want to be late because of it.”
Kelan snorts loudly, glancing back at us. “Since when are you the poster boy for punctuality?”
I ignore them both and push between them, taking the lead. They’re here for . . . moral support, I guess. Wes is the only one of us who actually drinks coffee because he likes it and not only to gain points with a very sassy barista.
Thank fuck for that. I’d have hated to beat him up for trying to mess with what I’ve got going on with Quinn.
“A Red Bull works the same as this bullshit, you know?” Kellan grumbles.
While I agree with that, Wes makes a show of doing the opposite. He shakes his head, face twisted in disappointment, while he examines the chalkboard hung above the counter and takes a generous step away from us, as if we’re embarrassing him.
I slip my hands into my pockets and fix my attention on the guy tinkering with the espresso machine, easily recognizing him.
Eli is only one of the three front workers here, and while I originally thought he was a bit overly touchy with Quinn, I’ve quickly picked up on his interest in her sister.
Not that it excuses his wandering hands, but I think he’s just really friendly.
The poor guy nearly trips over himself for the chance to get close to Callie, but she’s always preoccupied. The sisters are similar in that way.
Looking away, I can’t help but search for the reason I’m here.
Quinn’s usually out here rushing around like her heels are on fire.
I quite like the sight of her all flustered and out of breath, like she’s allergic to standing still.
Her skin is always flushed from the tips of her collarbones all the way to her temples, and Christ, I’ve daydreamed about how warm she must feel more than I’ll ever admit.
The single time that I got close enough to smell her perfume nearly took me out at the knees. I spent a solid twenty minutes sitting in my car sniffing the air just to see if I could still pick up any hints of the fruity scent. And that . . . that’s really fucking creepy.
“Yo!” Kellen calls, a hip bumping the counter.
He has no concern for his loudness in such a busy coffee shop.
It’s not news to any of us that our being here has become something expected after all these months of repetition.
We’ve done a shitty job of covering our tracks.
Yet, I haven’t once considered avoiding the place out of fear of a few photos or interruptions.
I ignore his outburst and twist a finger in the fabric of my pocket.
Eli turns at the hips and spots us, his entire being glitching for a minute.
Wes blows out a low breath and pulls his shoulders back, expecting what always follows a reaction like that.
Out of the three of us, he’s been here the least. The guy does his own thing for the most part, with the exception of when he invites us all over to his place so he can show us some new addition to his Nerd Cave.
“Hey, guys,” Eli rushes out, discarding the drink he’s currently making. He swipes his hands down his soft yellow apron and presses them flat to the edge of the counter. “What can I get you?”
Wes takes charge. “I’ll take a medium cold brew. I don’t know what the other two want.”
“Do you have Red Bull?” Kellan asks.
“Uncultured,” Wes mutters under his breath.
The big guy shoots him a glare. “Or anything that isn’t coffee?”
“Yeah—yeah, of course. Are you a smoothie guy? Or we’ve got drinks just down there in the cooler.” Eli leans over the counter to point at the exposed cooler shelves squished between the two sides of the counter where the baked goods sit. “Energy drinks, though . . . I don’t think so.”
Kellan’s pout is so prominent it’s obvious even from the side. “You’re killing me here.”
“Sorry. Quinn isn’t the biggest fan of them.”
My eyes latch onto him as I ask, “Speaking of Quinn. Is she here?”
“She’s in the back.”
Wes does a piss-poor job of stifling his laugh despite jamming his knuckles to his lips. I keep my attention on Eli.
“Can you get her?”
“Quickly, if possible. We’ve got a flight we need to make in about two hours,” Kellan adds, shuffling to the cooler.
Eli hesitates for all of a second before nodding and disappearing behind a yellow swinging door.
I run my fingers through my still-damp hair and suck in a greedy inhale, wishing I enjoyed the burning scent of coffee beans more.
It’s become such a constant in my routine that I’ve grown fonder of it, but nowhere near enough.
“Tell me why you’re so dead set on bothering this girl?” Kellan asks, turning from the cooler with a bottle of something pink in his hand.
“I’m not bothering her.”
Wes quirks a grin. “You are, but if it’s because you’re just that into her, then I’m all for it.”
“She’s . . .” I pause, contemplating what I’m ready to reveal to them. “She’s gorgeous. And proud and confident. I’m intrigued by her stubbornness.”
Not to mention curious about why she hasn’t mentioned knowing me from school.
I knew the moment I came here for the first time who she was.
The familiarity drew me to return the next day, and then the following days after that.
Then, it was her refusal to meet my eyes and her stubborn “you don’t impress me” attitude.
Soon, I had her reluctantly glaring right at me and cursing my name under her breath.
Annoying her became the highlight of my every day, and I haven’t stopped since.
Though now I’m growing far more interested in us moving on from this stage in our relationship to the next. Preferably one that would allow me the chance to take her out somewhere that doesn’t smell like coffee so I can see if this could potentially be more than this cat-and-mouse game.
“So, you just want to prove to yourself that you can what? Convince her to change her mind about you?”
I frown, not enjoying how that makes my skin itch. “No, but I don’t need to explain myself to you here.”
“Whatever, dude. You do you, but my sister enjoys coming here to work, so if you could not ruin that for her, that would be nice,” Wes says, a slight bite in the light warning.
“I don’t think she’d ban Brielle from coming in, even if I did piss her off. Quinn doesn’t seem like the type,” I argue.
“Quinn doesn’t seem like the type to do what?”
My heart jumps, pulse thrumming with excitement. The sound of her voice carries across the café, striking me deeply. It’s almost pathetic the way this woman affects me, especially when she’s glaring daggers at me with those grey-blue eyes of hers. I grin, unable to help myself.
Her arms fold beneath her plump breasts, pushing them up beneath the thick fabric of her apron. I keep my eyes up, not wanting to have her throw a cup at my head or worse, ban me from entering ever again. She’s clearly unimpressed with being interrupted, but I’m not going to apologize.
I’ll be gone for a week after today, which means this is my last time to spar with her. I won’t accept anything less than at least five insults or snarky comebacks.
The thick mass of red hair tied behind her is messy, with various pieces falling out and flying all around her face. I sweep a finger across the inside of my pocket, imagining wrapping one of those strands around my knuckle and guiding it behind her ear.
“Good morning, Quinny,” I purr.
Her nostrils flare despite her relaxed features. “Did you need reinforcements today?”
“For what? I’m just here for coffee.”
“Right. Am I choosing for you again, then, or do you know what you want already?”
Getting right to business, are we?
I move around my teammates and take Kellan’s place at the counter.
He makes himself scarce, staying silent as I drag my knuckles across the smooth, lacquered wood surface.
The tip jar is mostly empty, with only a few coins at the bottom and five-dollar bills uncurling along the edges. It’s not nearly enough.
“What do you suggest? I’ve got a four-hour flight today and then a game in the morning that I need to be wide awake for.”
“Caffeine doesn’t stay in your system for that long,” she states blandly.
I stretch my fingers out and tap the counter, refusing to indulge myself by reaching for her.
“Alright. Then I need something that will be so good I’ll have a hard time forgetting about it while I’m gone.
Seven days is a long time, and I doubt I’ll find another place that will sate me as well as this one does. ”
Wes chokes on something behind me, and I stiffen, keeping my eyes forward. Yeah, that was fucking terrible.
Quinn flicks her gaze from one side of me to the other, checking out the guys I came here with. Suddenly, I’m tempted to shove both of them out the door and leave them on the curb while I finish this conversation.
With a heavy sigh, she toys with a loose string on her apron and lowers her gaze to the screen in front of her.
I lean on the balls of my feet and wait for her to speak again.
It’s disarming the way my body responds to her, like she’s got some hold over me that my brain ignores, not bothered by it enough to investigate.
“Have you ever thought of drinking water?”
I blink.
She looks at me from beneath long, peach-coloured lashes as the muscle beside her eyebrow twitches.
My tongue swells in my throat, caught in an awkward position that makes it hard to breathe.
I feel a hand touch the space between my shoulder blades and jerk forward, crashing into the rounded lip of the counter.
“Water sounds perfect for him today, actually,” Wes interrupts, his shoulder bumping against mine. “He is very, very thirsty. I blame the walk over here from his place.”
The corner of Quinn’s pink lips tugs upward, and a blast of heat works through my gut before trickling lower. She blows out a soft breath and nods at Wes, seemingly pleased with his statement. Personally, I want to shove my fist into his mouth until he can’t possibly speak anymore.
“You might be right. One large water, then. And a cold brew for you, right?” she asks, all of her attention on him.
Did she remember that from the few times he’s come in, or did Eli tell her?
“Yeah, a cold brew would be great. Just regular, please.” Wes smiles kindly at her and snags a bottle of juice from Kellan’s hands, setting it on the counter.
“Got it. Give us a few minutes, and we’ll have it ready for you. The coffee and the water.”
I wet my lips and tug my wallet from my back pocket, freeing my bank card before Wes or Kellan can do the same. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth when I pay and shove the usual bill into the tip jar.
Quinn glowers at the jar the way she always does, and finally, I start to relax, registering the familiarity.
When she flashes her eyes up at me again, they’re brighter, sparking with words unspoken.
I don’t back down from that look, allowing her the space to tell me what she wants to.
It wouldn’t matter what she said. I’d take everything with a greedy smile.
To my disappointment, she turns from us before words form.
Frustration is wearing a hole into my stomach as I watch her dismiss me and relay our order to Eli.
The guy says something to her that has her shaking her head furiously before peeking at us from the corner of her eye.
There’s a desperation to the way he’s looking at her now, and a beat later, she pulls her shoulders back and waves a hand through the air.
Eli spins toward us, the tip of his nose red. “Do you think you could sign something for me before you leave?”
“What do you want signed?” I ask before either of my teammates can.
Yeah, this is my chance, not theirs.
From the tension in Quinn’s shoulders when Eli asked his question, she was clearly expecting us to turn him down. And that just won’t do. Not when I’ve failed so drastically here with her this morning.
Eli’s face lights up. He freezes for half a second before dropping down behind the counter and reaching for something. When he stands again, it’s with a green hat in his hands.
“Would you mind signing this?”
“Sure. You got a marker?”
It’s Quinn who offers one. I stare at the cap on the end before running my eyes up to her blunt, bare fingernails. She holds it out in front of her, waiting with an expectant gaze.
I wrap my hand around it, letting my fingers curl over hers, lingering until she tugs herself free.
The single moment of connection leaves my skin tingling as I hastily uncap the marker and take the hat.
After scribbling my signature across the brim, I pass the hat to my teammates and stare straight ahead.
Quinn doesn’t look back again.
Not even once.