“Of course.” I force a smile and offer a curt nod. Alfonse would have my ass if I dump scalding hot coffee on a customer, even if said customer totally deserves it. After I fill his cup, I smile sweetly. “Anything else?”
“Truce?” He lifts his mug. Why would I want a truce with this mouth-breather? Yet, as he grins, I find myself smiling as I raise my own coffee cup. “Life is too short to hold in so much resentment.”
He’s right. I can’t spend the rest of my life hating someone I care so little about. “I guess I was just in shock that we’d use a text to break up, let alone having you send me a list of things I need to fix if I want to keep a guy. I can’t resent you forever.”
He loses his smile. “I was talking about resenting yourself. You resent me?” He sounds so offended. “For telling you the truth on how to improve yourself?”
“The truth? Improve myself?” It’s my turn to lose the smile. “Ian, you told me I needed to wear tighter shirts. How’s that going to improve myself?”
His gaze lands on my chest and stays there. “It couldn’t hurt.”
“You’re an asshole.” I ready the coffeepot. “Are there any other bullshit things you’d like to improve on me? Shorter skirts, maybe?”
“That was somewhere in the thirties on the list.”
“You are not allowed to have more things on your list than years you’ve been alive,” I repeat Jake’s words and stop myself before gasping at quoting someone like him to someone like Ian. Who knew I’d ever cite the current boyfriend to the ex-boyfriend?
“Says who?”
“Says me.” Jake has somehow snuck into the diner and saunters up to the counter, taking a seat next to Ian even though there are several open seats. Instead of acknowledging Ian, he flashes me that dazzling smile and I’m a little numb as a result. “Hey, babe. Considering your reaction to that statement when we were moving boxes into our apartment, I didn’t think I’d ever hear you use that on anyone else.”
“Your apartment? As in…” Ian trails off and darts his attention between us before holding it to me. “Did you move in with this guy? No, I know you. Living with a guy before you get married wasn’t on your list.”
“We got an apartment together,” Jake explains and offers his hand. “This guy’s name is Jake Swanson.”
Ian bounces his gaze to Jake’s hand, to me, to Jake’s still expression, and finally back to me. “This is Jake? Un-fucking-believable. You wouldn’t stay the night at my place—your boyfriend—yet you moved in with the one guy you’ll never matter to.”
I suck in a breath at how hard that insult hits. It’s what I’ve always thought, always feared. Jake is one of the beautiful people. I’m, well, not. He’ll never see me for more than a default bootie call, and I hate myself for accepting that.
Jake takes Ian’s hand and squeezes. Ian whimpers and tries several times before Jake allows him to take his hand back. “You must be Ian Hornsbutt.”
“Hornsby.”
“Whatever.” Jake wipes his hand on a napkin. “Let me give you a little tip, Ian. Digging at your ex in an attempt to feel better about yourself only makes you look even more pathetic than you already are.”
“Who are you to talk to me like that?”
Jake takes Ian’s coffee and slurps as something defiant shines in his eyes. He’s enjoying the hell out of this. “I’m the guy who thinks she matters most.”
I love you. I mean, I hate him most of the time, but right now? I love him for putting Ian in his little weasel-dick place.
Without a word, Ian stands, spins on his designer boots, and marches out of the diner. I can’t stop smiling as Jake faces me, a wide grin brightening up his expression. “That was Ian, eh?”
“That was Ian.” I wipe down the counter between us to avoid his gaze. My cheeks are on fire all the sudden. I can’t tell if I’m embarrassed or turned on over what just happened. Maybe a little both. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m meeting Sean and Eli for breakfast before shift. Figured if I got here a few minutes early, I’d get to spend them with you before they got here. I didn’t know you’d already have company.” He cups the mug in his hands and stares at the steaming liquid. Clearly, I’m not the only one avoiding eye contact. “Why were you talking to your ex-boyfriend?”
I don’t miss the jealousy in his tone and I must admit, I don’t hate it. I never thought Jake would be jealous of any of my exes. Not in a million years. “Trust me, it’s not like I wanted to. He came into the diner and sat at the counter.”
“Does he come in here a lot?”
“That’s the first time since we broke up. I haven’t seen him in months.”
He nods and glances over his shoulder toward the door. “Interesting timing. He decides to pay you a visit now that you’re off the market.”
“I am?” My voice comes out an octave higher than I expect.
“As am I.” He spins on the stool as Sean and Eli walk into the diner and, without another word, joins them at a corner booth.
I watch him walk away, licking my lips at the sight. Why the hell does he always have to look so good that I want to take him into the back cooler? I’ve seen him naked, so seeing him fully clothed shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Oh, but seeing him right now, that T-shirt tight on his massive shoulders, has my mouth watering.
Still stunned from his comment, I grab the coffee pot, knowing the three of them well enough to know they’ll need their caffeine. Jake had a nice wakeup call with our kitchen sex, but I’m not sure about the other two. In fact, I don’t want to know if they had their own orgasm-of-the-day. It would be weird to know that much about the customers.
Since Jake has suddenly transformed into the casual diner patron, I slip into the role of waitress. “Good morning, guys. Can I get you anything else to drink other than coffee?”
“Water,” Jake grumbles. He doesn’t sound in the best of moods, which is weird. He seemed fine a minute ago.
“Anything else?”
He regards me without an ounce of recognition in his dark gaze. Gone is the jealous boyfriend from earlier and for some reason, it bothers me. “Just water.”
I’m frozen in shock as I can only blink. He sounds so normal. No underlying tone that there’s anything more between us than sharing an address. No protective guy trying to establish dominance or mark his territory like with Ian. No wicked glimmer in his eyes as he looks at me like he did this morning in the kitchen, like he can’t wait to devour me.
In fact, he’s impartial. Like I’m nothing more than a roommate. Good. Great. At least I don’t have to worry about it getting weird between us. This is my work. Why is it bothering me so much that he won’t even give me a hint of a smile now that he’s with his friends? He couldn’t wait to put Ian in his place. What happened to him being the guy who thinks I matter most?
Jesus, Kayla. Get the hell over it. We’re roommates, not soul mates. He simply said whatever it took to get under Ian’s skin. Well, fine. I can accept that. I have no choice in the matter. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. In fact, I don’t. I kind of want to cut him right now.
“Since I know what Jake wants…” He narrows his eyes at me and I smile sweetly before turning my attention on the other two. “How about the rest of you?”
Sean grins at me. He’s the flirt of the group. Then again, Jake can flirt his way right into my pants. Well, not right now he can’t, and he’ll never get into them again if he doesn’t have a good reason for blowing me off in front of his friends. “Is it Southern home fries and hash on the menu?”
“Is today Monday?” I’m shocked I don’t use Alfonse’s accent as his words fly right out of my mouth. The grammatically correct way to say it, anyway.
His grin widens. “Are you on the menu?”
That comment catches Jake’s attention. He finally pulls his gaze from the menu and glares at Sean. “Seriously?”
Sean’s grin widens. “What’d I say?”
“Not every girl wants
to sleep with you just because you compliment her smile. Especially this girl.”
“What crawled up your ass, dude?”
“Yeah,” Eli speaks up. “It’s not like you’ve got dibs on…” He narrows his eyes and reads the nameplate pinned to my uniform. “Kayla.” The instant he says my name, his expression falls slack. “Oh, shit.”
“This is Kayla?” Sean asks Jake and points at me. He gives me a slow once over and turns back to Jake. “You banged our waitress?”
“Wait,” Eli joins in. He does a couple double takes between Jake and me before landing his gaze on me. “Jake tells me you want an orgasm every morning. You’ve got to be the best roommate ever. If he falls down on the job, give me a call.”
Oh my God. Kill me now. I ignore the burn in my cheeks and widen my eyes at Jake. My heart pounds in my chest, I’m that pissed. “Did you also tell them I have a tattoo on my ass?”
“That is so hot.” Sean winks at me and I’m ready to take out one of his eyes with his fork. Who does he think he is winking at me like flirting will get him anything but a slap across the face and one less eye?
Alfonse slaps the bell to announce another order up. Thank God. I spin and storm off before I stab them all with their cutlery.
“You never took our order,” Eli points out.
“You’ll get what I bring you,” I toss back.
“And I’m sure we’ll love it,” Sean, clearly looking to earn brownie points, calls after me.
As much as I want to order them something nasty like liver and make them suffer through it, I’m too much of a chicken. Instead, I order three specials and drop the ticket. After delivering another round of breakfast to a table, I duck behind the little hideout where the waitresses collect the food. Alfonse catches me flattened out against the wall, trying to disappear into the grease-covered woodwork as I eavesdrop on Jake and his friends.
“Miss Kayla, who you be spying on?”
I shush him and pick up on their conversation.
Eli’s voice catches my attention first. “So, let me get this straight. You slept with her? You didn’t say that Kayla was this Kayla.”
“It’s not that popular of a name,” Jake defends. “I figured you’d put the pieces together on your own.”
“It’s a totally popular name. I have like four Kayla’s in my economics class alone,” Sean points out. “In fact, she’s one of them, I think.”
He’s right, and now I’m mortified to go to class today and see him.
“Can we just drop it? I didn’t tell you guys to have you make a big deal out of it.”
“Then why tell us?” Eli asks. “Dude, you had to know we’d be all over you about it.”
“You don’t give a shit when I tell you about any of the other girls.”
“That’s because we can’t keep track of them all.” Sean laughs, and Eli joins in.
My cell buzzes and I pull it out of my pocket, not really caring who’s texting me, only that someone is. It’s something to keep me distracted. It’s Emma and I smile.
Did you do your neighbor this morning?
Jesus, did Jake broadcast it over the radio? I hesitate before responding without answering. Hello to you, too.
I’m coming in. We need to talk.
Shit. I don’t want Emma here, especially with Jake around. She’s made it no secret how she feels about him. He’s a player and proud of it. She absolutely hates players and has a way of putting them in their place. Knowing her, she’ll bring Britt and then we’ll really have a party. Britt has a bigger mouth than Emma.
“Miss Kayla?” Alfonse catches my attention and I move to the little opening with the shelf where he sets the food for me to deliver. “It not be like you to mess up an egg order.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t mess up any order.” I take great pride in the accuracy of my orders.
“Eli always orders scrambled. Wit Sean it be over-medium. Jake wants poached and never orders da special.”
It never ceases to amaze me that, after decades of years in business, Alfonse still has the uncanny ability to remember most customers’ preferences. And each customer by name. “I sort of didn’t ask them, so technically, I didn’t mess up.”
Alfonse stops flipping his big metal spatula and zeroes in on me. “You not be telling da customers what to eat, cher. You lucky I save you dis time.”
“I’m sorry, Alfonse.” I hate getting reprimanded. It always makes me feel like a child. “Jake makes me crazy. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Same Jake, eh? Da same boy who be driving you crazy for da past six months?”
I hate I’m that transparent, especially to my boss. My cheeks burn as I chew on my bottom lip. “That’s the one.”
“Why he be driving you crazy dis time?”
I’d rather not confide in him, but since my group of friends are all in class and Emma isn’t here yet, I can’t stop myself as I blurt out, “He’s treating me like I’m a nobody when just this morning we…” I stop myself and wait to see if he picks it up without me saying it.
He doesn’t. “Wat happened dis mornin’?”
“We, you know.” God, please don’t make me say it.
His eyes round. “Oh, dat. You stay wit him last night?”
“We’re sort of living together now.”
Again, he stops flipping food with the spatula and looks at me. “You go from driving you crazy to living together?” He shakes his head. “He definitely be driving you crazy.”
17
{Kayla}
“My apartment building was condemned.” Because of me. I leave that part out as I continue to explain my dilemma to my boss. “I had nowhere else to go.”
“I thought he lived next to you.” Alfonse isn’t buying any of it.
“He had nowhere else to go, either.”
“Of course,” he agrees with a quick nod.
I sigh, hating he doesn’t have the full story. Why would I cover for Jake and his friends, and make myself look bad? “Anyway, he went and told his friends and now they’re talking about it.”
“So?”
“It’s mortifying.”
After setting their orders on the shelf, he pulls the ticket and gives me a nod. I take my cue and grab the plates. “Have dem eat der words, not da food you order for dem. Okay?”
“Okay.” I hurry away before Alfonse says anything else to make me feel even worse and deliver the food to the table. “Three specials.” I place the correct plates in front of each person. “Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Jake speaks up and I stiffen, ready for whatever he’s about to do to insult me in front of his friends. Instead, he slides out of the booth and pulls me away from everyone else. When he nails me with that intense dark gaze, I’m sure my gaze is just as intense. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Yeah, about that. What the hell, Jake? You were awesome at the counter with Ian. Now you’re just being a douche. Guys aren’t supposed to gossip about their sex life. Or was this more like bragging?”
“Baby, I had no idea they were going to act like that. If it helps, I plan to personally kick both of their asses later.” When he rests his palm against my cheek, I can’t stop myself from leaning into his touch.
Abruptly, I snap out of yet another Jake-induced trance. I hate how fast he gets me thinking of nothing but him touching me, arousing me, tempting me. Among other things. “Don’t call me baby.” I can’t believe that’s the only comeback I have. How lame.
The curl of his lips sends my nerves humming. “You liked it this morning.”
“That’s when you were inside me.”
“Got it.” He winks and I forget how to breathe. “I’ll only call you baby when I’m inside you.” Before I recover, he’s back at his table and digging into his breakfast. The bells on the front door clang and distract me. It’s Emma and just as I feared, she’s brought Britt. As soon as they both catch my gaze, they nod at the counter before sitting.
I sigh as I head over.
This is not going to end well, especially now that they both spotted Jake.
“Friendervention,” Britt announces. “Right the fuck now.”
“I have tables,” I defend. Besides, I’d let Emma talk to me like that and definitely my group of friends, but I’m not there with Britt. I may never be. She talks down to people and is an even bigger player than Jake.
“We’ll be quick,” Emma says. “We have a Java class to get to.”
I took that class and hated every minute of it thanks to the TA, Nancy. What a bitch. “Okay, but if you’re here to make me regret what happened, you’re too late.”
Emma takes a breath, but it’s Britt who moves in, a crazy and somewhat scary spark in her eyes. “Did Jake do something? Did he say something? If he did, I’ll junk punch him.”
Very scary.
“That’s not necessary, but thanks for the offer.”
“I’m not kidding.”
I’m sure she’s not, and that only adds to that scary look. Britt has a dark side that rivals Ciara’s. I regard Emma. “It’s nothing.”
“For as long as I’ve known you,” Emma says. “Nothing isn’t really nothing. What happened?”
“We sort of…” I can’t go on and admit to how stupid I’ve been. I can’t be this reckless and unfocused, not if I expect to make something of my life once I graduate. The thought of working at an entry-level position for the rest of my life has me close to a panic attack. I should be out looking for a better job, not consumed by angst over my roommate.
“They live together now,” Britt points out.
“I already know,” Emma fires back. “Ryan told me.”
Britt and I ask at the same time, “How’d Ryan know?”
“Jake told him.”
“Since when do those two talk? It’s not like they hang out in the same circles.”
Her eyes widen before she grabs her phone and checks the time. “We only have a few minutes. Friendervention, remember?”
Britt nods once. I’m not as satisfied with that diversion and make a mental note to talk to Jake later. If he and Ryan are good enough friends to discuss living arrangements all the sudden, I want to know why.
The Heat Is On (TREX Rookies Book 2) Page 15