Not with anyone other than his new friend Alice anyway.
Despite making as much noise as possible on the staircase on the way down, Kieran arrived in the kitchen to find his father stealing a kiss from his new girlfriend, who also happened to be Kieran’s football coach. Coach Nat and his dad started dating last month and things got serious fast. Not that that was awkward for him or anything.
Well, he supposed it wasn’t much worse than being the principal’s kid.
Behind him, his grandfather cleared his throat loudly and Kieran’s dad and Coach Nat popped apart, pink darkening their cheeks. Kieran rolled his eyes before grabbing plates and silverware to set the table, his stomach rumbling for supper. In just a few moments, they settled around the table, a small vase of fall flowers in the center. Nat handed him a stack of cloth napkins. He hadn’t even known they owned cloth napkins.
He liked Coach Nat and all but it was just weird to have a woman suddenly invade their all-male household. But, his dad seemed much happier since they’d begun dating last month. And also considerably more distracted, which Kieran used to his advantage.
“So, how was school today?” Chris asked, as he ladled baked ziti onto their plates.
Jameson, Natalie, and Kieran all answered, in unison, “Fine.”
They all paused for a heartbeat and then laughed together. Jameson said, “Kieran, you go first.”
“Nothing exciting.” Kieran shrugged. “School’s just school.”
“Ms. Young mentioned she’d given you a special project in English.” Jameson commented.
Kieran shrugged, his eyes on his plate. When the silence stretched too long, he said, “Yep.”
“What book do you have to read?” Natalie asked.
“It’s not a book report.” Kieran admitted. “I’m writing a novel.”
“A novel?” Chris echoed.
Briefly, Kieran explained the concept of National Novel Writing Month. “So, like Alice says, the idea is to write so fast you outrun your self-doubt.”
“Alice?” Jameson echoed. “You mean Alice Wells?”
“She’s the Ashford Falls team captain.” Kieran stood, picking up his empty plate. “As a matter of fact, I’m late for our write-in so, if I may be excused?”
“You don’t want seconds?” His grandpa asked but Kieran shook his head. If he stayed at the table, he’d just end up in another of his endless arguments with his father. Kieran placed his dish in the sink and headed upstairs to grab his laptop. He dashed back through the kitchen, heading for the door as quick as possible.
“Hey!” Jameson called. “Where—
“I’m going to the Coffeeshop. I know it’s a school night and I’ll be back by ten.” Kieran yelled back before heading out into the chilly, clear night. He fisted his hands in his pockets and strode quickly through the streets to the center of town. This late, only the coffeeshop and the Ashford Falls Cafe remained open in the square. He peeked in to spy Alice at her favorite corner spot, her dark hair shielding her face.
Before this week, he’d have called her hair black but now, in the buttery light from the coffeeshop, he caught hints of cinnamon and amber highlights in it. He’d learned this week how difficult color was to describe. He couldn’t even begin to describe the perfect blue of her eyes. Belatedly, he realized that his manuscript hero’s female best friend had dark hair and too blue eyes. Surely that was a coincidence though.
Kieran headed into the coffeeshop, inhaling the rich scent of coffee, and enjoying the warmth of the shop washing over his chilled skin. He strode over to Alice’s table. She started in surprise when Kieran took the seat opposite her and then smiled warmly at him. How had Kieran never noticed what a pretty smile she had before?
“I didn’t think you’d make it.” Alice greeted him.
“Why not?”
“You’ve got football practice today, don’t you? And Mr. Hadley piled on the trig homework.”
“I meant to do it when I got home but I got this scene idea. I decided if Tristan and Bella could steal the map…” Kieran broke off when she beamed at him. “What?”
“Look at you. Full of story ideas.” Alice tilted her head. “You seem to be enjoying it.”
“I am.” Kieran admitted. “More than I expected. How’s your story coming?”
“My characters are being difficult.” Alice sighed. “They’re not really talking to me.”
“If I’d heard you say that a week ago, I’d have thought you were nuts.” Kieran said. “Now, I kinda know how you feel. So what are you going to do about it?”
“Well, I was thinking about trying some prompts.”
“Prompts?”
“Yeah, like writing prompts. They’re all over the website. I made a list.” Alice showed him a page in her notebook in her neat handwriting.
“Well, it’s no fair if you get to pick it. I should get to pick it.” Kieran said. “But first, can I ask you a question?”
Alice hunched her shoulders, as though to ward off a blow but nodded warily. “Sure.”
“How come you write longhand?”
“Just habit, I guess.” Alice blew her bangs out of her eyes. “I started writing before I had a computer. I got in the habit of taking notebooks with me everywhere. It drove my mom crazy at first.”
“And it allows you to write in class too, right?”
Alice huffed out a laugh. “I’ve gotten caught a few times but most of the teachers think it’s cool.”
“It is cool.” Kieran ran his fingers over a scratch on the table. “I told my dad about it tonight. That I’m writing a novel. Well, him and my grandpa and Coach Nat.”
“And were they cool with it?”
“I knew my grandpa would be and Coach Nat is cool but my dad—I wasn’t sure how he’d take it.” Kieran trailed off. “We don’t have the best relationship.”
“What about your mom?”
“She left when I was nine.”
“I’m sorry. I forgot.” Alice’s cheeks flushed a dull brick color.
“It’s okay.” Kieran shrugged. He rarely thought of his mother and found that memories of her no longer bothered him the way they once did. “She lives out in Oregon somewhere but we never hear from her. It’s like she died or something.”
Alice stiffened and too late he remembered that her father died just a few years previously. After an awkward silence that seemed to tick on for hours, Kieran said. “I’m sorry. I forgot about your dad.”
“It’s okay. I know what you meant.” Alice said, her voice cool. She picked up her pen. “Let’s get back to work.”
“Okay.” Kieran opened his laptop. “But you should pick prompt number eleven.”
She paused to flip through her notebook to the list of prompts. “Oh man. How am I going to fit ninjas into this story?”
Kieran grinned at her and just started to type.
Chapter Four
Two weeks later on the Friday before Thanksgiving, Alice and Kieran sat at their customary table in Cupid’s Coffeeshop. They sat opposite each other in the coffeeshop, him pecking away at the keyboard as she scribbled furiously. In the past few weeks, they’d met there nearly daily to crank out words on their novels. After so many years of working alone, Alice found she really enjoyed working with Kieran. Unfailingly chipper, they’d formed a sort of kinship working together.
She peeked up at Kieran through her bangs. Surely it couldn’t be more than that, right? Her pen slowed and stopped as she considered it. Between them, Kieran’s phone timer buzzed and they both stopped.
“I did two and a half pages.” Alice flipped through her notebook. “So let’s call that 700 words.”
“Ha! I got 951 words.” Kieran fist pumped the air.
“In ten minutes?” Alice scowled at him.
“Power of the keyboard, baby.” Kieran smirked. “Wanna go again?”
“Wait, let me figure out how far behind I still am.” Alice jotted a row of numbers and struggled to do the math in her head. Despit
e working together daily, she trailed Kieran in word count. She didn’t want to admit that her growing attraction to him was proving a distraction. Though she’d always known he was gorgeous, she hadn’t known until recently that he was also kind and smart—an all too lethal combination.
“You’re still behind 4,751 words.” Kieran said. “According to my spreadsheet.”
“You have a spreadsheet for me too?”
“We’re a team, right?” Kieran shrugged. “So, you ready to sprint again?”
“I might need some caffeine first.” Alice sighed. “I never should have let myself get behind.”
“But that’s what tonight’s about. We’re going to get you caught up.” Kieran touched her hand, his fingertips warm, sending an illicit thrill through Alice. “Leave no one behind in the word wars. Ready?”
Alice blew out a breath, stirring her bangs on her forehead, and flipped to a fresh page in her notebook. “Ready.”
Before she could put pen to paper though, a child’s shriek interrupted them. “Auntie Alice!”
A girl with dark pigtails flung herself into Alice’s lap, wrapping her chubby arms around Alice’s neck for a hug. Alice hugged the child and looked up to find her sister standing next to the table, a bemused smile on her face. “Kieran, do you know my sister, Harper? And this little monkey is my niece, Layla.”
Kieran stood and shook Harper’s hand. “Let me go grab us some caffeine while you chat.”
After Kieran excused himself and headed over to the counter, Harper quickly turned back to Alice. “He’s super cute.”
Typical. Since Harper started dating her next door neighbor, Cooper, she saw love everywhere. As if someone like Kieran would ever be interested in plain, boring Alice.
“We’re friends.” Alice said shortly.
“Sure.” Harper winked.
“We’re working on a school project.” Alice explained as Kieran arrived with two crimson coffee mugs. He set one carefully at Alice’s place and took his seat.
“Well, we’ll let you get back to it.” Harper cooed. “Nice to meet you, Kieran.”
Behind Kieran’s back, she shot Alice a quick thumbs up that Alice prayed Kieran couldn’t see in the reflection from the window. She picked up her pen, determined to be business-like. “Ready?”
“You lost so it’s my turn to pick the prompt.” Kieran pointed out. Alice groaned. Kieran loved nothing more than giving her impossible prompts. Her story boasted ninjas, elves, and a spaceship thanks to him. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard before skimming his screen. “Write a kiss.”
“A kiss?” Heat crawled up Alice’s face. “My kick-ass heroine is riding her dragon at the moment. How am I supposed to include a kissing scene?”
“It’s totally your call if you want to include dragon kissing in your book.” Kieran’s lips twitched and his eyes sparkled mischievously. “Maybe someone else could be riding the dragon with your kick-ass heroine. You’re the writer. You get to decide.”
Alice tapped her pen on her paper as Kieran set his phone timer and began typing. A tiny furrow appeared over his nose as he concentrated on his writing, his fingers tapping a steady rhythm on the keys. It was difficult to write a kissing scene with no experience. She caught herself staring at Kieran’s mouth. What would it be like to kiss him?
As if he knew what she was thinking, he raised a single brow. “Words aren’t going to write themselves.”
With a heavy sigh, Alice chased away her daydreams. Time to pick up her pen and get to work.
Three hours later, when Joe shooed them out of the coffeeshop at closing time, Alice and Kieran strolled out into the crisp November night. Around them, Ashford Falls was quiet and still while above them stars sparkled in the velvety night sky. Leaves skittered through the square as the nearly bare trees rattled in the breeze.
“Let me walk you home.” Kieran offered.
“It’s not necessary.”
“It’ll help me burn off some of my energy.” Kieran said, as they fell into step together. “Do you find that writing energizes you?”
“Sometimes.” Alice admitted. “But if I write too long, I have to remind myself to take breaks so I don’t get too drained.”
“I just want to write all the time now.” Kieran paused and then confided in a rush, “My characters keep me up talking all night. I sound like a crazy person!”
“Not to me. I’m a writer too.” Alice chuckled at his newfound enthusiasm. “You’ll get used to it after a while.”
“I just have all these ideas I want to get out, you know?”
“I get it.”
“No one else does.” Kieran muttered. “I tried talking to other people about it but they don’t understand why I’m up at night trying to figure out another word for blue or figure out what my characters would do next.”
“You can text me next time. Tell me what they’re up to.”
“Might just do that.” Kieran brushed his fingers over her forearm, his gentle touch sending a surge of warmth through Alice. “So, what do you do with all those notebooks you fill up?”
Alice flushed, grateful for the cool night and the darkness to conceal it. “Nothing yet. But…”
“But what?” Kieran swung toward her as they reached her gate. Casually, he picked up her hand to play with her ink-stained fingers.
“I thought I might publish this one. If it turns out, I mean.” Alice answered. “Which is unlikely if you keep giving me crazy prompts. I still don’t know how I’ll fit elephants into this story.”
“You’ll find a way.” Kieran chuckled. “If the story doesn’t work out, what will you do with it then?”
“It’ll go under the bed with the rest.” Alice shrugged. “And then I’ll start a new one.”
“Will you let me read it?” Kieran stepped closer to her, his warmth washing over her front.
“Maybe.” Alice’s voice sounded high and breathless to her own ears. Their gazes met and held, the moment shimmering with awareness between them.
Kieran stepped closer to her, the backs of his fingers trailing gently over her cheeks. Slowly, he tilted her face up before leaning down to capture her mouth.
In her far-flung reading adventures, Alice had often read about kissing and thought that all the descriptions were overwrought. But now, with Kieran’s warm mouth moving over hers, his lips soft and slightly chapped, she realized that she was the one who’d been wrong. Kissing was amazing.
Slowly, she slid her hands up his arms, to his shoulders, as his gentle hands pulled her closer to press against the hard planes of his body. His tongue traced along her lower lip, a teasing temptation, and she sighed, threading her fingers through the soft curls on the back of his head. He dipped inside for a taste of her, making her head spin and her body melted against his. The rational, always recording, always observing portion of Alice’s brain short-circuited as all she gave herself over to sensation.
Chapter Five
On Thanksgiving Day, after the leftovers had been packed away, Kieran headed upstairs to his bedroom to write, heeding the perpetual siren call of his characters. Just after sunset, he crossed the fifty-thousand-word mark. He sat for a moment, staring at the magical word counter on his computer. He’d done it.
He’d actually done it.
He’d written a novel.
Well, he’d written fifty thousand words of one at least. The story wasn’t finished. He couldn’t type “the end” yet.
He wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.
He picked up his phone to text Alice the good news.
He hesitated. He hadn’t seen her since their scorching kiss, as school had been out all week. Between his football games and her babysitting her niece while Harper worked, they hadn’t found time to write together, though they’d texted each other a few times.
Kieran missed her.
He tapped the phone against his lip, thinking of how intense their first kiss had been.
Kieran had kissed a lot of girls in his
high school career. He’d always been able to attract any girl who caught his eye, just by being himself.
But kissing Alice had been different.
He liked Alice. They’d become friends in the last month as they worked together. Without her, he’d never had gotten through this crazy project or discovered that he really loved writing.
But he more than liked Alice.
So now he was in uncharted territory. Because while he’d always enjoyed a wide circle of friends and a steady supply of girlfriends, he’d never experienced a combination.
Kieran was pretty sure that was why kissing Alice had been so different. His emotions—feelings he wasn’t quite ready to put a name to yet—were involved. He just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about that.
In just a few days, November would be over. He would have no excuse to work with Alice any more. No excuse to catch up with her in the hallway at school. No excuse to text her or talk to her or laugh with her.
Unless he found an excuse.
Feeling like he was stepping out on a very high ledge, he opened his messaging app and tapped out a text.
“You going to the bonfire tonight?”
And waited endless seconds for her response: “Shouldn’t you be writing?”
“Didn’t answer my question. You going?”
“Only because mom is making me. I’d rather be writing.”
“You’d always rather be writing. See you there.”
With a grin on his face, he got up to shower and dress.
Every Thanksgiving, the town of Ashford Falls hosted a bonfire for their residents at the edge of the lake in the town park. Over the years, the simple bonfire became more of a festival atmosphere with s’mores, a pumpkin pie contest, and a moon bounce for the kids. By the time Alice arrived, the bonfire blazed and crackled merrily, tended by Kieran’s grandfather and several of the firefighters from the Ashford Falls Station.
Thanksgiving Dream (Cupid's Coffeeshop Book 11) Page 2