“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Cass stared at me for a few more beats before asking in a low voice, “Do you think differently of me now?”
I stared at her for a few moments. “Why?”
“Because I just told you I’m a ball bunny and what that means.”
I shook my head. “No. Why would I? So you like sleeping with baseball players. Who gives a shit? I’m not going to judge you for doing something like that. I assume you’re safe and that nothing bad has happened. Why would I think different?”
Cass’s chin trembled, and I thought for sure she was about to cry, but she sucked in a shaky breath and blew out another one before saying in a hoarse voice, “Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. Some of my friends have found out and they’ve been… less than agreeable about it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fuck them. You don’t need people like that in your life to begin with. Seriously. Why surround yourself with people that won’t support you if your choices aren’t killing you?”
Cass’s eyes were glassy, and I thought for sure she was going to cry, but she sucked it up and cleared her throat.
“Can we talk about something else? I’m going to lose it if we don’t.”
I eyed her for a few moments before asking her about her parents and effectively cutting off the incoming crying jag.
Go me.
The next morning, I would have rather been anywhere but at Java Hut helping my parents out. I normally helped on weekends, but because I had to work the day before, they gave me Sunday off, too.
Until one of their baristas called out last minute and I was the only one who could come in.
The one upside to coming in was that Noah was with me bussing tables and two of my favorite customers—Preston and Alvarez—had just walked through the door.
I smiled at them. “Hey, guys. What are you doing here today?”
I started keying in their normal order while Preston answered. “John had something he had to do yesterday. So we decided to come today instead.”
I nodded. “That charity event, right?” I looked at Alvarez as I spoke.
He nodded and grinned. “Yeah. You were there?”
I nodded. “Yep. I had to work it, actually. I didn’t see you.”
“I didn’t see you either,” he said, still grinning.
Something about his grin was throwing me off, but I brushed it off.
“Y’all want your usual?”
They nodded, and I quickly told them their total, and finished ringing them up before getting started on their drinks while my mom made their food in the kitchen.
“Here ya go. Your food will be right up,” I told them, wiping my hands on a towel.
Preston smiled at me while Alvarez took the tray.
I quickly cleaned up my work area and glanced around the cafe, noting that it was getting busier. Noah was in the corner, clearing a booth while Lis, one of our baristas, walked through the tables checking if people needed anything.
We didn’t serve them their food at the tables, but we would walk around if we weren’t packed to help clear or bring them refills. It was all a part of excellent service.
“Order up!” Mom called through the pass through as she set two plates down.
I grabbed them and walked them to Alvarez and Preston.
“Here ya go,” I said, placing everything down. “You need anything else?”
They shook their heads.
“Holler if you need me,” I told them as the bell over the door jingled. I hurried to the counter to get there before the customer, pasting a smile on my face.
10
Zoe
“Welcome to Java Hut,” I chirped, logging back into our register without looking at the person. “What can I get started for you today?”
The customer said nothing, and I flicked my gaze up to see if they were studying the menu or if I’d misjudged where the customer was standing.
The person was standing right in front of me studying something all right. But it wasn’t the menu. It was me.
Fuck. My. Life.
I met the dark gaze of Mr. Good Looking himself. I couldn’t escape him.
“You work here?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
I nodded slowly as I glanced down at the issued bright yellow apron with my name tag on it.
“I do. What gave it away?”
Jacob grimaced and took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked him as I slid my gaze just past him, hoping someone else was in line that could save me from talking to Jacob.
But there wasn’t anyone there.
In fact, it was like the rest of the staff disappeared, leaving me to fend for myself against the one customer I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to.
“Uh… a black coffee,” he stuttered.
I put that in and looked at him expectantly. “That it?”
I winced internally at my tone. I was being rude, something that I was never supposed to be to a customer. But considering that customer had lumped me in with a group of people and assumed quite a lot about me, I wasn’t feeling very nice at this particular moment.
“Uh…” he started, his gaze quickly looking over the menu behind me.
I stood there, waiting, wishing he had walked into any other place but this cafe this morning. It took everything I had to stand there with what I hoped was a blank look on my face while he scrambled to figure out what he wanted.
What was even worse was how good he looked this morning.
Of course, I hadn’t ever seen him when he wasn’t looking good. But that was beside the point.
He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, nothing fancy. But the shirt was just tight enough that it clung to him in all the right places, hinting at the muscles underneath.
I swallowed thickly as I noted the shape of his biceps, then quickly jerked my gaze away when I realized what I was doing.
“Can I get a Deathstar?” Jacob finally asked.
I nodded, and looked at him. “Any special requests?”
He blinked. “Special requests?”
“Yep. You can get your eggs cooked any way you want. You have your choice of bread and breakfast meat. You can even add sauces.”
Jacob stared at me for a few beats before looking back at the menu and telling me, “Fried egg. Bacon, crispy if possible. Can I get hollandaise?”
I nodded and put everything in. “You want anything special with those pancakes?”
He blew out a breath and I would have laughed at the look on his face if I didn’t want him to leave me alone.
“Uh, no?”
“You asking or telling?”
That was a step too far, and I needed to dial it back some.
“Telling,” he said, eying me as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “Anything else I need to tell you?”
“Nope.”
I gave him his total, ran his card, then got his black coffee before giving him a pager for when his food was ready.
He lingered by the counter for a few beats after I gave him his coffee, but I did my best to ignore him. I wasn’t in the mood to talk.
He took the hint and walked off. As I wiped everything down, I watched him from the corner of my eye, noting that he stopped by Alvarez and Preston’s table, but then continued on to a booth, leaving them alone.
The bell behind me sounded, and I grabbed Jacob’s food, pausing before putting his number into the call system to make him come get it.
I glanced around the cafe, noting that it was still full, but we didn’t have new customers. For anyone else, I would walk it to their table.
It was petty of me to refuse just because I was butt hurt over something that he might not even think about me. But I was pretty sure he did.
I sighed and grabbed the plate, hefting it and carefully walking across the cafe’s floor.
“Here you go,” I said, sliding the plate in front of Jacob and making him flinch.
I arc
hed a brow as I met his gaze.
“I thought I’d go get it?” he said, holding the pager up.
I held my hand out for it, saying, “Yeah, but I don’t mind bringing food out when we have a lull.”
He handed me the pager and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, I turned on my heel and left him there.
It took everything in me to not look over my shoulder to see if he was staring after me or if he was ignoring me.
As I passed Preston and Alvarez, their eyes were wide as they stared between me and Jacob. At least, I assumed that’s who they were looking at. I didn’t turn around to check.
See? I was a queen at ignoring this.
I slipped behind the counter and continued tidying before restocking our cups and glasses to prepare for the late morning rush.
“Do I seriously see Jacob Vaughn and Jon Alvarez out there?” a teenaged voice hissed behind me.
I smirked and shook my head. “You need to get your eyes checked, kid.”
“I am not a kid,” Noah said, brushing up against me.
I looked at him, noting that he was helping me put things up, but his attention was riveted on the two baseball players sitting in the cafe.
I elbowed him lightly in the side. “Wipe the drool, butt munch.”
Noah glared at me before swiping his mouth, scowling when he realized I was teasing him.
“Not cool, Aunt Z. Not cool.”
I just grinned and continued what I was doing, everything going more quickly with Noah’s help.
“You’re acting like a stalker,” I told him after a few more moments of him watching the two men. “Cool it.”
Noah snapped his head around, his cheeks tinging pink. He slouched. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I’ve never seen them in here before.”
I eyed him from the corner of my eye before responding. “Alvarez is usually in on Saturdays.”
Noah sucked in a breath. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. You’re not here when he comes with Preston. They’re here in the morning.”
“What about Vaughn?” Noah whispered.
“I’ve never seen him in here before,” I whispered back.
Noah snuck a quick look over his shoulder before looking at me again. “Do you think he’ll be back?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
Secretly, I hoped he wouldn’t be back. I didn’t want to look at his perfect face more than necessary.
We worked in silence for a few minutes before I heard the bell over the door tinkle. A stream of people were walking in.
I finished what I was doing and elbowed Noah. “Go clean the tables off. We need seats.”
He nodded and walked off, grabbing his bussing cart and started on the table closest to him.
“Hey! Welcome to Java Hut! What can I get for you today?”
11
Jacob
I studied Zoe as she worked the counter and talked with the teenage bus boy that was working to clear tables as the crowd in Java Hut picked up. I’d finished my breakfast a while ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to get up and leave.
I didn’t want to think about why that was.
I sipped my quickly cooling coffee, wishing for a refill, but not wanting to stand in the long line to the counter to get it.
My gaze traveled back to Zoe, and I noticed how she smiled at everyone and kept her cool, even with the line to the door.
I wasn’t sure I could keep that cool in the face of that many people.
“What are you staring at?” Alvarez asked, dropping into the seat across from me.
I jerked and looked at him. I’d forgotten he and Preston were here. I thought they’d left a while ago.
“You’re still here?”
He nodded and sipped from his own mug. “Preston is meeting the girls down here for some sort of girls' day or whatever. I don’t know. I told her I’d find her later and decided to hang with you.”
Alvarez smiled at me, and my lips twitched.
“You’re such a good friend,” I teased him.
“Fuck off,” he said, laughing. “I didn’t want to deal with whatever those women are up to and I didn’t want to come back later. You’re just my second choice.”
I snorted. “I’ll take it.”
My eyes slid from him and back to the coffee counter where Zoe was currently making a coffee while chatting with another worker who was now manning the register.
“I see your bunny has a lot more going on for her than we thought.”
I flicked my gaze back to his. “She’s not my bunny.”
Alvarez grinned. “You sure about that? The way you’re staring at her tells me how much you like her.”
“I don’t like her,” I muttered, sipping the last of my coffee.
“Right.” Alvarez stared at me like he didn’t believe me.
I didn’t believe myself either. So we were even.
“Why don’t you ask her out?” Alvarez asked.
I looked back at him and studied him for a few moments.
“I don’t know. I’m not ready—“
“Bullshit,” he said, interrupting me. “I think you’re scared to see what else is out there. Were you not complaining about Lexi wanting to talk to you still, even though your divorce is final yesterday?”
I glared at him and continued speaking once he finished. “—and I don’t think she likes me very much.”
“What’s not to like?” Alvarez asked, tilting his head to the side.
“I don’t know. She just seems standoffish, which makes me think she’s not interested.”
Alvarez looked toward the counter and looked back at me, smirking.
“Well. She might not like you, but I’d say she’s interested based on the way she keeps looking this way.”
I flicked my gaze her way quickly and saw what he was talking about. Zoe was acting like she wasn’t looking this way, but I caught her gaze before looking back at my friend.
“See?” he asked.
I shrugged. “That means nothing. I’m still not ready.”
Alvarez shook his head and leaned forward, running a hand over his hair. “Dude, come on. Why are you fighting this? You’re interested. One date won’t kill you and you might discover that you are ready to get back in the saddle. On the horse. Whatever the saying is.”
I arched a brow at him. “So, you want me to ask her out for sex?”
He shrugged. “Not saying to do that, but not saying not to do that either.”
The teen bus boy walked by us and we stayed quiet until he was past. Alvarez leaned farther forward and lowered his voice. “You need to get out there. If you sleep with her, cool. If not, cool. But you sitting here refusing to try something because ‘you’re not ready’ is bullshit and you know it.”
I didn’t want to admit that he was right. But he was. And that made me mad.
I didn’t want to admit that Lexi had done more of a number on me than I let be seen, but she had.
A loud clanking pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see the bus boy glaring at me and Alvarez.
My brows rose, and I looked at my friend, jerking my chin toward the teenager.
Alvarez glanced at him and grimaced. “Sorry if we’re talking too loud,” Alvarez said, looking back at me and widening his eyes.
I flicked my gaze to him, then back to the busboy who was still glaring at us, red on his cheeks. If a look could incinerate someone, I think the two of us would be toast based on the look he was giving us.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to look away. “So, you ready for the start of the season?” I asked him, forcing the topic away from Zoe and on to safer subjects.
A short while later, the line finally died down, and I stood. “I’m going for a refill. You want one?”
Alvarez shook his head and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though.”
I nodded and walked back to the counter, noting the teen was standi
ng close to it, glaring as I walked up to the register with my cup.
If anything, his glare had intensified, and unease prickled up my spine.
I was sorry he’d heard me talking earlier, but I didn’t think we were that loud and I was sure he’d heard worse.
Zoe’s smile froze on her face as she looked at me from the coffee machine.
“Refill?” she asked through clenched teeth.
I nodded and handed her my cup, flicking my gaze to the glowering teen in the background.
I cleared my throat as she filled my mug. “I think I might need to apologize to your bus boy,” said.
Zoe froze, but quickly continued what she was doing. “Why is that?”
I swallowed thickly and took the mug from her when she handed it to me. “I think he overheard me and my friend at the table talking about some stuff that he probably shouldn’t have overheard.”
Zoe arched a brow and studied me before looking at the teen, then back to me. “Were you talking drug deals?”
I shook my head.
“Steroid use?”
I shook my head again.
“Murder?”
I once again shook my head.
She shrugged. “Then I don’t know what you think he heard that was inappropriate, but he’s a teen boy. He’s heard just about everything. There’s not much that would make him glower like that at you. But if you want to apologize, go for it.”
Before I could say anything else, she turned and walked into the back.
I studied the door she passed through for a few moments before looking at the teen.
He was in the same spot, but his arms were crossed and he was laser-focused on me.
It was now or never.
I sucked in a breath before blowing it out and walking to him.
“Hey, man,” I said when I got close. “I just wanted to apologize for you overhearing us talking about that stuff—“ I started, but he didn’t let me finish.
“I don’t care about that shit.”
I blinked in surprise at what he said and he how he said it. His voice was hard.
“Right. Still, we weren’t being very nice in some of what we were saying—“
The Slider (Boys of Summer Book 5) Page 5