“Ugh. You know I hate it when you butcher her name.”
“Well, start talking, and maybe I’ll say it right.”
Cleo tilted her chin in defiance. “Say it right, then I’ll talk.”
“Fiiiiine. Dang. Someone’s choosing violence today. I like smoldery Cleo, she’s kinda badass. Hermione. Happy now?”
Cleo nodded. “I really dunno what my deal is, Mol. I’m scared. What if he doesn’t love me back? What if I love him more than he loves me? What if my parents find out? What if my grades drop? What if—?”
“Slow. Your. Roll. Girlfriend.” Molly leaned across the counter and flicked Cleo’s forehead, right between her eyes. “This is some seriously high school angst going on here.”
She waved her palm in front of Cleo’s face. “First of all, you’re a grown-ass woman. You can’t ‘what if my parents…’ forever. At some point you’re going to have to grab your life by the balls and make that shit your bitch. Take your parents out of the equation altogether. Say, for the sake of argument, it’s none of their damn business who you let come to play in your lady garden.Youget to decide who to spend your time with and who you fall in love with.”
“I didn’t reallychooseto fall for Linc, Molly. He’s not my type.”
Molly snorted. “Sure, sure. Okay, we can totally pretend he’s not your type. But sometimes that’s just how the dice land, girlie.” She sipped her drink, licking the foam from her top lip before placing the cup onto the saucer with a light clink. “Youhavefallen for him, and you owe it to yourself to be happy. Really happy, in all things. Not just top-of-your-class happy.”
Cleo went walked to the vacated table, picked up the empty cups and sugar packets, and gave its surface a wipe. “You don’t think we’re just incompatible?” She could almost hear Molly’s eye roll behind her.
“Those noises you make when he’s fucking you all the way to the Promised Land and back sure sound compatible. Stop talking shit. You’re afraid, and that’s fine, but you’re absolutely compatible. And if you don’t trust your clit or your heart, ask your brain. I’m pretty sure they’re all on the same page with this one.”
Cleo loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher as the café door opened and a group of six students walked in, followed by Lincoln.
“Yeah. Your face is doing that shit-eating grin thing again, Cho-Cho. Incompatible my ass.” Molly flashed Lincoln a grin as he approached the counter. “Linc! Pull up a chair.”
Cleo worked her way through the six students’ orders, keeping an ear on Molly’s chat with Lincoln to make sure she didn’t embarrass the hell out of her.
“What can I get you, Hockey Boy? Shouldn’t you be heading to the rink? Don’t you have a game tonight?”
He leaned over the counter and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “I love that you’re invested in my hockey schedule. I appreciate it, even though you hate the sport. Okay,allsport. And yes, I have a game, but I wanted to drop in and say hi first. I also brought you a little something.”
“For me?”
“Well it sure as hell isn’t for me.” Molly drained the last of her coffee and slid the cup and saucer toward Cleo. “Refill please, brew-bitch.”
“I’ll sort the people in front of you first, wench. Wait your turn. Anything I can get you, Linc?”
“No ma’am. Thanks, though.”
Cleo leaned forward but he pressed whatever was in his hand against the front of the counter so she couldn’t see it. He jerked his chin at the coffee machine. “Serve your customers, Lizzy. This can wait.”
Her stomach flip-flopped as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She’d never dated someone who gave her ‘just because’ gifts before. She found herself enjoying the gestures and thought behind them even more than she enjoyed his gifts. Nodding, she pulled six mugs onto the counter, and started making the drinks.
“Still calling her Lizzy, eh? I think that’s cute as hell.”
“Know what I think is cute as hell?”
Molly’s eyes danced with a hint of challenge. “What’s that?”
“O’Brien having a pet name for you. Totes adorbs… as Russ would say.”
Perhaps her best friend had finally met her match with Lincoln. He was giving her a dose of her own medicine and Cleo was here for it.
Molly’s face paled and for a moment something flickered across her face before she slid her “don’t give a shit” mask on. “We’ve known each other for a long time,Lincoln.” Her voice was as cool as her pointed stare. “It’s perfectly normal for friends to have nicknames for each other.”
“Cool. Friends. Just checking. We don’t need to be replacing a left winger ‘cause your brother smashed his best friend’s brains in because he’s banging his lil sis, know what I’m saying?”
Molly’s jaw dropped open and her nostrils flared. “That’s not… we’re… not… I don’t…”
