“Ugh, sue you and your older brother magic.”
He keeps his gaze focused on me, the teasing grin turning into a more softer expression. So I exhale, letting my shouldersloosen. “Jacob came by the cafe today. I was just a little annoyed, that's it.”
I see his jaw clench for a moment. “What did he want?”
“Coffee.”
That makes him laugh, but his seriousness remains. “Do you want me to say anything to him?”
“No, it’s not a big deal,” I say hoping he will drop it, “Let’s just forget about it and go back to eating this fucking delicious pizza, because it’s been staring at me ever since you started getting all serious.”
He lets out a low laugh and drops it, thankfully.
I reach into my pocket for my phone, half expecting to see a message from Mel or Kiara, but my fingers close around nothing. I frown and pat my other pocket. Nothing there either. “Wait,” I mumble, sitting up a little straighter. “Where’s my—” The realization hits me a second later. “Ugh.”
Noah glances over, but keeps eating his slice. “What?”
“I left my phone at the café.”
“Of course you did.”
I push the blanket off my lap and stand up, grabbing the car keys from the little bowl on the table by the door. “I’m just gonna run back and get it real quick,” I tell him, already slipping on my shoes. “I must’ve left it behind the counter.”
“Right now?”
“They’re still open tonight anyway,” I say, opening the door. “Be right back.”
“Alright,” he calls after me. “Don’t crash the car.”
I roll my eyes and step outside, the cool night air hitting my face as I head for the car.
6
RYAN
She’s a genius
Hazel & Bean looks different at night. During the day it’s loud, coffee machines hissing, people coming in and out. But now it’s quiet, warm lights hanging over the tables and only a couple people scattered around with laptops and half-finished drinks.
They usually close around five, but on some days they stay open until eight. Which is how I’ve somehow ended up spending my Saturday night here, studying.
I have an assignment due next week about the role of law enforcement in community policing. Basically a lot of reading, a lot of notes, and trying to make it sound like I know what I’m talking about.
Honestly, I've always liked the training part of the program more than the studying part. That’s also why I’ve been thinking about staying on the training side of things after I finish this program. The plan right now is to do the one-year instructor certification after graduation and eventually teach the physical training part of the academy. It just feels like something I’d be good at. But I need to graduate from this program first. Which, sadly, does require me to finish this assignment.
My laptop is open in front of me, a notebook spread beside, and a cup of black coffee sits dangerously close to it.
I take the first sip of my coffee, staring at the sentence on my screen, when the chair across from me suddenly scrapes against the floor.
I glance up and a girl with long red hair drops into the seat like we do this every week, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “You’re Ryan, right?”
I blink once. She looks vaguely familiar, someone I’ve probably seen around campus, but I have absolutely no idea what her name is. “Uh… yeah.”
“You’re in the police program, right?” she continues immediately, the words coming out at full speed. “I heard you guys have to do like insane physical training. Is that true? Like, do they actually make you run those obstacle courses and stuff?”
“Yeah, sometimes,” I say, still trying to process how this conversation started.
“That’s so cool,” she says, nodding enthusiastically. “I could never do that. I get tired just walking up the hill behind the library.”
