Okay, that had guilt settling in their gut, but they were too mortified to give it much space. “I didn’t have tummy troubles,” they hissed in a whisper. “I left from the side exit, and I didn’t see you. So I went home.”
Which, technically, wasn’t a lie. Theyhadleft through a side exit. They’d just done that purposefully because they knew Dex was waiting for them at the front. Immature and cowardly? Probably. Worth it to avoid the humiliation of learning math from a priggish jock? Definitely.
Dex’s brows furrowed. “Why didn’t you just text me? Or answer when I called?”
To avoid answering, Cya turned on the blender, making it impossible to continue the conversation. Unfortunately, Dex was not deterred. He raised the volume of his voice to be heard over the noise.
“I was worried, you know. Because you just never came out, and then you ignored my texts.” He crossed his thick arms over his chest, and Cya hated the way their gaze caught on the swell of his biceps under his fur. “I thought you were dying of the shits or something.”
And of course he’d said that last part right as they turned off the blender, voice carrying loudly through the cafe. Rusty’s ears, then his head, swiveled in their direction, pink eyes wide, as even the conversation in the dining area quieted. Cya’s tail rattled, mouth pinched into a hard line, and the Lupyn’s ears lowered to lie almost flat against his head.
He pointed at the blender. “I didn’t know you were gonna turn that off.”
“Stop. Talking,” they seethed, and for the first time, Dex actually looked intimidated.
Fuming and humiliated, they poured the smoothie into a fresh cup and stabbed the lid with a straw with so much force it nearly pierced through the bottom. They set it on the end of the counter before they returned to the espresso machine, ignoring the wall of blond fur that slid into their periphery a moment later.
“You know,” Dex drawled, “if I didn’t know any better, I would think you don’t want me to tutor you.”
“Oh, so math isn’t the only thing you’re good at understanding? Good to know.”
They offered him a saccharine smile, and his own grin slid off his face. “What?”
Cya rolled their eyes but didn’t reply.
“You wanna study tonight?” he asked.
“I’m busy,” they lied.
With a huff, Dex gripped their arm, pads of his fingers pressing gently right above their elbow. “Listen, if you don’t want me to tutor you, that’s whatever, but at least tell me so I’m not wasting time that I could be tutoring someone else and getting paid for it.”
“The school pays you?” they asked, distracted by the warmth of his callused fingers on their skin.
“Only if you actually show up,” he said as he released their arm. “Maybe twenty bucks a session isn’t a lot, but not all of us have personal drivers and an endless supply of gold jewelry, you know?”
He spoke calmly. Kindly, even. An accepting, matter-of-fact statement rather than an accusation. But the words still landed like a slap to the face, and Cya reared back.
Without awaiting a response, Dex offered them a muted smile, then made his way back to the register to watch the screen over Rusty’s shoulder. Cya stared for several long seconds as the guilt in their stomach churned into something closer to shame.
They spent the rest of the morning pouting silently. They took their lunch break in Quin’s office, working on homework for their economics class, and they convinced themself that they weren’t annoyed when Gem, Toni, and Dex all lunched together outside.
Through the big front window, Cya scowled as Dex and Toni talked animatedly with big sweeping hand motions while Gem laughed and danced around them. Dex had been here half a day, and already, everyone loved him.
A little before three, Yve arrived to take Gem’s spot behind the register so he could relieve Cya at the espresso machine. Cya had worked evenings with Yve, an Avia around their age with unsettlingly large eyes and pretty white feathers, speckled with warm browns and grays. She was bubbly and sweet, and they’d gotten along well enough, even if she tended to talk Cya’s hear off whenever she had the chance.
While Dex retrieved his bags from Quin’s office, Cya took their leave, not wanting to be stuck walking to the station with him. If they were lucky,they could board a train back to Pride before the Lupyn caught up to them. But since destiny really was out to fuck them, the three o’clock train left exactly on time for what had to be the first timeever, forcing them to wait for the next one.
Spotting them through the crowd, Dex bounded up to them, tail wagging far too joyously. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“A treat, indeed,” they ground out.
“See? I knew you’d warm up to me,” he teased, knocking their arm with his elbow.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
He snorted. “Whatever, princess.”
“I’m not a girl,” they reminded him, and Dex’s smile vanished instantly.
