Ah, heaven.
Mr. Muscles hesitated, and I paid enough attention to see him eyeing the thieving magician with unease.
As he should. You never knew when he would take a sweet, helpless, generously icing-ed cupcake straight out of your—
“Coffee?” Mr. Muscles offered to the charming vagrant, holding out the other steaming cup before nodding over his shoulder. “I’ll go grab another.”
Cupcake Thief perked up a bit. He nodded easily and accepted the coffee. “Thanks, man.”
Well, at least that meant he probably wouldn’t try to steal my coffee now.
I held the cup closer to my nose while Mr. Muscles lumbered away—as close as I could without burning my lips on the edge. The scent of maple syrup grew stronger, and I looked up to see Cupcake Thief stepping closer while sniffing his own cup.
He caught my eye with a smirk, and his gaze darted toward Mr. Muscles’ back before he focused back on me. “That your boyfriend?”
I blinked at the question, not expecting it. But the answer was easy. “Nope.”
It shouldn’t have made my stomach pool with warmth when his smirk widened.
“It’s Finn, by the way,” he said, reintroducing himself before holding his cup out in a toast. “I could always tattoo it on my forehead, in case you forget again.”
Finn.
It sounded a lot better than Cupcake Thief.
I mimicked his toast, and we both ceremoniously lifted our coffees. I threw caution to the wind, going for a gulp because it’d been too long since I’d tasted the sweet release of a caffeinated beverage—
—before promptly spitting it out at the same time coffee sprayed from Finn’s lips like a fountain.
“Ugh!” He scowled, shoulders jerking as he shook his head.
I spat again—very ladylike—before letting out a whimper.
“Black coffee,” I spat like a curse before squinting into the lid’s tiny mouth hole. The view wasn’t great, but sure enough, the liquid was on the seriously darker side of the brown scale.
Finn’s face crumpled. “Also known as the devil’s brew.”
I tried my best to hold back tears.
“This is such a waste,” he muttered and turned his coffee upside down over the grass.
“Wait!” I cried, leaping forward to stop him. Finn jerked back, startled—which made sense since I was a practical stranger jumping toward him. “Don’t just pour it out!”
Finn stopped and flipped his cup back the right way as his eyebrows shot up. “It’s fine, Cupcake. I’m not even a huge fan of coffee. I just wanted him to leave so I could spend more time with you.”
I blinked, my hand still in midair as I processed his admission. “But that doesn’t mean you should pour it out. We can still salvage this.”
“How?” Finn glanced at his cup with a grimace. “Honestly, we’d be doing the world a favor if we got rid of it.”
“Just—wait! Trust me.” I hurried to the back of the van and pulled my bookbag out. Going straight for the front zipper, it didn’t take me long to find our saving grace. I curled them inside my fist before hiding it behind my back as I faced Finn—
Only to find him pulling a silver flask out of his hoodie pocket.
“You’re right. It’s worth a shot,” he said while holding his flask up in a cheers motion.
I frowned. “What’s that? What are you doing?”
He glanced up, grinning wide enough to show off his dimples. “Just making this coffee a little Irish.”
