I winced at the reminder. “How long do basketball games last for? Twenty minutes tops? There’s a high probability I’ll do something even more humiliating before it’s over.”
Noah chuckled and slipped his hand back into mine as I watched the concession worker fill our popcorn. The electrifying feel of his palm against mine was another distraction. “Never a dull moment with you.”
* * *
The game passed by in a blur, and I did an awful job of paying attention to the players on the court. I was pretty sure I blacked out for most of the game, but I remembered the little things like Noah’s arm resting over the back of my seat, the way he’d offer me the soda before he took a drink, and how he actively listened to every nonsensical bit of fodder my brain came up with while the players ran around the court like chickens with their heads cut off.
The important things.
I didn’t seem to care when our team lost horribly or when the girl sitting behind me spilled her popcorn all over our seats or when Noah stepped away to take a call, because when we left the stadium, my hand was nestled comfortably in his again.
“Coffee?” Noah asked as we strolled toward the quad.
I smiled, swinging our arms between us. “Lead the way.”
After a woefully-ill-timed hip-bump by yours truly, Noah pulled my hand as he turned left at a fork in the sidewalk. Game day brought more activity to campus than usual, and the tables were packed outside. But the line at the coffee cart wasn’t bad, and I made sure to keep my mouth tightly shut during the short wait to prevent a repeat of my earlier herpes monologue.
Scott’s familiar face was a welcome distraction once it was our turn.
I tugged on Noah’s hand to make him hurry up to the counter. “Oh, Scott! Thank God you’re back!”
“Missed me, did you?” Scott teased.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” I said in all seriousness, wanting Scott to understand how genuinely valued he was as my coffee guy. “I had to go to the café down the road yesterday, and they have this weird carpet that smells like wet dog. It’s so good to have you back.”
“The horror.” Scott had always been so sympathetic. “What can I get you tonight?”
“Just a double espresso with a scoop of sugar for me, please.” I turned toward my trusty sidekick. “Noah?”
“I’ll have a black coffee. Good to see you again, Scott.” Noah nodded and held out his hand—which Scott quickly shook. I smiled, happy to see a friendship blossoming between the two of them. “Do you still have the item from earlier?”
“Oh, shit,” Scott said. He flipped two cups off the stack. “Sorry. I forgot for a sec. Yeah, it’s here. I’ll get it after making your drinks.”
My eyes flickered between the two seemingly innocent men as they exchanged more words than I’d ever seen them exchange during a coffee cart visit before.
“Thank you. I hope it wasn’t much trouble,” Noah said while I stared.
Scott snorted as he poured a couple shots of espresso into my cup and added sugar before making quick work of filling Noah’s cup with coffee. “Are you kidding? Dude, it was nothing. We never use all the fridge space.”
“What are you two talking about?” I asked, feeling unusually left out. The coffee cart was basically my kingdom, and they weren’t being very respectful to the reigning queen.
Noah was fighting to contain a smile, but he finally looked my way. “It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise?” I echoed softly, intrigued beyond belief. I both hated and loved surprises. But Noah didn’t have the best track record with them if our first date was anything to go by.
Scott crouched behind the counter, and I pulled my wad of bills out from my hoodie pocket as he popped back up in front of us with a to-go container in hand.
“Here you go.” Scott held out the secret container to Noah, who accepted it with a nod. My eyes narrowed on both of them, but Noah’s gaze was entirely focused on the small pastry offering at the cart—despite never having ordered a pastry in all the weeks I’d known him.
I held out a handful of bills to Scott. “Will this cover our order?”
Scott shook his head and held out our cups. “Already taken care of.”
Noah accepted his quickly, balancing it atop the container my fingers itched to crack open as I frowned at Scott. “What do you mean? We haven’t paid yet. And don’t get any ideas if Noah tries to argue, because I’m paying today.”
Scott sent me an apologetic smile as he held out a sleek black card to my date. “Sorry, Emma. I’ll remember that for next time, but I already ran his card.”
I gaped, looking between the card and Noah’s conveniently innocent face as he took it from Scott. “When did you…?”
