Rose nods as if this declaration makes sense to her. What does that mean? Am I a boys’ boy?
“I always got a vibe between you two.” Lucy runs a finger in a figure-eight in the air to encompass us. She jabs it my direction. “Must be all those longing looks.”
I won’t give her the satisfaction of reacting to that. I keep my pining stares reserved for when nobody’s watching. I’m not a complete fool.
“Are you going to order something, or are you here to waste our time?” I ask.
Rose laughs but gently moves me to the side. “Be nice.”
“I approve of this.” Lucy’s huge grin makes that obvious. “Keep him in line. How long have you been hiding this?”
“Oh, you know.” Rose looks at me over her shoulder, but I don’t have the answers she’s searching for. This is her rodeo. I just agreed to let it happen. “It’s pretty new.”
“What a way to hard launch your relationship, huh?”
“Nathan could have let it sit for a day or two, at least.” Luke would have kept it to himself. But Nathan’s not built for secrets. Although, I suppose Jovie is the one who technically told everyone. But once she knew, I might as well have handed her a megaphone.
“Yeah, but—” Lucy looks from me to Rose and back. “You don’t know?”
Rose and I share a glance, but whatever my sister’s hinting at is lost on us.
Lucy’s slow grin makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I imagine this is how a gazelle feels when it realizes it needs to run, but the lion’s already mid-pounce. “Have you checked Perk Me Up’s socials today?”
Rose shakes her head. “I shared a few things last night at the concert, but not since.”
“You might want to do that.”
She looks to me, but I just hitch my shoulders. I’m not following any of this. She goes into the back to retrieve her phone. Apparently, her dress of the day doesn’t have pockets. Meanwhile, Lucy grins like a cat that’s got a whole canary stuffed in its mouth. She’s savoring something forbidden but delicious, and that delight pours more dread into my gut.
Rose comes back out, pulling up the shop’s socials on her phone. “Oh. There’s a bunch of notifications here.” She flicks her finger on the screen, a line furrowing between her eyebrows the longer she does. “That’s a lot of tags. What is?—?”
Some pop song plays through her phone while she watches a video. Her cheeks bloom pink, her lips rolling between her teeth. “That’s, um. You should probably see this.”
She passes her phone over, and it takes me a minute to figure out what I’m seeing. It’s a video of us from last night at theconcert. Rose is pulling espressos, swaying to the music, and talking with a customer through a bright smile. A normal day at work for her.
Except there I am next to her, staring at her with a dazed look in my eyes like I’ve been hit upside the head. I’ve got a half-smile on my face, and it’s obvious I’m ignoring the person at the front of the line. I’m way too distracted by her to pay attention to anyone else.
The text over the video says, “Get yourself a man who looks at you the way this guy looks at his barista.”
So. Idon’tkeep my pining stares confined to when nobody’s around.
8
rose
All the bloodrushes out of my head like I stood up too fast as the video of us loops to start again. I had to watch it a few times to make sure that’s actually Reed standing next to me. The man in the video is wearing his clothes and his Perk Me Up apron. Same broad build. Same messy, dark hair. But that’s definitely not a scowl on his face.
I mean…it’s not a full grin or anything. The smile is subtle. But it counts.
Obviously, it counted to whoever took the video and posted it with the flirty caption.
Reed passes me back my phone, but his gaze is glued on the counter in front of us. One guess how this super private guy feels about a video of himself being shared by strangers.
Not a fan.
“The cat’s out of the bag now.” Lucy sighs. “Coffee shop romance trope.”
“Is that a trope?” I ask. The romances I read are usually of the fated mates and destined love variety. I like the security of a forever love right from the start. Third act breakups? Don’t get me started.
