Page 2 of Eddie

“Eddie.”

Valentine’s voice snapped him back to reality. Eddie blinked and turned, finding Valentine grinning at him like he’d just won the lottery. That didn’t bode well.

“What?” Eddie asked.

“You’re staring.”

“I’m not.” Marcus was grinning too, and yeah, okay, Eddie had definitely been staring. “I was just looking.”

“You definitely were.” Valentine’s smile widened. “At that guy who just walked in.”

Eddie’s face felt warm. “Shut up.”

“No, no, I saw that,” Valentine said, turning to get a better look at the stranger, who’d moved to stand near the door, maybe waiting for the line to die down. “He’s cute. And he was definitely looking back at you.”

“He was not,” Eddie muttered, but he glanced back toward the man anyway. The stranger was looking at his phone now, but there was a tension in his shoulders that suggested that he was aware of Eddie’s attention. Great. Now Eddie was being creepy.

“He was absolutely looking back,” Marcus confirmed. “I saw it, too.”

“Both of you need to mind your business,” Eddie said, but he knew they wouldn’t.

What the hell was wrong with him? He didn’t get like this. He’d dated plenty of people, and none of them had ever made him feel like this just from eye contact. Maybe he’d eaten something weird last night.

Valentine leaned closer. “You should go talk to him.”

“What? No.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re here to get coffee for the crew, not hit on random strangers.”

“We’re waiting anyway,” Valentine pointed out. “Order’s not ready yet. You’ve got time.”

“We’re technically working already.”

“Eddie.” Valentine put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, his expression turning serious. “When was the last time you went on a date?”

Eddie scowled. “I don’t know. A couple months ago?”

“Try six,” Valentine said. “And that guy looked at you like you were the only person in this coffee shop.”

“He’s probably just passing through,” Eddie said, even though the thought made something in his chest tighten uncomfortably.

“So? It doesn’t mean you can’t say hi.” Valentine gave him a little push. “Go. We’ll wait for the coffee.”

“I hate you,” Eddie muttered.

“You love me,” Valentine shot back. “Now go before I do it for you.”

Eddie shot him a glare, but his feet were already moving before his brain could catch up. It was stupid. It was so stupid. The guy was probably straight, or taken, or not interested, or all of the above. Eddie was going to walk over there, make a fool of himself, and then have to come back and face Valentine’s disappointment. Why should Valentine be disappointed anyway? It was none of his business.

But Eddie was already halfway across the coffee shop, and the stranger was looking up from his phone, and their eyes met again, and, yeah, okay. Eddie was doing this.

He stopped close enough to talk, but not so close that it was weird. Up close, the man was even more attractive. His dark eyes looked warm in the light from the windows, and his mouth quirked up slightly at one corner like he was fighting a smile. Maybe he was laughing at Eddie. Eddie definitely would if he weren’t freaking out.

“Hi,” he said, and wow, his voice sounded way more confident than he felt. He’d expected a squeak. “I, uh, I’m Eddie.”

The stranger blinked, and for a second, Eddie thought he was going to brush him off. But then his expression softened, and he smiled, and Eddie’s heart did that skip-thump thing again.