Page 20 of To Love the Stars too Fondly

“Welcome to Tortalgan Coffee Co,” Liam said, stealing my line. “Triple shot black coffee?” Before I could get a word in, he added, “Terra, you should take your break after this order.”

“Why would—”

He coughed, which was when I realized I was an idiot.

Alex leaned coolly against the counter, her smirk indicating that she also knew I was an idiot. “So, he knows.”

“He knows you drove me home last night.” I took her card, quickly swiping her total for the abomination drink.

“Which indicates there might be more for me to know,” Liam said in his stupid sing-song-failed-Broadway-wannabe voice, “but you enjoy your break, okay?”

It was rather kind of him, given there was a line behind Alex. “As you can see, he’s thrilled,” I said, offering back the card. “I’ll be right back.”

All Barbs asked was that we take our aprons off if we stepped outside the breakroom when not on the clock, so I quickly emerged in just my button-down and slacks and joined Alex at a table in the corner. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she replied, sipping at the god-awful sludge.

“Glad I didn’t scare you off,” I said, uncertain of my own shyness.

Alex shook her head. “You couldn’t. Though I worried getting my usual would scare you off.”

I made a show of rolling my eyes, punctuating it with a tsk tsk. “My chicory latte didn’t sway you toward the light?”

“I need an abomination drink to survive my days.”

It sparked a question I’d never quite had the courage to ask. “And by ‘your days’, you mean the gym.”

“Correct.”

“So that’s why you dress”—oh shit, how did I even finish this sentence—“like that every day.”

Amusement narrowed Alex’s gaze. “Like that?”

I lowered my voice, lest the nice family in the back hear. “Like a slutty gym bro.”

She laughed. “I knew the mesh would help me out somehow.”

Alex was, in fact, wearing a mesh shirt. “It does suit you infuriatingly well,” I admitted.

“You should swing by the gym. Sometimes I even take off my shirt.” She winked, but I feigned a scowl.

“You’re allowed to, but not me?”

I forced myself to giggle and lighten the mood, even as Alex winced. “Look, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay. I get it.” I did not get it in the slightest, but this morning I’d awoken with an odd sense of relief. “You want to do things ‘right’.”

Whatever that meant.

Her expression softened, but I continued with a tsk tsk. “But what you’re actually saying is I wasn’t hot enough to break your two-year celibacy streak.”

She scowled, her offense only somewhat mocking. “Hey now.”

“No, I get it. I’ll just wear nothing under my shirt next time.”

My struggle to suppress my smile was at least as much of a battle as Alex trying to hide her own. “You can wear whatever you want.”

I nodded, forcing myself to remain nonchalant. “In that case, I won’t wear panties either.”