AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No one was this nice. No one.
“Hey.” I spoke without lifting my voice.
Despite the little distance between us, he stopped and rotated back around. His hair was wet and plastered to his forehead. “My name is Win.”
“We’re here,” I told Win and gestured to the shop right in front of me. “Do you want coffee or not?”
His eyes flew to the warmly lit windows trimmed in black, which matched a black awning over the largest one. Stretching along the entire front of the shop was a white sign that said Espresso House in bold black letters.
He made a sound, a big smile flashing over his face. “Oh, thank God, I’m so hungry I could eat my own arm!” He rushed forward, practically running past me to the door that had a small red carpet spread out in front of it.
Was this how to get him to leave me alone? Feed him? Spinning on my heel, I went to the door as well, lips twitching as I stared at my feet.
Instead of stepping into the warm, richly scented coffeehouse, my entire body collided into something wet and solid. I bounced back with a startled grunt, the bell on the door jingling fiercely.
“Whoa,” Win said, reaching out to steady me.
I pushed his hand away, straightening. “Why didn’t you go inside?”
“‘Cause I was being rude again.”
I laughed. The sound was so unexpected I slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle the noise.
Win’s hazel eyes danced with merriment as they searched my features, almost as though he was trying to read a map.
The laugh turned into a lump in my throat, and I tried to force it down before saying, “What?”
“I forgot to ask your name.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse, but even I knew how childish that was. And he did thank me for picking him up. I guess it would be okay to tell him my name.
“It’s Lars.”
“You have a last name, Lars?”
The second my name fell off his lips with that stupid American twang, my stomach bottomed out. “Why do you need to know it?”
“You know mine.”
I blinked.
“Sinclair,” he explained. “It was on the sign you were trying to hide at the airport.”
“I was not trying to hide it,” I argued.
He smiled. “Uh-huh.”
“It’s Eriksson,” I said. “Lars Eriksson. Can we go inside now?”
“Nice to meet you, Lars Eriksson,” Win said, pulling the door wider and gesturing me ahead. “After you.”
I rolled my eyes but went. I definitely needed a coffee to deal with him. Maybe even two.
3
Win
Linska Institute wasn’t exactlyas I expected. Sure, I’d seen photos and maybe a video or two showing the campus, but seeing something online or in a photograph was so different from laying eyes on it in person.
