AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pull my lips to the side, considering. “Can I try a cappuccino?”
Tuck presses the button, explaining how the machine works as he points out this dial and that button. The sweet smells of ground coffee and steamed milk bloom between us, and the machine brews the yummiest looking cappuccino I’ve ever seen, complete with a thick layer of foamed milk on top.
“This machine is magic,” I breathe. “How many years did you have to work to be able to buy it? I need something to look forward to. Some motivation. Studying is... not going great. It used to be my favorite thing, but now, not so much.”
Tuck’s mouth actually curls into a kinda-sorta grin. “Took a long-ass time to be able to afford it. What’s changed?”
My turn to blink. “What do you mean?”
“You said studying used to be your favorite thing. Why isn’t it your favorite thing anymore?” He holds out the cappuccino.
“Thank you.” I take it from him, watching as he pulls another mug from the cabinet. “I thought you weren’t going to have one.”
He nods at my cup. “Looks too good to pass up.” He presses a button, then curls his hands around the edge of the counter. The veins in his forearms pop as he leans forward and drops his head. “I should get some more work done anyway.”
“Do you ever stop?”
He swivels his head to look at me. “Stop working?”
“Doing. You’re always in motion. Working, cooking, changing poopy underwear.”
“Says the girl who couldn’t stay still long enough for me to clean up a broken mug.”
I sip my cappuccino. “Just one overachiever recognizing another.”
Tuck grabs his from the machine. “Taste okay?”
“Like heaven.”
He goes quiet. I look at him. He looks back. The silence is awkward and weird but also... a little sexy?
I swallow. “Are you always such a great conversationalist? Or only with me?”
He’s not grinning, but he’s not glowering, either. Feels like a win, albeit a small one. “Not all of us can be rays of fucking sunshine.”
“What’s wrong with fucking sunshine?”
“Nothing’s wrong with fucking sunshine.” He glances at the windows that line the far side of the room. “I’m more of a nighttime kind of guy.”
I lean my hip into the counter. “No.”
His lips twitch. “Did the tattoos give me away?”
“And the growling. And the death stare you give everyone and everything. Well, except Katie.”
“I’m waiting for her teen years to unleash my death stare. Figure it’ll be more effective that way.”
My heart skids inside my chest. Did Tuck just make a joke? With me?
Tuck is not an easy guy to talk to. But not only am I talking to him and he’s talking back, he’s actually kidding around with me. Having fun.
The flow of conversation is easy, effortless. Like we’ve been at this for weeks instead of hours.
It takes me totally off guard. So does the fact that the exhaustion I felt twenty minutes ago is gone, replaced by this fizzy energy that rises up inside me. I feel like a bottle ofchampagne that’s just been uncorked, bubbles rushing to the top of the bottle to greet the air.
“You’re a nighttime guy.” I nod at the windows. “No wonder you ended up on Bald Head. The stars out here are insane. I’ve never seen so many.”
Tuck’s looking at the windows again, eyes narrowed as he carefully sips his piping-hot drink. “To be honest, I haven’t seen ’em in years. A shame, I know. But Katie goes down so early. Gets up early too. If I’m not working when the stars come out, I’m passed the fuck out.”
