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“You just might.” Cassidy smiled, excitement at the potential plan starting to form in her head, showing in her grin, and she handed him her card. If she could get Jacob and Phoenix in the same room, she would be able to see for herself whether the love-heart eyes were only one-sided or if Jacob stood a chance. She shot Jacob a text.Let’s do coffee on Saturday.
How about dinner Friday night and then breakfast on Saturday?
Cassidy dialled his number, and Jacob picked up before the first ring had even finished. “I know what you’re about to say, but listen just for a minute. I get that whatever we are is a little weird. I don’t know what to call what we have, and it’s okay if you’d prefer to just be friends, or maybe just the benefits bit if you don’t want the friendship. I’m not really sure if we’re friends, but I’d like to think that’s where we’re headed, or maybe more than that. You know that I want more, but I don’t want to push you. I’m not trying to drive you away, so if I’m overstepping…. Could you give me a chance? I could show you what it could be like between us—”
“Jacob, stop talking.” He did, gasping in a breath like he’d completely run out of oxygen, and Cassidy closed her eyes, gathering her courage. “Dinner Friday night would be great. And, yeah, friends sounds like a good place to be with you. I like you, but it takes me a while to trust people. Maybe we can work toward that.”
“I’d like that, Cassidy.”
“My friends call me Cassie. You should do that too.”
She’d only just hung up when Phoenix said her name, his deep voice sending shivers through her. He stepped aside, motioning away from the crowd of people waiting for their coffees. “Do you have a minute? I’m due for my break. Maybe we could have a coffee together?”
“I’d like that.” She looked around the shop and spotted the comfortable-looking sofa just big enough for the two of them to sit on. “How about there?”
Phoenix nodded and licked his lips. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat and nodded again. “Yeah.” He handed her the cup and motioned to the coffee machine. “Give me a sec?”
She slipped onto the couch and sipped her latte, humming as the rich flavours hit her tongue. There really was nothing better than a good coffee. The cushion next to her dipped and Cassidy turned to watch Phoenix get comfortable. With his ankle tucked under his knee, he sat sideways on the sofa, facing her. He’d lost the apron and now held a mug of steaming coffee in his hand, but he wasn’t looking at her, instead focussing on a piece of imaginary lint on his black pants.
“How long have you worked here?” Cassidy asked, and he looked up, assessing her. It was as if he was searching for something.
“Nearly four years. I got the job just after I moved to the city.”
She admired that. He must have been straight out of high school when he’d moved. She didn’t know his exact age, but there couldn’t have been more than a year or two difference between them. For him to have held down such a demanding job for so long at their age, it was impressive. It showed dedication and drive. She respected that. “Nice. I’m not from around here either, but I didn’t come far—I’m only from the western suburbs. Where did you move from?”
“I grew up on a farm up north. Sydney’s cool though. I love how busy it is. It’s the complete opposite of my parents’ place. There was nothing going on there—even the pub closed early. When I was growing up, everyone seemed so much older, so I wanted to move somewhere livelier.”
“Where’s their farm?” Cassidy took a sip of her coffee and turned to face him more, mirroring his pose.
“Little place about an hour south of Brisbane. It’s called Tamborine.” She couldn’t believe it. She knew it. She’d visited the mountaintop showgrounds often, tagging along while her parents checked out the Sunday craft markets, and Cassidy and her brother ate whatever handmade snacks they could persuade their folks to buy.
“As in Tamborine Mountain, west of the Gold Coast? I spent all my summers as a kid on the Goldie.”
“No way!” He laughed, his eyes lighting up with a spark of happiness as he spoke of home. “Small world. Tamborine is on the western side of Tamborine Mountain, but yeah, that one.”
“And you’ve been in Sydney for four years? Did you move as soon as you finished school?”
“Yeah. Got a scholarship that covers my accommodation at the uni, so I moved down here.” Phoenix was undoubtedly beautiful, his dark and mysterious vibe handsome in an almost opposite way to Jacob’s surfer-boy looks, but in the five minutes they’d spent speaking, Cassidy knew he was so much more than that, and the scholarship reinforced the knowledge. “Mum and Dad don’t have a lot, so I’ve been working since, trying to pay my own way.”
With those words, she was no longer lowkey impressed, but in awe of the commitment that it would have taken for him to juggle whatever he was studying as well as working enough that he could pay for the myriad things he needed to live in a city as expensive as Sydney.
“Damn, Phoenix, I’m—”
“Phoenix? Sorry to interrupt, but we need you back at the counter,” the same young woman who’d served her that first day said. She was wringing a tea towel in her hands and shifting her weight from foot to foot. She clearly hated breaking into their conversation, but Cassidy needed to get back to it as well. “I should be off too. Maybe we can chat more tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sounds great.”
*****
Walking with Jacob’s arm around her was comfortable. Warmth tingled through her belly, and Cassidy couldn’t help her smile. She looked up at the man who had wined and dined her the night before in the most unexpected of restaurants. It was down by the wharf at Woolloomooloo in the basement of what looked to be a dingy old office building. Getting to it had creeped her out a bit, the dimly lit laneway more shadows than anything else. The sign above the steel door was understated, but the food was something else. A wild Asian fusion that was a riot of colour and flavour. They’d drunk warm sake and stumbled into the rideshare when the restaurant closed around them.
She hadn’t expected it, thinking that Jacob would go the more traditional route of an upscale restaurant with a view rather than vinyl tablecloths and plastic chairs. But she was beginning to realize that Jacob wasn’t the pretentious kind. He didn’t aim to impress with money or by throwing around his father’s influence. In fact, Jacob seemed reluctant to talk about that part of him, except to say that he was nothing like his old man.
They’d gone back to Jacob’s place after—it was closer to Grounds than hers—and, as promised, were going to brunch. Her muscles ached. Every part of her, especially her most intimate, was well used and sated. Jacob had worshipped every inch of her with his lips, his tongue, his fingers, and his cock. Cassidy had lost count of how many times she came. She’d been a sweaty mess when she’d finally passed out, but she’d felt the warm wipe sliding over her skin before Jacob crawled in and pulled her into his arms. They’d stayed like that most of the night, Cassidy using Jacob’s shoulder as a pillow, but with the dawn’s rays sliding between the cracks in the blinds, she’d slipped down between his legs and finally got to taste him.
Jacob paused just outside the shop next door to Grounds. He chuckled nervously before wiping his palm down his leg. “It’s a dead giveaway, you know?” Cassidy turned to face him, clasping his fingers in hers. “When you’re nervous, you wipe your hands on your pants.” Bringing his knuckles to her lips, she kissed them softly. “You have nothing to worry about. You’re charming and sweet. Gorgeous too. If he doesn’t like you, it’s not because of you. It’s because of him, and that’s okay. It means that he’s not right for us.”
“I want to give this to you, Cassie. That was our deal. You’re poly, and I want to show you—no, I need to show you—that we fit together. There’s something about him...”
