"Then maybe she shouldn't say shit about my boyfriend."
Tyler studies me. There's the grin still, but underneath it something older, something that belongs to shared rooms and shelter dinners and the bond of people who've seen each other at their worst.
"You know," he says, "last time I saw you go like that was back at the house. When that kid was running his mouth about Jamie."
"Don't."
"I'm just saying. I've known since then that you throw down when you care about people. I just didn't know you'd weaponize beverages."
"I have access to the full spice rack. She got off easy."
"He's not kidding," Robin adds from behind the pastry case. "We have ghost pepper flakes. He knows where they are."
Tyler laughs, warmer this time. Knocks his cup against the counter. "Yeah. Okay. Your boyfriend's lucky."
"I know he is."
Tyler goes back to his table. Melissa returns from the bathroom, eyes watering, dignity in tatters. She doesn't look at the counter again. They leave twenty minutes later and Melissa doesn't say goodbye, which is fine by me.
I go back to work. Steam, pour, tamp, pull.
Robin sidles up during a lull. "That was deeply unprofessional."
"Are you going to write me up?"
"I'm going to give you another raise." He pauses. "But maybe we keep the cayenne incidents to a minimum. Liability-wise."
"No promises."
Silas walks in from the library. Sits in his booth. Opens his book. I bring him his coffee, large, black, in the blue mug, and our fingers brush and he looks at me with the quiet warmth that means he's been thinking about me all morning.
"How's the shift?" he asks.
"Educational."
"Yeah?"
"I learned that cayenne pepper has a delayed burn. The initial hit is manageable but it intensifies."
He looks at me for a long moment. "Do I want to know?"
"Probably not." I lean against the booth. "Someone had opinions about my boyfriend. I had opinions about her latte."
"Dev."
"She had it coming."
"I don't doubt that." His hand finds mine on the table, squeezes. "You're something else."
"Something good?"
"Something incredible." He pulls me down by our joined hands and kisses me, quick and warm, right there in the café in front of god and Robin and the lunch crowd. "Now go make coffee before Robin fires you for fraternizing."
"Robin's not going to fire me. I'm the only one who can fix the espresso machine."
"Job security through specialized skills."
"That and the fact that I know where the ghost pepper flakes are."