I walk past her into the front of the shop and start organizing the syrup bottles on the counter in an attempt to hide my now very bright red face. I hear her practically skipping right back to my side.
She leans against the counter, forcing me to look at her. “Are you going to tell me more or am I just going to have to make more bold assumptions?”
I shake my head, but secretly I love that she know me so well—maybe even too well.
“We…” I pause and squint, thinking about how to put this. “We had dessert.”
Her nose scrunches with a confused look. “Dessert? That’s boring.”
The image of gelato melting down my chest pops into my mind and I remember what it felt like when his tongue lapped it off of me. Boring is not the word I would use.
“He made it just for me. So yeah, last night was good, and he made me breakfast this morning.”
“Oh,” she says with a flirty, intrigued tone. “You saw him last nightandthis morning?”
I groan in exasperation because I know she won’t let this go. “Yes, and since I know you’re going to ask, we have a date planned for tomorrow night.”
“Yes!” The squeal she makes is so loud I’m positive my ears are going to ring for hours. She claps her hands together and bounces up and down. “Finally, you two canfigure out whatever this thing is between you. I swear, it’s been infuriating to watch you ignore it.”
I scowl at her. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”
“Oh, I am always going to be your ride-or-die, that doesn’t mean you’re always right.”
I shake my head and sigh. As much as I’d love to argue with her and tell her I thought I had a good reason to be mad at him, she’s got a point—I was wrong.
So instead, I ignore her and take a sip of my iced Honey Badger I’ve been waiting for all morning. When that cinnamon and honey laced coffee hits my lips, my body melts and I let out a whimper. Sutton was right—I’m hit with all the flavors that he mixed together on my chest last night.
She quirks a brow at me. “Are you OK there? Did our coffee get better overnight?”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
She rolls her eyes. “Well, I’m going to get started brewing some more coffee for the carafes.” She stops and her eyes linger on me for a second before her mouth curls into a soft smile. “But I’m happy for you. Whatever is going on with you and Sutton, just try to give it a chance and enjoy it this time.”
I nod. “Sure, I’ll try.”
She pats me on the shoulder and walks to the other end of the counter.
I start to fill the creamer and milk carafes for the self-service station when my phone buzzes in my pocket. My heart skips a beat at the mere chance that it might be Sutton. I set down the carafe and pull my phone out. Felix walks over to me from his bed and sits in front of me, his cue that he probably needs to go out for his post breakfast walk.
“One second.” I pat him on the head and he leans into my legs.
I look at the notification and my heart sinks when it’s not Sutton. I try to ignore how much I was hoping it was him.
Instead it’s an email from my landlord. Maybe he finally fixed the light in the parking lot that’s been flashing outside my window for the last month. My heart sinks again when I open the email.
This is I was dreading. My rent definitely is going up, even more than I thought.
Of course this is how my life goes. When something starts to go right, something else goes horribly wrong. My eyes stay glued to my phone screen and I try to wrap my head around how to cover that much more rent each month.
“Hey, you alright?” I look up to see Monica watching me with a concerned look. “Please tell me he didn’t already fuck up again? Because if he did, I will personally go beat his ass this time.”
“No, it’s fine. Just still trying to get my landlord to fix that stupid light.” I shake my head. This is one of those things that I prefer not to talk to Monica about. I know she would try to help me in some way even though I feel like her and Jason, and even Sandy, do so much for me already.
I tuck my phone away and put on a forced smile. “Let’s get this place ready to open.”
She studies me for a second before shrugging, and I breathe a sigh of relief that I don’t have to have that conversation right now. As much as it felt good to accept help from Sutton and give him a chance, my dynamic with Monica is just different.
CHAPTER 26