Nope.Absolutely not.I am not doing this.
I take another long, slow sip of the lukewarm coffee, letting the caffeine hit the back of my throat.
Feelings later.
Definitely later.
Chapter11
Maddox
Isnag my keys, shrug into my jacket, and leave the school.The cold air hits like a splash of ice water, a welcome jolt after eight hours of fluorescent lights, an hour with the principal, and rehashing the bus breakdown with every teacher in the building.
Bloom & Brew is a short walk, yet long enough to let the tension in my shoulders drop and wrap my head around this interview.
The sweet mix of roasted beans, cinnamon, and lilacs hit me as I enter the shop.The place is a weird hybrid—caffeine up front, florist in the rear—but in this town, it works.
School only let out twenty minutes ago, and the shop is already humming.The booths are packed with teenagers looking for a sugar high, while the older crowd settles by the windows where they can keep tabs on the whole town.
My gaze sweeps the room, moving past the chaos, and stops dead on the figure framed by the afternoon light.
Grace.
She sits by the window unaware I’ve arrived.Flaxen waves cascade down her back as she scribbles furiously on a notepad, pen held like a weapon she’s unafraid to use.She glances up and her mouth curves, not quite a smile but close enough.
Does she feel it, too?This freaky pull between us, heavy and unavoidable, tethering us by something neither of us agreed to.
“Maddox Hartley.”Her voice is smooth, polite.Guarded.“You showed.”
I slide into the chair across from her.“Figured if I didn’t, you’d buy out the coffee shop just to get my attention.”
Her eyes narrow, but amusement dances in her blue depths.“Don’t worry.I left my credit card at home.”
“Probably safer for everyone.”
Nate, a senior and captain of the Varsity basketball team, jogs over with a grin.He gives Grace a little chin dip like they’ve already talked this afternoon.“Hey, Coach.The usual?”
“Yeah, thanks.Make it two.”I nod toward her.“Unless you want something else?”
She crosses her arms, perfectly unimpressed by my take-charge attitude.“What’s ‘the usual’?”
Before I can answer, Nate says, “Large black coffee and a side of judgment.”
A small laugh escapes her, and he beams, looking like he won the state championship.
“That’s the way you take it, right?Black?”The second the words leave my mouth, heat crawls up my collar.
Grace tilts her head.“And how would you know how I take my coffee, Maddox?”
“Uh.”I scratch the back of my neck, finding the bakery case fascinating.“Good guess.”
There’s no way in hell I’m telling her I grilled Percy about her order at Pop’s.At the time, it was only curiosity.Now, it’s something else entirely.Something I don’t have a name for yet—or maybe I do, and that’s the problem.
I’ve been replaying every detail of our first meeting, and anytime she’s been near me, in my head like game tape, breaking it down frame by frame, looking for the moment things shifted.I still haven’t found it.
Nate shifts from foot to foot, clearly realizing he’s walked into a vibe he doesn’t understand.Grace finally puts the kid out of his misery.“I’ll have the same, Nate.Thanks.”
When he leaves, Grace sets her phone on the table between us and taps the screen, opening the voice memo app.“Ready?”