CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The little blue Corvette idles on the street in front of Cosmo’s Comics & Café, but I’m reluctant to get out. The fog's already lifted from the city and temperatures are above fifty-five. It’s set to become a beautiful day in the Bay. I have three spectacular friends waiting inside on plush couches with a sugary breakfast of French toast smothered with caramel and chocolate. Four months ago I’d be out of the car by now. Today my feet won’t move in their direction. I love my friends, but there’s someone better beside me.
“You’ll call me when you girls finish for the day, right?” Ryland turns on the hazard lights, the little dings with each blink filling in our silence.
I blow out a breath against the window, fogging up a small area, which quickly disappears. “Yeah.”
“You’re going to be late.”
Aspen texted me last night with news she had a surprise for us this morning. I don’t like surprises. At least surprises I don’t know about in advance. “We could go back to your place and play DR.” I try to tempt him to drive away.
“Is everything okay?” he asks, not taking me up on the offer.
“Yeah.” More condensation builds on the window only to dissipate as fast.
Ryland leans over placing a hand on the back of my neck, his fingers caught in a few strands of hair. “You love your girl time on Sundays. Since Aspen took over Cosmo’s we men have been relegated to Finn’s place.”
“Well she wasn’t allowed to have all of us over at one time per her old rules, so really that’s your fault.” I laugh and put my hand on the door handle, the closest I’ve come to leaving. “And don’t let Finn fool you. The guys hang out at Cosmo's on Sunday mornings every once and a while. He just doesn’t want to get out of his pajamas this early most weekends.” I totally understand.
“That sounds like Finn.” He pulls me closer. “Go enjoy the nice couches and gossip, but no pillow fights or whatever else you girls might do together. You'll give the nerds heart attacks.”
“Okay.” I shake my head a few times at him. “I’ll make sure to let Aspen know our clothes have to stay on this week.”
I close the distance between us expecting a quick peck on the lips, but Ryland pulls me toward him. My heart picks up and I fist the fabric of his white shirt stopping any retreat. He bites my lower lip as he pulls away, his lips tipped up smiling down at me before he lets go.
It’s the sendoff I needed. “Saucy, Tiger.” I release his shirt and pat it down, and then I open the door and step out to the sidewalk before I change my mind.
I refuse to stand on the street and watch him drive away, so once his hazard lights shut off, I turn and walk into Cosmo’s.
The comic shop we’ve spent Sundays at since the weather turned too cold for Aspen is bright and airy for the small space it encompasses. The smell of coffee permeates the area. Exposed brick lines both walls, a large window and front door taking up the space at the entrance. To the left running most of the way along, there’s a checkout and section for customers to order coffee and other hot drinks. The right wall’s filled with metal shelving to display the comic book dolls and other boxed items. The middle of the store toward the front is stacked full of tall white box structures holding hundreds, maybe thousands, of various comics separated out by maker and then series.
Most of these areas are easy to overlook, but the back of the room draws my attention. Along the back wall, a few feet from a door marked employees only, three thick orange-ish colored couches form a half circle with a thick coffee table placed in the middle.
Tucked away from the two customers pawing through the stacks of comics wait Aspen, Amanda, and Simone as I suspected. Each claimed a couch as their own and I throw myself down on the opposite end of Aspen’s. Her thick winter coat fills the empty space between us and I remove my purple San Francisco fleece and lay it on top.
“The next time you two try to make a porno on the street, let me know. I bet I’d make millions if I posted it online.” She reaches to the coffee table and grabs a green mug, passing it to my waiting hand.
I breathe across the top to help cool the coffee with the one sugar she knows I need. “You saw, huh?”
“The whole street saw.” Simone’s eyes widen and she pulls on her blue sweater pretending to cool down. “It was hot.”
Trey’s right. We’ve definitely corrupted his sweet and innocent woman. I’m kind of proud how quickly it happened.
“So you two are like… a thing now… officially? A PDA kind of couple?” Aspen watches my face for any hint of a lie, but it’s wasted effort. I’m not going to even try.
I pull out my cell phone. “Yes.”
“Yes? That’s all you have for us?” Amanda asks.
“Don’t worry. She’ll slip sooner or later and then we’ll get our answers.” Aspen answers for me pulling up one of the free comic books Jason, the store owner, leaves on the coffee table. She feigns interest in whoever the big green guy is fighting this edition.
She drops the comic within a minute and the conversation flows to important topics, such as why the food delivery is late and her weekly Finn update. He’s still a nerd and they’re grossly in love.
When nothing exciting comes up, even when Amanda shares her latest dating story, I reach for my phone out of habit and end up texting Ryland.
Me:You need tinted windows.
His response is almost immediate.
