When I was making a drink for a customer, Brady came around the counter right up to me. “How’s it going?” he asked. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, not waiting for me to answer his question.
“It’s not going too bad. It got a little busy there for a momentbut it seems to have died down.”
“Busy is good.” Brady leaned against the counter behind us and crossed his arms under his chest. “I heard that you’re working with my dad.”
My back stiffened, my mind instantly going to the other night and what happened between Rhett and me. “Yeah, we haven’t actually done a lot of work. But we’ve been chatting about how to grow his business and ours.”
“That’s a good idea. I think the two of you will work really well together.”
My cheeks heated. If he only knew. Flashes of that night kept playing over and over in my mind. Like a movie reel. All I could see was me on my knees and him behind me breathing against my neck.
I gently gave myself a shake, not needing to think of that right at the moment. Especially not with Rhett’s son standing right behind me. Someone I used to sleep with. Could this be even weirder?
“Are you happy?” I asked Brady when there was a lull in customers.
“I am. I’ve considered asking Cam if he wants to move in together. His place is bigger than ours. And we’ve been dating for over six months now. Figured it was the next step.”
“That’s good. I’m happy for you both.” And I was, even though I was jealous in the beginning. But I wasn’t really jealous of their relationship. I was jealous because Brady was happy and I was still lusting over his father, like I had been doing for several years. It also didn’t help that I slept with Brady even though I had a major crush on his dad.
At the same time, it left a little to the mystery. I was confused and my thoughts were a mess. I didn’t know what I was doing.
I found that I missed Rhett. I wished that he would contact me even if it was just to say hello. But I hadn’t heard from him, and it left a sour taste in my mouth even though it reallyshouldn’t. It wasn’t like we talked about what we were doing or anything like that.
“So a little birdie told me that Nicky is back in town,” Brady said, breaking the unnerving silence between us.
“Yes, he is. Presley and Noah got into it.”
“I heard about that too.” Brady sighed. “As much as I worry about Noah, it’s also none of our business. He’s a big boy and can take care of himself.”
“Yes, he can but at the same time, Nicky really needs to learn that Noah is a human being and one with feelings.”
“And the guy’s been in love with him for as long as I can remember.”
“Clearly Nicky is oblivious to that or maybe he knows, and he just doesn’t care.”
I grunted. “I think when it comes to Noah, Nicky definitely cares about what he thinks.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, yes, I do.” But before I could continue, Noah made an appearance. He looked between both of us. A deep frown sat between his brows.
“You were talking about me, weren’t you?” he mumbled.
“Noah, we would never do such a thing.”
“Shane is just filling me in on everything that is going on,” Brady told him. “Since I haven’t been here.”
“You were here yesterday,” Noah pointed out.
“True.” Brady looked at me and waited. It was almost like he was waiting for me to comment. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to serving customers. Even though the four of us owned Coffee Beans & Love, we still helped the staff. We introduced ourselves to the customers and always made sure that they were as happy as they could be. If they weren’t happy, we would do our best to make it happen next time. Or find out how we could fix things.
While I was busy serving customers, the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly tingled. My body stiffened. I glanced over my shoulder, finding Rhett walking over to a table in the far corner of the room with Presley and Nicky’s father, Manny, and Manny’s best friend. I had only met him once before and couldn’t remember his name.
I looked around me, seeing...no...hoping my other staff could serve Rhett and his friends but when I noticed that they were all busy, I let out a slow breath. Looked like I would have to man up and do my job.
Heading over to the table with new customers, I put on a smile, stood up taller and addressed Rhett and his friends.
“Hello. Welcome to Coffee Beans & Love,” I welcomed them, using the standard greeting most of our staff used. It wasn’t a requirement, but we liked when the name of our establishment was thrown in from time to time.
