Audrey and Josh exchanged a look. “Fine. That’ll work.” She stepped away from the register and took her place behind the machine while Diego sidled up to the counter and leaned around the Marzocco.
Learning that Theo’s best friend had sought her out did nothing to calm Audrey’s nerves, and a heavy sense of dread churned in her stomach while she wiped down the milk frother and grabbed a large paper cup printed with their café’s logo. Diego struck her as extremely New York, even without the accent and the brusqueness and the fast-talking, all snapping fire, fury, and frenzy.
She had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth.
“What are your intentions with my buddy Theo?”
That definitely wasn’t a question she could’ve anticipated.
“Excuse me?”
“I asked what your intentions are with him.” Diego clasped his hands together and leaned forward on the polished counters. “What is it about him, huh? Is it just that he’s tall? He’s cute, right?” He pursed his lips together. “Is it that mysterious artist thing he has going on? I mean, that definitely works for him, generally and historically. He’s extremely broody. Or maybe you’re one of those women who like to chase after broken men. Are you just interested in his mo—”
She drowned him out by angrily flicking on the coffee grinder, gritting her teeth while the grounds tumbled into the portafilter. She tamped it harder than she strictly needed to before shoving it in the group head to pull the espresso shot and bending to grab the milk.
“Do you want me to make you a shit coffee?” she growled at Diego when she straightened. “Because you’re being rude as all hell and I have half a mind to scald this milk into oblivion before I give it to you.”
He snorted. “Fair enough. You’re right: I’m being a dick.”
“I’ll say.”
Audrey steamed the milk and genuinely thought about giving him the worst cappuccino she’d ever made. But her pride got in the way.
She wanted him to taste how damn good her coffee was purely out of spite.
He watched her pour the milk artfully into his cup, detailing a quick, complicated design in the foam before she shoved it and a plastic lid angrily at him. Only some of the coffee sloshed over the sides, and Diego huffed while he inspected her handiwork.
“Regular iced chai with oat milk,” Josh shot over his shoulder while handing her the plastic cup, and Audrey sighed in relief as she grabbed the concentrate from the fridge. Iced chai people were godsends.
“It’s none of your business what my intentions are with Theo. That’s between us. He’s a big boy, don’t you think? He can do what he wants and date who he wants.” She stirred oat milk into the iced black tea concentrate and capped off the drink before sliding it to the pickup side of the counter. “Not only that, but he spoke highly of you to me, and now I’m wondering what the hell he was thinking.”
That earned her a fresh glare. “None of my business? Oh, itismy business, believe me.” He eyed the coffee she’d made him and took a sip. His eyebrows shot up, but he shook his head and huffed. “Look, my intention isn’t to pry too far into Theo’s personal affairs, and God knows I’m not going to stand here and rehash all of his trauma for you behind his back. But I will say that man has been throughabsolute hell.” He punctuated the words by tapping his finger firmly on the wooden counter. “The worst shit you can imagine. It broke him. That’s obvious enough, especially now that he’s shown you his face—which ishuge, by the way. Monumental. I hope you appreciate that.”
“I do. I do appreciate how big that was for him.”
He quirked a skeptical eyebrow as though he didn’t quite believe her and drew in a deep breath. “Whether he’s talked about it or not is his business, and his story isn’t for me to tell. But here’s the thing: I’m also not going to sit back and watch him get heartbroken by some little girl who has no idea what she’s getting herself into, especially not after his last girlfriend. I’ve spent months—years, really—trying to help patch him back together and I won’t see him torn to shreds again. He’s too good for that.”
“ ‘Little girl’?!” Her face burned. “I’m not somelittle girl. You have no idea what I’ve been through. You certainly don’t know anything about me, and even less about how I feel about Theo.”
“I know enough.” Diego leaned forward and tilted his head at Audrey. “I know enough to see that he’s head over heels for you, and you barely know each other. And don’t get me wrong: while I will continue to encourage him when it comes to getting out of the goddamn house and actually socializing in any way he can, I draw the line at him rearranging his entire life after only a handful of dates.”
“What are you talking about?” It was Audrey’s turn to scowl.
He scoffed bitterly. “Yeah, of course you don’t know, because Theo won’t fucking talk about shit with anyone except his therapist, and that’s why he has to go see her religiously.” Diego took another sip of his coffee and glanced over his shoulder at the door. He seemed to be keeping a close eye on it. “He told me he’s spending today rescheduling all of his doctor’s appointments for the next several months. And what did he say when I asked himwhyhe’s doing that with the top doctors and physical therapists and acupuncturists and massage therapists and medical aestheticians and trauma psychologists that are all extremely in-demand, booked within an inch of their lives, and the hardest people to schedule with in all of fucking New York?” His gaze darkened. “He said it was foryou. Because he wants to spend more time with you.”
“M-me?” she stammered. “I didn’t ask him to do that. He hasn’tmentioned anything about that to me.” She didn’t even know he had that many appointments. He never wanted to talk about it.
“Yeah, well, he wouldn’t, would he? He just does stuff without consulting anyone.” Diego rolled his eyes. “He’s done this shit his whole life. Once Theo makes a choice, he pursues it single-mindedly, and God forbid anyone try to convince him otherwise.”
He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Look, I know it’s not your fault, but I needed you to know what he’s up to. He’s planning on coming here every weekday morning to see you on your breaks, and that means he’ll be missing several weeks of PT and therapy, since they couldn’t squeeze him in sooner once he changed his preset appointment times. And that’s not even counting the follow-up exams with his teams of medical doctors, or all his pain management stuff. All of it, his whole routine, his whole care plan, his health—mentalandphysical? He’s tossing it out the window. Blowing it up. For you.”
Audrey’s breath caught in her chest. Diego was right about one thing: this was huge. She hadn’t meant for Theo to do that, and without even knowing exactly what had happened, she did understand how desperately he needed that support. Would it all fall to her in the interim, then? Or was he strong enough to bear it himself now?
“Large latte with almond milk and lavender syrup,” Josh muttered, passing her another paper cup.
Audrey gathered herself enough to pluck it out of his hands. “He’s doing all that for me?”
“Yeah.” Diego huffed a laugh. “He’s over the moon for you. Talks of nothing else. I haven’t seen his face light up like this inyears.” He set his cappuccino down with a sigh. “Maybe ever, really, if I’m being honest.”
