“Oh.” I think I get what she is hinting at. “Have you and Cameron ever…you know?”
Two lines form between her brows for a second, and then she laughs. “Oh, no! Definitely not. Friends. Just friends. And have been for a very long time.”
“All right,” Jess says, wandering back toward us. “Tristan wants a double chocolate muffin and a hot chocolate, and Elena wants—”
“Me too!” Elena answers for herself. “And a cookie,” she shouts excitedly.
“Make that four chocolate chip cookies,” Jess says. “We need a snack for the drive home later, too.”
I glance up at the menu, and Adelaide chuckles, her fingers tapping on the tablet in front of us like a timer ticking down until it’s my time to order.
Jess orders a vanilla latte while I glance at the pastry case, and since I can’t make up my mind, I look back at Adelaide. “I’ll have whatever your favorite pastry is and whatever coffee you recommend.”
“Okay, so one butter pecan sticky bun and a honey cinnamon cortado for Taryn,” she mumbles happily, jotting the order down.
Yeah, I’m happy with my decision to let her choose.
We thank her once we’ve ordered everything, and she runs around behind the counter, steaming milk, crafting drinks, and grabbing our pastries out of the case. She hands everything to us, and we join Tristan over in the back at a table by the windows.
I settle into the chair, tearing off a part of the bun with my fork. My teeth sink into the warm, gooey butter pecan bread, and my taste buds burst, my mouth watering even more than it was at the smell.
Holy shit, this is honestly the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. And the coffee is better than any place I went to in Tucson before moving here.
Probably a good thing for my wallet that I’m hidden away on the hill, or I’d be here every day supporting Adelaide and trading the amount in my bank account for calories. Not that she’d probably mind.
Tristan lifts his cup, sipping at the hot chocolate. He sets it back on the table, his fingers returning to the buttons on his Switch while Jess talks to Elena about the school supplies she needs.
“You know, I used to have a blue Game Boy. It was my favorite thing in the world,” I tell him, trying to get a reaction outof him. I point to his Nintendo Switch. “The Game Boy was like the dinosaur version of that.”
He glances up at me, his eyes squinted, scanning my face with so much attitude for a seven-year-old. He raises a brow.
Damn, he gets that brow pop from his brothers. His eyes analyze me the same way too, with such intensity that I almost want to shrink away from his penetrating gaze.
“Well,” I continue, “it was my favorite thing in the world until I left it on an airplane when my parents and I were moving. I was heartbroken. I would always playScooby-Doo. That game was awesome.”
“Scooby-Doo? That doesn’t sound fun.” His eyes drop back to his screen as he returns to his game.
It may have been small, but I mentally raise my fist in the air. I finally managed to get him to say more than two words to me.
“Oh, but it was,” I respond, attempting to push this conversation further. “You had to run around with Fred, solve mysteries, and try not to get caught by the bad guy. You also had to collect Scooby Snacks that would give you powers to solve the quests.”
He regards me, his chest shaking with laughter.
Yes! I got a reaction, and it was laughter.
It’s such a beautiful sound I haven’t heard him make since I met him.
His lips twist to the side, and he places the green device on the table. “We could get you aScooby-Doogame, and you can play on mine. It might not be the same, though.”
My toes to the tips of my ears warm at his kindness. “I would like that. And then I can teach you how to play. Your score would probably beat my ass anyway because you’re really good,” I compliment, pointing to his device.
His eyes widen as he lowers his voice, a little laughter slipping through. God, I love that sound; it reminds me ofCameron and Brennan’s laughter. “You aren’t allowed to say that word, Miss Taryn.”
I respond with a smirk, and we lean closer together as if we are sharing secrets nobody else knows. It makes me feel closer to him already. I was worried I wouldn’t get him to talk to me before Jessica left and that everything would be a struggle after that.
I hold out my pinkie, and he glances at it. “Promise you won’t tell your brothers?”
He smiles and hooks his around mine. “I promise.”
