I thought it over. “I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”
“Are you still a virgin?” he asked in a near-whisper. I couldn’t believe how nosy he was!
“No, but I don’t see why that’s relevant.”
“Don’t tell me Danny Walker is the only guy who’s had the privilege?!”
“Julian! Can we please stop talking about my sex life?”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry.” But he looked amused. His expression changed from sly to tender as he smiled and said, “I missed you.”
“Me too,” I said. Just then the doorbell chimed. It was Taylor and Thiago. They eyed us suspiciously, and I stood, hearing Julian beside me say, “Love comes calling.”
“Shut up,” I hissed, walking back to the counter. With a smile, I asked the two of them if they wanted anything.
“Yeah,” Thiago said.
“You,” Taylor added, acting like his brother wasn’t standing right there. I blushed again. Why did his saying that in front of Thiago make me feel guilty? Almost like I was cheating… I know it sounds ridiculous.
“I guess you heard this idiot is throwing a party at our house tomorrow?” Thiago said.
“Yeah, a Halloween party.” I nodded.
“Well, we were heading out to buy decorations and…”
“What Tay’s trying to say is your brother jumped into the back seat of our car and he insists we take him with us,” Thiago continued. “I kept saying no, but he wouldn’t budge, so finally we decided to drive over here and leave him with you so you can take him home when you’re done with your shift.”
Taylor frowned at his brother. “Actually, we came to ask if you wanted to come so the four of us could do it together. Incidentally, though, I will say your little brother can be persuasive when he wants to.”
“He didn’t persuade me of a damn thing,” Thiago said.
I frowned. That was weird, my brother just getting into someone else’s car. “You’d better just leave him here,” I responded. “I’ll be off in twenty minutes.”
“Great, then we’ll just wait for you,” Taylor said.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I said.
“Why not?” Taylor crossed his arms. He was as stubborn as my little brother.
“Uh…” I couldn’t think of a decent excuse.
“I thought so,” Taylor shot back. “That settles it. You’re coming.” He went out to the car to get my brother.
“You could have made up some excuse,” Thiago said.
I sighed. “Let me get you a coffee while you wait.”
I walked behind the counter to greet a couple who had just walked in, Taylor and Cam behind them. As the three of them settled in at a table, Julian stood, waved, and came to say goodbye. I was sneakily pouring chocolate syrup into a steaming pitcher—my brother loved hot chocolate, and I knew Mrs. Mill would want me to charge him for it, which I couldn’t bring myself to do.
“You’ve got a whole entourage of guys today, don’t you?” Julian said.
“I don’t know how I do it,” I said, smiling at my three favorite people in the world. Why lie? I liked seeing them together. I was glad we were all getting along again, the old gang, even despite what had happened in Thiago’s car a few weeks back.
“Sure,” Julian said, looking back at them. “Listen, let’s grab a coffee sometime, OK?”
“You got it.”
Julian paid, and as he left, I noticed both Taylor and Thiago staring at him. He waved at them, and Taylor responded in kind, while Thiago ignored him.
