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Katie smirked. “Pushing thirty. You are old.”
“Twenty-eight.”
“Exactly. Old.”
Katie giggled and replenished the paper cups and lids while there was a lull.
“So, you didn’t answer.”
And she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Yet. More like an older sister to her, she usually told Kelly everything, but she’d never told her about him. Only because that moment had been so perfect and magical that she wanted to keep it just for herself, as if sharing it would somehow spoil it. She never thought she’d see him again anyway, and now…well, now it didn’t matter. So unless Cameron Mayhew turned out to be someone worth mentioning, she wasn’t going to.
“Not really. It’s only the third week of classes, though.”
Maybe if she lived on campus or went to frat parties she’d have made a friend or two by now, but she didn’t care to. She could pledge a sorority like Kelly had, but that didn’t appeal to her very much either. It’s not that she was antisocial or anything like that, she just didn’t think watching a bunch of dudes chase pussy, chug beer, and puke was all that much fun. She’d seen all that in high school and she doubted it was all that different in college. Besides, she sucked at beer pong. The stuff tasted vile anyway.
She saw her first, pushing one of those fancy-ass strollers through the door. So, apparently there was a baby too? She had auburn beach waves to die for and was gorgeous, of course. What was her name again? Chloe. She sat down and waved at Katie, the diamonds on her left hand sparkling with the light, which only made her feel worse than she already did. She didn’t know he was married when she’d kissed him.
She would have never, ever done that if she had known.
She was a piece of shit.
No. Scratch that. He was a piece of shit.
Katie frothed the milk for two soy lattes—nasty stuff—and prayed he didn’t come strolling in behind Chloe. She’d seen him three times in her life, and that was three times too many. That magical night, the memory of which was now tainted. Then, as if fate ordained it, she saw him again a few weeks later. If love at first sight was a thing, she’d felt it that day. There was definitely something there. A connection. She thought he felt it too, but he ghosted her after that, and a few weeks later she discovered why.
He had a wife.
There were four of them that day. He was with her and another couple. Chloe introduced the other girl as her sister and some dude with long blond hair who looked just like the drummer in Venery. Hell, he probably was. She knew they were from this neighborhood and still lived here. The cheating motherfucker even had the nerve to stop before he walked out the door and turned around, looking at her all sorry and sad and shit. Then he just left. She was so dumbfounded, all she could do was stand there and stare after him like a fool.
Asshole.
Her prayers went unanswered. No sooner did she hand the two nasty soy lattes off to the customers who waited for them, when said asshole came through the door. Kelly was in the back so Katie had no choice but to take his coffee order when he reached the counter.
She could do this. Katie fixed her usual smile to her face and looked up at him.
Why did his eyes have to be so fucking blue?
“I’ll have a large coffee, black…”
And why did his voice have to be so deep and smooth and sexy? The tiniest hint of an accent that she couldn’t quite place.
“…and an—”
“Iced latte. Plain. No sugar. Whipped cream.” Katie remembered.
“Yeah. That.”
Of course, Kelly picked precisely that moment to reappear with a tray of pastries for the display case. “Katie-Kate, can you get…oh, hey, Brendan. How are ya?”
“I’m good, Kelly. You and Stacy doing okay here?”
“Great. Couldn’t be better.” Katie had just turned around to pour Asshole his coffee when Kelly pulled on her arm and dragged her back. “Let me introduce you to my niece, Katie.”
She wanted to die.
“Katie, this is Brendan.”
He extended his hand. She didn’t want to touch him. Katie was afraid if she touched him that everything she was feeling would show on her face. But Kelly was watching and it would appear rude if she refused his greeting.
