Page 19 of Wanna Bet?

Ellis cocked a brow and crossed his arms, clearly not falling for Jace’s lame attempt at lying.

Jace took a sip of his coffee to buy time. It was perfect. Of course it was perfect. She’d remembered everything.

Ellis leaned closer, voice dropping. “She brought you coffee. To your job. That’s romance-novel behavior, dude.”

“It’s just coffee.”

“It’s just coffee,” Ellis repeated flatly. “Sure. And I’m just a humble vinyl enthusiast with no interest in gossip.”

Jace set the cup down. “We’re working.”

Ellis studied him for another second, then grinned. “We are.”

He didn’t say anything else about it. Which was almost worse.

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The rest of the day passed in a blur of customers and transactions and half-finished thoughts.

Jace tried to focus. He really did. He helped someone find a birthday gift for their dad. He restocked the indie section. He rang up purchases. He answered questions about turntable needles and album pressings and whether they had any live recordings from a band he’d never heard of.

Outwardly, he functioned like normal. Internally, his brain replayed the morning on loop. She brought you coffee. She remembered your order. She invited you to the park. Friendly birds. Good times tomorrow.

He found himself glancing at the clock more often than usual, not because he wanted his shift to end, but because each passing minute meant he was one minute closer to morning.

One minute closer to seeing her again.

At one point Ellis nudged him and said, “You’ve alphabetized the same section three times.”

Jace blinked down at the records in his hands.

“…Have I.”

“Yes.”

“Huh.”

Ellis snorted and walked away.

Jace exhaled slowly, pressing his lips together as he forced himself to focus on the task. But it was like his thoughts kept slipping sideways, pulled toward her no matter how hard he tried to keep them in line.

He wondered who had called her.

He wondered why she’d looked annoyed.

He wondered if she was okay.

He wondered what kind of birds lived at that park and whether they really were friendly or if she’d just said that because it sounded whimsical and she liked how he reacted to things.

He wondered what she’d do if he showed up tomorrow and said yes immediately when she asked about a date.

He wondered if she’d smile like she had earlier–soft and surprised and a little pleased.

He wondered–

“Jace.”

He looked up. Ellis stood across the counter, holding out a receipt. “You rang this up wrong.”