Page 44 of The Stalker Snafu

Scott stepped over me to make coffee for another customer. He kept the fancier coffee machines on a table behind his cart.

“How’s your tutoring going?” he asked as he pulled a lever, and I took another sip before taking the Super Straw out of my mouth.

“Could be better,” I admitted, which was an understatement. I licked my lips. “One kid was sent to boarding school in Europe, and there’s no way I can do that commute.”

Good riddance, as far as I was concerned. I’d almost had to chop off my precious hair after Angela stuck her gum in it.

“And my star pupil, Miles, decided his interest in polo trumped piano,” I said as Scott hopped back over me. He swapped the coffee for his customer’s money. “They were my last two protégés, so catering is my only income now. This might be the last coffee I can afford for a while.”

I didn’t cry while saying it, so that was progress.

“Don’t worry about it.” Scott leaned against the cart and crossed his arms. “Yours are on the house until you can get back on your feet.”

I froze with the Super Straw halfway to my mouth. “What?”

“Well, the first two each day are free,” he corrected with a wince. “I don’t have an endless supply, but the administration gives me a couple daily coffees for free as an employee perk. I’ll just count yours as the free ones for now.”

I swallowed around the sudden emotion blocking my throat. “You’re giving up your free coffees for me?”

He waved a hand dismissively. “It’s no big deal, Emma. It’s the least I can do for a friend.”

It was a huge deal, and he knew it. Coffee was as important to me as oxygen.

“Thank you, Scott.” My smile threatened to split my face in half.

He’d called me his friend.

Scott just lifted a shoulder like it was nothing, then picked up a cloth and wiped down the counter.

I took another sip from my Super Straw as my thoughts returned to Noah. Now that things were back to normal for us and The Noah Fund was full, I had planning to do. Maybe Scott could share some wisdom while he waited for customers.

“What’s the most romantic way a girl could give you a pen?” I asked him.

“Huh?” He stopped wiping the counter and looked over his shoulder with a pinched brow. “Why would a girl give me a pen? And what’s romantic about pens?”

I shook my head and hoped my hair wasn’t collecting too much dirt from the ground. He looked so genuinely confused that I pitied him a little. “Oh, honey. There is so much for you to learn about love.”

“Oh yeah? Weren’t you the one lecturing a guy on the invention of coffee sleeves a couple months ago?” Scott shot back with a laugh as he went back to cleaning.

I let go of the Super Straw to cross my arms. “I’m dating him now, aren’t I?”

“Not because of that.”

I made a face at Scott’s back. “Well, I finally have enough money saved up in The Noah Fund despite my recent employment setbacks. I’m trying to think of a romantic way to give Noah a replacement pen for the one I chewed on.”

There was a long pause before Scott snorted. “I still don’t get the fuss, but maybe get naked when you give it to him? Can’t go wrong with that.”

My brows shot up, but he had a point. Getting naked with Noah usually led to good things.

Before I could think too much about it, Scott sucked in a sharp breath. I watched in amusement as he threw the rag aside and straightened his polo shirt. His eyes were glued to something over the register, and it didn’t take long to see what had stolen his attention.

A girl my age appeared on the other side of the counter, adjusting a pair of red-framed glasses. She wore her dark hair in two braids with a cute black beret I could never pull off in a million years.

“Hi. Could I please get a green tea with lemon?” she asked, studying the stacks of pastries sitting in the large glass container.

Scott kept staring and showed no sign of hearing her.

I nudged his ankle with the toe of my pink Keds, and he started, opening his mouth twice before anything came out. “What?”