Page 45 of The Stalker Snafu

The girl glanced up. “One green tea with lemon?”

“Right.” Scott nodded before grabbing a cup off the stack. “Green tea. Lemon. I’m on it.”

His eagerness would’ve been endearing if he hadn’t turned around and promptly stomped on my stomach in his hurry to do her bidding. Scott was a skinny dude, but being stepped on by anyone wasn’t fun, and pain prevailed as the air left my lungs in a puff. Scott stumbled another step toward the tea station.

He winced, glancing down at me like I was an afterthought. “Sorry, Emma. Forgot you were down there.”

No kidding.

I wheezed, clutching my stomach to make sure it was still there.

Not wanting to risk another accidental stampede, I staggered to my feet and hobbled over to the cash register as Scott worked on the girl’s drink. She blinked at my sudden appearance before looking past the counter, probably wondering where I’d come from.

I glanced at the menu board to see how much she owed.

“That’ll be three seventy-five,” I tried to say, but my voice came out hoarse. I cleared my throat. “Three seventy-five, please.”

She handed over the money—exact change—and I was quite proud of myself for opening the register on my first try.

Scott quickly prepared her tea, and I waited dutifully next to the register while he delivered it.

“Oh, wait—your lemon,” he said before the girl could turn away. He grabbed a lemon from a crate under the counter and eyeballed it. I watched in growing horror as he held out the entire lemon to her with a crooked grin. “You can have a whole one.”

The girl blinked back at him, making no move to take it. She glanced at me before grimacing. “Could I just have a slice instead? I don’t have anything to cut it with.”

Scott’s lips parted, and it was clear he hadn’t thought of that himself. It took a moment for him to recover and pull out a cutting board. “Right. Of course.”

I couldn’t resist. Arms crossed, I leaned against the cart to enjoy my front-row seat to this trainwreck.

Scott chopped the lemon into four even wedges before clearing his throat and digging out the seeds. “I hate lemons.”

The girl stared back at him. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

He looked up, alarmed. “No, no. I just meant I’d never fight with you over lemons, you know? You can have all of them.”

I couldn’t stop smiling, just so happy it wasn’t me floundering in front of my crush this time. I looked back at the girl, and a faint blush colored her cheeks as she cleared her throat. “One wedge is fine. I don’t need all of them.”

“Of course. Here you go.” He handed her a single lemon wedge.

She accepted it with a small smile and another glance my way. “Thanks, Scott.”

“Anytime, Jenny.”

I waved at her back, making a valiant effort to keep the grin off my face until she’d cleared the other side of the quad. Once she was out of earshot, Scott groaned and thunked his head against the counter.

I patted him consolingly on the back, struggling not to cackle with laughter. “Look on the bright side. At least you didn’t tell her all about the invention of coffee sleeves.”

He kept his head down. “I can’t believe I turned into a total spaz in front of her.”

“It’s okay. Nothing two scoops of sugar can’t fix,” I assured him. I gathered all the lemon wedges and placed them in a bowl so he didn’t have to stare at the evidence. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit, and I’ll make you a cup? I can man the cart.”

Scott made a half-hearted attempt to argue, but I knew he was too busy reliving the past two minutes over and over in his head to protest.

He sprawled across the ground where I’d been a few minutes ago, and I frowned as another thought hit me. “Is that what I sound like around Noah?”

“Worse,” Scott mumbled with his arm draped over his eyes. “You sound much worse.”

I wrinkled my nose. “So, who is she?”