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“I can pay for my own drinks,” I said, and it came out much harsher than I meant it to.
“What is your deal with that? I’m not offering you cans of food. We’re neighbors. I offered every business on the street one free cup of coffee. It’s called marketing, not charity. You were the only one who didn’t take me up on the offer.”
“My deal is that I don’t like handouts from rich people, Princess.”
She sighed loud enough for me to know she was annoyed. “I fucking hate being called Princess.”
“Why? If the shoe fits…”
She sat forward, and I could make out her form with the little bit of moonlight coming through the opening beside the window shades. Her back was straight, her shoulders back, and it looked like her hands were in little fists. “The shoe doesn’t fit, genius. Do you see me working every day? I lug in my own deliveries from the alley. I oversaw the renovation and even saved money by helping with the demolition where I could. I work long freaking hours every day. It’s not really princess behavior, is it? You seem to hate being judged about money, yet you’re judging me for the same thing without even knowing me.”
She fell back down, lying on her back, and I knew her rant was done.
“Fair enough. I won’t call you princess again.”
“Wow. He does know how to concede,” she said, her tone lighter now.
We weren’t friends, so I didn’t know why I wanted to keep talking to her. I should end this now and go to sleep. But I didn’t want to.
“I’ll try your green drink, and if it’s good, I’ll mention it at the gym.”
“Thank you, neighbor. That’s the normal response. Was that so difficult?” she asked.
“It was fine.” I pretended to be annoyed, but I was fairly certain she knew I wasn’t. “Why’d you name the place Magnolia Beans if you want it to be more than just a coffee shop?”
She was silent for a long pause. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone.”
“I can’t wait to hear the dark and devious secret behind the name Magnolia Beans,” I said dryly, but I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
“So, when I was in middle school, everyone called my brotherSlade the Blade.It’s a cool nickname, right?”
For a dickhead named Slade. But I wouldn’t say that to her.
“Not really my style, but okay.”
“Well, my cousins all had nicknames, too. You probably know them, although they’re a few years older than us and live on the East Coast now. Elliott and Dalton Clark. They’re on my mom’s side of the family.”
“I’ve heard of them,” I said.
“Everyone called Elliott, E-Money. And they called Dalton, D-Dog.”
I barked out a laugh. “E-Money works, but D-Dog is kind of stupid. Why not just Dog?”
“Hey, I didn’t make up the name. But they were all older than me, and I was the only girl, so I wanted a nickname, too.”
“Is there a point to this story?” I asked, my voice light.
“I came up with Beans. You know, like cool beans.”
Now I was laughing hard. “Beans was the coolest name you could come up with?”
“I was twelve or thirteen years old. Beans sounded a whole lot cooler than Demi.”
“So, did your cool sibling and cousins call you Beans?” I asked, and fuck, she was cute the way she just shared her ridiculous shit with me. That was very unexpected.
“Nope. Not a soul called me Beans. I asked my friends, my parents, my cousins, my brother. No one remembered to do it more than once. Slade said I wasn’t really the type to pull off a nickname. So, I’ve always just been Demi.”
That dick.
