“I don’t have to work today, do you?”
I shook my head and then said, “Not today.” My heart was beating a little faster. Maybe she’d say she wanted to hang out. Maybe we’d be on the same wavelength with that.
“Do you want to go to the park? Or go to the coffee shop on Harrison Drive? I work there part-time, and one of the perks is free drinks.”
I held in my grin, because I didn’t want to seem overly excited that she mentioned it. “Sure. I’m game for whatever.”
She told me the directions to the coffee shop, and less than ten minutes later, I was pulling into a parking spot in front of a little cafe called Cool Beans. There were some bistro tables set up on an outdoor patio, and an elderly couple sat at one of them, and a businessman sat at the other.
I climbed out, and she did the same, and we both headed inside. The scent of coffee was instant and strong as soon as we walked in. A couple employees waved at her as we walked up to the front counter. The young guy standing behind the cash register was in the process of putting his apron on, and I assumed he’d just gotten out of school.
His face lit up as soon as he saw her. He pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, his face becoming pink, as it was clear her presence flustered him. I didn’t have to be a genius to see he obviously liked Harlow. Hell, I couldn’t blame him. But I sure as hell hoped he didn’t try making a move. Not that I was intimidated or threatened by this dude, but I felt this proprietary sensation toward her. It was a little barbaric, sure, but it was pretty intense that there was no way I could ignore or attempt to rein it in.
“Hey, Mitchell,” Harlow said and gave him a friendly smile.
I wasn’t getting any kind of vibes from her regarding how Mitchell obviously wanted her, but then again, she might have been oblivious to it. Regardless, I stayed close to her. Hell, I wanted to wrap my arm around her, letting him know the looks he gave her right now we’re not appreciated or welcome by me. But I had no claim on Harlow, no matter how much I did want that.
“Can I get a medium iced chai latte with almond milk?” She looked over at me and smiled. “What do you want?”
I shrugged as I looked at the menu. “I don’t drink coffee, so I really don’t know.”
She laughed softly, and I glanced back at her. God, that sound made my entire body feel so fucking good.
“You pick,” I finally said.
She gave Mitchell my order, and I didn’t miss how he eyed me. It was a pretty blank expression, but I could almost hear his thoughts, as if he wondered what I was doing with her.
I went for my wallet, but the feeling of her warm, small hand over mine, of her skin against mine, had my entire body tightening and my dick threatening to punch through the zipper of my jeans. God, even a small touch from her felt incredible.
“Getting drinks for free is one of the perks of working here. The owner actually wants us to try all of them, so we can recommend them to the customers.”
The look she gave me had me wanting to lean down and capture her mouth with mine. And thankfully before I could do that—because the truth was, I was about a second away from taking her mouth in a searing kiss—she was walking away from the counter and heading toward one of the little tables off to the side. There was an outcropping beside the table, giving it a little bit of privacy, which I appreciated. She sat down, and I took the seat across from her as we waited for our drinks.
We sat there in silence, but it wasn’t the awkward kind that made you shift on your seat and wish you were somewhere else. I had a feeling this was how it would always be with her. I wanted to know everything, anything about Harlow. But I didn’t want to seem like a fucking creep and start asking her personal questions. If she wanted to give me a shred of information about her, I would gladly eat it up like a starving man. But it would be on her terms.
“What school did you go to before this one?” she finally asked, breaking up the silence as if she read my mind.
I leaned back in my seat. I knew I’d have to be honest about everything, so might as well just get it all out in the open now. I was a little worried, because I didn’t want her to see me as some kind of huge fuck-up, to be turned off and not want to hang out with me again. That very thought had my stomach clenching and distaste filling me.
The thought of not being able to talk to Harlow or see her when I’d just now resolved myself that I wasn’t going to fight how I felt for her did scare me. She was someone special, and I wanted to keep her in my life.
“Trudeau High.” I doubt she’d heard of it, seeing as we’d moved out of state to have a fresh start. I could see on her expression that she wanted to ask more questions, but she didn’t have to. I’d give up the information to her. “I got expelled, because I got into too many fights.”
I watched as her throat worked when she swallowed, but she didn’t change her expression. “Can I ask what happened with that?”
I cleared my throat that was tightening as embarrassment filled me. I didn’t want to tell her, to say it all out loud. I was apprehensive on what she’d think of me, which was the reason why I hesitated. But in the end, I knew I just needed to get it out in the open.
“My mom has cancer. She’s going through treatments, or she was. She just finished up and we moved here. She wanted a fresh start.” I’d wanted to stay, so she could still see her doctors, but she insisted, found new doctors, and here we were. I stared at Harlow, trying to gauge her reaction to all this. “But growing up, it was just her and me. We didn’t have money, and we rented a shitty little apartment. All through elementary and middle school, even the first part of high school, I was known as trash. I was known as the boy who didn’t have money or the nicest clothes, whose mom worked two jobs at the bars in town to make ends meet.” I cleared my throat and shifted on the seat. I felt weird saying all this out loud. “So the only way for me to survive, do not get beaten down day in and day out, was to fight for survival. So detentions, suspensions, and then finally expulsion landed me in Silver Creek.”
I shrugged, trying to be calm, to play this off like it was nothing. “This is my last chance to not fuck things up. Not only do I need to make something out of myself, but I need to make my mom proud. She’s already been through enough shit that she doesn’t need a son who can’t control his anger when he butts heads with someone.”
There, it was out in the open, and Harlow could do with that information what she wanted. She’d probably never want to see me again. Because who wanted to be friends with someone drawn into so much trouble that they had to start a new school in a different state?
“And because I’ve already told you all of that shit, I might as well also tell you that it wasn’t just in school that I got in trouble. I’ve been in trouble with the police as well, petty things like shoplifting and vandalism.” I had my hands clenched on my lap underneath the table so she wouldn’t see them, wouldn’t see how tense I was over this.
My entire body was tight, my muscles clenched. I was starting to sweat, never in my life having told anybody all this shit, because I never cared enough about someone to be honest with them. Sure, everyone in my old town knew, but here? I was somebody new, someone different. And as she stayed silent, not saying anything, probably processing it all, all the things playing through her mind of the horrible shit I’d done, I felt that tension in me grow.