by E. L. Todd
Caffeine
Francesca
I leaned back and tossed the coffee bean into the air. It soared toward the ceiling then came back to earth. My mouth was open and I tried to catch it, but I missed and it bounced off my chin. “Dammit.” I tossed another one into the air and made another attempt.
“I need to talk to you.” Marie stormed into the café while tying her apron around her waist.
“Hold on. I’ll get it this time.”
She snatched the coffee beans out of my hand. “This is serious.”
I guess my new trick would have to wait. “What’s wrong, Marie?”
“The house owner just called me this morning.”
“And?” They routinely checked on the house so that wasn’t surprising.
“Apparently, they’re redoing the carpets and putting in hardwood floors.”
“Great!” I’ve always wanted to have hardwood floors in the house. It made everything look more elegant.
“No, that’s not great.” Marie put one hand on her hip. “That means we have to live somewhere else for a whole week.”
“Oh…” I hadn’t foreseen that problem.
“Stacy doesn’t have room because her mom is coming to visit, and I don’t want to infringe on anyone else. So I think I’m going to stay with Anthony.”
“But I thought you were going to dump him?”
“Well, I need somewhere to live for another week,” she snapped.
“That’s fair…”
“Hey, he’ll get laid for another week. I doubt he minds. Where are you going to go?”
“Uh…” I hadn’t thought about that. I searched my mind for someone who wouldn’t have a problem loaning me their couch for a week.
“Am I interrupting anything?” Hawke’s deep voice came from behind the counter.
“Oh, hi.” I clutched my chest in surprise. I didn’t even hear the bell ring overhead.
“Oh, hi, to you too,” he said sarcastically. There was a smirk on his lips so I knew he was teasing me.
Marie eyed both of us before she rolled her eyes. She made it abundantly clear how she felt about Hawke. She didn’t understand how we could go from lovers to friends so easily. It was really difficult to explain so I stopped trying. “I need to clock in.” She walked through the curtain and disappeared.
I turned to Hawke. “The usual?”
“You know me so well.”
I filled the coffee cup then handed it to him.
“So…everything okay?” He sipped his coffee.
“Oh yeah. Everything is fine.” Hawke slept in my bed the other night, but it wasn’t weird at all, surprisingly. Now that I knew he would only be a friend, I stopped hoping for something more. But it did frighten me how natural it felt. It didn’t feel uncomfortable to sleep beside him. I didn’t have a single guy friend I could do that with. “Our landlord is kicking us out for a week because they are redoing the floors. Now Marie and I need to crash somewhere.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Not sure. I need to figure that out.” I rubbed my chin as I brainstormed.
“Axel?”
“No.” I released an uncontrollable laugh. “God, no. I’d only go there if I didn’t have any other choice.”
“A girlfriend?”
“I have a few, but they’re already pretty crowded with their other roommates…” There was a solution to my problem but I just had to find it.
“Who’s Marie staying with?”
“A guy she’s seeing.”
He took another drink of his coffee.
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I always do.”
“Why don’t you stay with me?”
Did he just invite me to crash at his place? “Seriously?”
“Why not?” he asked. “I’m hardly there anyway because I work all the time. It only has one bedroom but you can have it. I can sleep on the couch.”
“Uh…” That was nice of him to offer but I wasn’t expecting it. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Let me know.” He left cash on the counter then walked away with his coffee. He sat down in a booth then began to work on his laptop.
Marie came out a moment later. “Anthony just texted me and said I could stay with him. He said you can have the couch if you want.”
Crashing at Marie’s soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend’s house didn’t sound fine. “Hawke just offered to let me stay with him. I think I’ll do that.”
“Stay with Hawke?” she asked incredulously. “For a week?”
“What’s the big deal?”
“Uh…you almost slept with him.” She snapped her fingers in my face like I needed to wake up. “That’s a pretty big deal.”
“That was almost two months ago. Now we’re just friends.”
She rubbed her temple like she had a headache. “How can two people go from practically ripping each other’s clothes off to being just friends?”
It didn’t make sense to me either. But it just worked with Hawke and I. “I can’t explain…”
“Well, try.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“You wouldn’t understand.” I couldn’t believe I was about to say any of this out loud.
“You’re going to tell me anyway.”
“Hawke and I…I told you we had a connection the moment we met.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Well, that connection is still there. It’s like…whether he’s a boyfriend or a friend, he needs to be in my life. I can’t explain it better than that. I just…need him. And I’m pretty sure he needs me too. I feel like he’s meant to be a part of me in some capacity.”
Marie looked even more confused.
“I know it sounds crazy but…I feel like our paths were meant to cross.”
“Because…?”
“It’s one of those things that you just know. Trust me on this.”
“You think this guy is your soul mate or something?”
“No, that’s not what I said.”
“Girl, I’m starting to think you’re crazy.”
I knew how crazy I sounded from her perspective. “It’s one of those things that no one understands. But I know I understand it. And that’s all that matters.”
Marie sighed like she was ready to drop the subject. “Just don’t get hurt, okay?”
“I won’t.”
“Because I’ll kick his ass.” She pointed her finger in my face like she meant business.
My lips softened into a smile. “I know.”
***
Hawke was still in the lobby when I clocked out, so I slid into the seat across from him. “Still working?”
He shut the screen of his laptop with a faint smile on his lips. “Work never sleeps.”
“Will you always work this much?”
“Not when I stop being an intern. I’m doing all the grunt work no one else wants to do. But when this is over, I’ll have everything I’ve been working so hard for.”
“So, you want to be an investor?”
“In a nutshell.”
“But that sounds…boring.”
He smiled like he wasn’t offended. “It’s like gambling but with more research. You’re always trying to figure out where the next big thing is going to come from. When should you sell? When should you buy? It’s actually really interesting.”
“Hmm…I’ve never thought about it that way.”
He placed his laptop in his bag. “Baking doesn’t seem very exciting, but I’m sure it is.”
“It’s very exciting. When I see your face light up every time you have one of my muffins, it makes it all worthwhile.”
He closed his bag and left it on the seat next to him. “How was work?”
“It was okay. I only managed to get one bean in my mouth.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”
“I was trying to catch the coffee beans in my mouth but I kept missing. You know…” I reenacted the movement for him
.
“Oh. Time well spent.”
“When there’re no customers, you have to entertain yourself.”
“Have you thought any more about my offer?”
“Does it still stand?” I asked.
“Of course it does. However, I have one condition.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Which is?”
“You have to show me that beautiful ass—just a peek.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “Nope.”
“Then you at least have to cook for me all week.”
“That I can do.”
“Without wearing any bottoms…”
I scrunched up a napkin and threw it at him. “Pervert.”
He chuckled. “I never told you I wasn’t.”
I pretended to be offended but it only made me feel warm inside.
“So, when are you being kicked out?”
“Monday.”
“That gives me plenty of time to get rid of all the filth.”
I pulled my hair out of the hair tie and let it fall to my shoulders. Hawke’s eyes immediately went to the strands and his expression changed. I fluffed the hair around my scalp with my fingers. After being pulled back all day, it felt good. “You seem like an organized person.”
“Sorry?” A blank expression was on his face.
“You said your place is covered in filth. But you seem so clean.”
“Oh…” He finally came back to the conversation. “No, I live like a pig just like every other guy.”
“I’m so excited to stay with you…”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll give it a thorough cleaning. Just don’t tell your brother you’re staying with me.”
“Why?” That was an odd request. “He knows we hang out.”
“I don’t want to give him the wrong impression. Knowing him, he’ll jump to the worst possible conclusion. He doesn’t act like it when you’re around, but he’s fiercely protective of you. If he thought I even touched your hand, he’d come after me with a chainsaw.”
“That’s a little excessive…”
Hawke shrugged. “He’s your brother. If he’s crazy, you’re crazy.”
“That’s a slippery slope…”
His phone lit up on the table with a message. I knew I shouldn’t read it but I did. Come over tonight. It was from a girl named Brittany. I quickly looked away like I hadn’t read it.
Hawke locked the screen so it turned black. He knew I saw it.
I kept acting like I didn’t. I knew what he did in his spare time. It shouldn’t bother me but sometimes it did. It wouldn’t matter if he seemed happy, but it was clear he was miserable. It seemed like he was making himself suffer on purpose.
But why?
“I should head home,” Hawke said as he slid out of the booth.
Or you should head to Brittany’s. “Me too. I have to start packing. Ugh, I’m not looking forward to that.”
“I would offer to help, but I don’t want to.” He gave me a smile that told me he was joking.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Muffin.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What did you just call me?”
“What?” He turned back around. “You’re the muffin girl. So, I’ll call you Muffin.”
“That’s the silliest nickname I’ve ever heard.”
“And yet, it fits you perfectly.”
***
“Do not have sex with him.” Marie had her hands on her hips like a mother hen.
I rolled my eyes just to piss her off. “First, you tell me to sleep with him. Now you forbid me?”
“Are you saying you want to sleep with him?”
“Of course not. But you need to chill. I wouldn’t be going over there unless I was comfortable being around him. Besides, he probably won’t be around much anyway. He’s too busy working and fucking whatever he finds in a bar.”
Marie caught the bitterness in my voice. “So, he’s a manwhore?”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “It sounds like that bothers you.”
“It doesn’t bother me.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, it does sometimes. I just think he’s better than that.”
“Better?” she asked. “Guys like getting laid. He’s living the dream.”
“But he’s so miserable.” I shook my head. “I know he isn’t happy. It seems like he does it…just as a means to an end.”
She shrugged. “We all have needs. Look at me, I’m going out with Anthony for another week so I have somewhere to sleep.”
“Slut,” I mumbled under my breath.
She swatted my arm. “Coming from the girl about to spend the week with a fuck machine.”
“He’s not a fuck machine,” I said defensively. “He’s a lot more than that.”
“Touchy touchy…”
A knock on the door ended our conversation.
“Looks like your ride is here.” Marie opened the door and saw Hawke on the other side. He wore running shorts, a t-shirt, and his aviators. He looked beautiful…like always. “Hey.” Marie gave him a cold welcome.
“Hi.” He stepped inside and immediately moved to my side. Then he flexed his arms dramatically. “Your strong man is here to move your things.”
I grabbed his bicep and squeezed it playfully. It was solid like concrete. I tried to hide the dreamy look on my face. “Get to it. Everything is in my room.”
“Yes, Muffin Girl.” He squeezed my side playfully before he walked down the hallway. I stared at his toned ass in his shorts. It was so nice I wanted to take a bite out of it. I fantasized about seeing his naked body when I felt a hard stare burning into my skin.
Marie was giving me the stink-eye.
“What?” I asked innocently.
“Friends my ass.” She marched down the hallway into her bedroom then slammed the door.
She could be so dramatic.
Hawke walked past me carrying most of my things. I went into my bedroom then retrieved everything else. I didn’t need his help moving. I just needed transportation. My Volkswagen couldn’t fit everything I needed, but the bed of his truck could.
I made it outside then placed everything in the back.
“I’m surprised you could carry that.” He was looking at the box full of pots, pans, and baking containers.
“It’s not that heavy.”
“You’re lying.”
What did it matter? “I can carry my own shit. I don’t need you to help me. All I asked for was your truck.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Whoa, Muffin. I was just trying to pay you a compliment.”
“You didn’t do it right, Bird Boy.”
Both of his eyebrows raised above his sunglasses. “What did you just call me?”
“Bird Boy.”
He still looked confused.
“Because your name is Hawke.”
He pressed his lips tightly together like he was trying not to laugh. “Good one.” He got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. When I reached the passenger side, the window was rolled down. “Follow me.”
I didn’t like being told what to do. It just rubbed me the wrong way. He didn’t command me to do anything but it still came off as bossy. “Fine.” I started to walk away.
“Muffin.”
I growled then returned to the window. “What?”
“You packed lots of panties, right? Because I want to see them on that beautiful ass of yours.” He had a cocky grin on his face, like he didn’t give a damn if I knew if he was joking or not.
“Go to hell.” I walked back to my car. I barely heard his final words over the sound of his engine.
“If you come with me.”
***
I fit most of my things in his room, and the extra stuff was moved to the hallway closet. His apartment wasn’t tiny, but it wasn’t made for more than two people.
He had leather sofas, a large TV, and a kitchen table. The place was pretty bare, but that’s what I expected from a guy who lived alone. His bedroom was fairly clean. I just hoped he washed the sheets before I came over. Who knows who was in there the night before.
I stirred the pot on the stove when Hawke came into the kitchen. He only had a towel around his waist because he just got out of the shower. He smelled clean and fresh. Water droplets glistened on his chest before they slid down.
I tried not to stare.
“What smells so good?” he asked as he stood beside me.
You. “Uh…masala sauce.” I kept my gaze focused on the pot.
“Hmm…what does it go on?”
“Chicken. It’s in the oven.”
He peeked through the glass and saw the chicken baking. Then he stood upright again. “You want to live here forever?” He said it with absolute seriousness.
I rolled my eyes. “So I can cook for you all the time?”
“Honestly, I didn’t even know the oven worked.”
“What do you eat around here?”
“Protein shakes, cereal, and sandwiches.”
“Sounds healthy.”
He patted his flat stomach. “You tell me.”
I stirred the pot just so I had something to do. Knowing he was shirtless was incredibly distracting. I wanted to stare at him and really appreciate the sight. But I didn’t want to openly gawk at him either. “Get ready and dinner will be done.”
“I am ready.”
“Get rid of the towel.”
“Okay.” He dropped it on the floor.
I flinched when I realized what he just did. “You know what I meant.”
“Actually, I did exactly what you told me to do.” He gave me that arrogant grin that I hated and loved at the same time.
“Pick it up and cover yourself with it. Then go in your room and get dressed. Do exactly as I say.” I refused to look down at his goods even though I really wanted to.
“Come on, take a peek. He’s excited to see you.”
I turned my focus back to the pot so he wouldn’t see my red cheeks. “If I’d known I was going to be sexually assaulted, I would have stayed elsewhere.”
He sighed then picked up the towel. “Alright, Muffin.” He secured it around his waist before he walked down the hallway.
