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THEN

5 YEARS AGO

Tuesday afternoon

Tristy’s Coffee Shop

Shawn

The morning turned into noon, and I kept looking up each time the door opened, hoping to see Lilly. And every time it ended up being another customer, my gut dropped.

Damn. I was in deep.

But what did I even like about Lilly? 

Sure, she was funny. Once, she made me laugh so hard that coffee shot out of my nose.

And then, there was the way she liked what she liked and did what she did.

Any other person might’ve been embarrassed about watching movies meant for girls half her age, but not her. For a woman with social anxiety, she didn’t seem to give a fuck about what other people thought.

Even now, whenever she threw on one of those My Little Pony films, her face lit up with this ridiculous, beautiful joy that made me want to stare at her for hours. 

And as much as I didn’t like how she burned herself out for other people, I had to admit, I loved the way she cared.

Maybe that’s why I–fuck, fuck, fuck. I couldn’t keep thinking about her like this.

Eventually, Lilly rushed in, wearing her usual black tee, leggings, and an oversized cardigan, carrying a tote bag full of textbooks with loose papers hanging over the top.

At the sight of her, my stomach climbed into my throat. I swallowed it down as she joined me behind the counter.

“Oh… this stuff is heavy. One sec.”

She was breathless, and I mentally filed away the sound of her voice as she hid her things in the back room. I glanced up just in time to watch her bend over her bag, and had to stop myself from groaning over the way her ass looked.

As if he knew I needed the distraction, Tristan tapped my shoulder. “Shawn, found it.”

I took the card with our Wi-Fi password from him. “Thanks. Mind if I set up now?”

He lifted a shoulder. “You can do whatever you want, no skin off my nose.”

I groaned. Did he really just say that?

“I swear, you’ve been slowly turning into a dorky dad ever since Nikki got pregnant. I can’t believe you used to be so smooth.”

Tristan laughed as Karim crept out of the back room, eyes down as if he didn’t want to be noticed. No chance of that happening.

“Hey, Karim.” He stopped short as I hiked a thumb in Tristan’s direction. “Did you know this guy used to have two women fighting over him in this shop?”

His dark eyes went wide. “Really?”

“Yeah. Rochelle was her name, I think. She was an… art curator? Yeah. And she had a crush on Tristan. She promised him a showing if he kept dating her, but he already kissed Nikki and–”

“Shawn, come on, you’re making it sound like I was using her,” Tristan interrupted. “But it wasn’t like that. I almost lost Nikki because of her.”

“Oh. That sounds… complicated,” Karim said.

Just then, Lilly came out with an apron tied around her waist, completely covered and shapeless. Still, her flushed cheeks made my blood rush south.

If she noticed that I was staring, she didn’t call me on it. Instead, she asked, “Are you still okay for tonight?”

I nodded, trying to give her a smile, but I couldn’t ignore how this felt. I was impatient; time wasn’t moving fast enough. I wanted to close the store so I could be alone with her. And that wasn’t a good thing.

Shit. I was so fucked. 

The shop door burst open again, and this time, a familiar female voice growled, “Tristan, I need it now. Let’s go.”

Nikki waddled in with one hand braced on her lower back. Her hair had a slight frizz to it, and the look on her face made her seem like she was about to yell at someone. With her round belly and equally rounded gait, seeing her like this made me want to take her by the elbow and help her into one of our booths. 

But despite that, she glowed, practically adding her own brand of light to the place. Tristan lit up every time he saw her, as if she’d recharged him somehow. Now was no exception.

Our customers stared as she ambled behind the counter, like they were waiting for something. I couldn’t blame them. I was doing the same thing. 

And I didn’t think anyone was surprised by the way she poked a finger into Tristan’s chest, telling him, “Fuck me right now,” before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the back room.

Karim stared after them, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as Lilly groaned and I laughed.

“Not again,” Lilly grumbled. “You guys are about to have a baby. You can’t keep doing this.”

“So then… they do this often?” Karim asked quietly.

But before any of us could get another word out, Kelly–Nikki’s paralegal–barreled through the door, box braids fanning out around her as she made it to the counter, yelling, “Oh no, Nikki Gataki, get your ass out here now. Harvey can’t run that meeting alone. He needs you.”

Kelly must’ve followed Nikki from their legal practice down the street. Judging by her hard breathing, she probably rushed through the late afternoon crowd to get to here.

There was some shuffling, then both Tristan and Nikki’s heads popped out from behind the doorframe. 

“Cover for me. Please?” Nikki begged, speaking through her teeth like she was in pain. “I need this. If I don’t get five minutes right now, I’m going to dry hump the furniture.”

Kelly made a noise, slamming her palms on the countertop. “Seriously? I can’t believe I’m dealing with this. Your pregnancy hormones are going to be the death of me.”

“I swear this is the last time. Just five minutes.”

I smirked at Tristan. “You can get her off in five?”

A smug smile, one I don’t usually see on my boss, spread across his face. “I know how to give Nikki what she needs.”

Then he gave Kelly an apologetic smile. “You can take a tray of pastries and some coffee to tide them over. Nikki will be back before they finish.”

Kelly rolled her eyes, but nodded as they disappeared again. I knew where they were going.

The studio apartment that connected to our back room had a bed, a kitchenette, and a bathroom–just enough space for a single guy to get by while he ran his coffee shop. Then Tristan married Nikki, and he didn’t need it anymore.

No one lived there now, but they never got rid of the bed. And Nikki definitely knew how to put it to use.

“I’ll turn the music up, and you guys can put the tray together,” Lilly suggested, and we got to work.

The music was louder, but it wasn’t enough to cover the sudden bumps and groans that came from behind the wall. The small cluster of customers around our shop weren’t bothered by it. They were just far away enough that they couldn’t hear anything.

 We weren’t as lucky.

Lilly squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered. “This reminds me of the time I walked in on Tristan buttering up Nikki’s breasts.”

I laughed. “I remember that. I spilled coffee on her.”

“And Tristan thought she was burnt,” Lilly added.

Karim cocked his head, confused. “You burned Nikki’s chest with coffee?”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t my proudest moment.”

Karim seemed to be having a hard time grasping this. He asked, “And Tristan used… butter?”

“Yeah.”

He leaned forward, whispering, “But butter isn’t good for burns,” as if he was afraid to criticize anything Tristan did.

“I know that, and you know that,” I told him. “But I’m pretty sure Tristan wasn’t thinking when he tried to treat her.”

Lilly waggled her brows, and it was so fucking adorable. “Oh, he was thinking. Just not with his head.”

Kelly didn’t seem to find this as funny as we did. She grumbled a low, “Those two get up to some crazy shit, and I’m over it,” but Lilly didn’t believe her.

She teased, “You say that, but you’re still working with Nikki.”

I stepped behind the machine and started on the coffee. The hiss it made almost drowned out Kelly’s sigh.

“If she wasn’t my best friend, I’d probably be gone by now,” Kelly admitted. “But it’s not like she’ll be pregnant forever, right?”

Lilly beamed. “Right. Soon there’ll be a little Nikki running around.”

I handed Kelly a tray full of coffee as Lilly gave her the pastries.

“You need help with that?” I asked.

She shook her head, balancing her gifted goods in both hands. “Nope, but do me a favor and don’t let those two hang around, okay? She gets one ‘gasm and gets out, got it?”

It wasn’t easy, but I managed to bite back a laugh. Lilly didn’t. She was giggling next to me, and I loved it. It was easily my favorite sound.

Karim stood between us, watching Kelly mutter under her breath as she left our shop. “You guys… really need to have a sense of humor to work here, don’t you?”

Lilly and I looked at each other over Karim’s head, and my pulse thudded as she smiled.

Fuck yeah, you did.