THEN
5 YEARS AGO
Tuesday afternoon
Tristy’s Coffee Shop
Shawn
The morning wore on, and I kept looking up every time the door opened, hoping for Lilly to bounce in with all her energy; her personal brand of chaotic eagerness. And each time I scanned the arriving customer, my gut dropped when I realized it wasn’t her.
Damn it. Was I in that deep?
What did I even like about Lilly?
Sure, she was funny, in a random, no-filter sort of way. She was the only person to make coffee shoot out of my mouth because of something she said.
She danced too. A lot. And randomly. I knew it was part of her anxiety coping strategies, but damn, watching her move was more appealing than I wanted to admit.
She was the sort of person who didn’t need the numbness of alcohol to shake her ass, and her face lit with ridiculous joy when a good song came on.
Lilly was fun. Maybe that’s why I–fuck fuck fuck. I couldn’t keep thinking of her like this.
“Shawn, found it.” Tristan tapped my shoulder, forcing my focus to shift.
I took the card with our WIFI password from him, and hid a smile. “Thanks, this is great. Mind if I get set up now?”
He lifted a shoulder. “You can do whatever you want, no skin off my nose.”
I groaned. “Now you sound like a dad. I can’t believe you used to be a lady’s man. I mean you were dorky, but kinda smooth… sometimes.”
Tristan laughed as Karim scurried out of the backroom, eyes downcast as if he didn’t want to be noticed. No chance of that happening.
“Hey, Karim. Did you know this guy used to have two women fighting over him in this shop?”
His onyx eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Yup. There was this brunette named Rochelle, and she was trying to rope Tristan into a date. She had these art connections, and he went out with her because she promised him a showing, but he was madly in love with Nikki–”
“Shawn, come on, you’re making it sound like I was using her,” Tristan interrupted. “But she was manipulating us. I almost lost my wife because of her.”
“Oh. That sounds… complicated,” Karim said as the door swung open.
Lilly rushed in, wearing her usual black getup and a giant khaki bomber jacket while holding a huge bag of heavy textbooks and loose papers.
At the sight of her, my nerves burst under my skin, pushing my stomach up to my throat. I swallowed and studied the ground as she joined us behind the counter.
“Oh… damn… this stuff is heavy.” She was breathless, and I filed away the sound of it for my guilty fantasies. “One sec, guys.”
She went into the backroom, took off her jacket and dumped her stuff, bending over her bag. I repressed a groan at the sight of her ass before she straightened and slid a long cardigan over her arms.
She came back with her apron tied around her waist, completely covered and shapeless. But I still felt my blood boil at the sight of her flushed cheeks, my eyes tracing every available feature.
She met my glance, and if she noticed I was staring, she didn’t call me on it. Instead, she asked, “Are you still okay for tonight?”
I swallowed and nodded, trying to give her a smile, but just below the surface, every cell was bolting from one area to another, eager for closing time, desperate to be alone with this girl.
Shit. I was so fucked.
The door burst open again, a familiar female voice growling out; “Okay Tristan, I need it now. Let’s go.”
Nikki strode in, her pregnancy glow practically adding light to the place. The customers stared as she pushed her way behind the counter. Even my focus was trained on her as she sidled up to Tristan’s chest and said, “Fuck me right now,” before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the backroom.
Karim stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed as Lilly groaned and I laughed.
“Not again,” Lilly called out to them. “You guys are in your thirties. Come on.”
“Do… do they do this often?” Karim asked, voice small.
A few customers erupted in a laugh, our regulars nodding as if they knew Nikki would waylay her husband for some sexual relief. Some of them had running bets on when and how often it’d happen. They were up to five now.
Then Kelly, Nikki’s paralegal, charged through the door, box braids flying as she made it to the counter and yelled, “Oh no, Nikki Gataki, get your ass out here now. Harvey can’t man that meeting by himself, he needs you.”
There was some shuffling, and both Tristan and Nikki appeared in the doorframe.
“Cover for me, Kel. Please? I need this. If I don’t get five minutes right now, I’m going to dry hump the furniture,” Nikki pleaded.
Kelly shook her head and threw her arms out wide. “Seriously? How am I dealing with this? You and your damn pregnancy hormones are going to be the death of me.”
“I swear this is the last time. Just five minutes.”
I narrowed my eyes 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. “One thing I can do is give Nikki what she wants.” Then he shot Kelly an apologetic glance. “You could take a tray of pastries and some coffee to tide them over? Nikki will be back before they finish.”
Kelly rolled her eyes and nodded as the pair disappeared.
“Okay, I’ll turn the music up, you guys put the tray together,” Lilly ordered.
With shaky limbs, Karim jumped from his perch on our barista-break chair, and found a tray. The music was louder, but not loud enough to cover the sudden bumps and groans that came from behind our wall.
Lilly squeezed her eyes shut. “When those two go at it while we’re around, it makes me remember the time I accidently walked in on Tristan buttering up Nikki’s breasts.”
I laughed. “Oh yeah, I remember that. I accidentally spilled coffee all over her.”
Kelly folded her arms and looked at us, eyes flicking from one to the other. “Those two get up to some crazy shit, and I’m over it.”
“You say that, but you’re still working with Nikki,” Lilly teased as she gripped the cellophane wrap from under the counter. She lifted the tray from Karim’s hands as I stepped behind the machine and started on the coffee.
“If she wasn’t my best friend…” Kelly sighed. “I guess it’s fine. It’s not like she’ll be pregnant forever.”
Lilly brightened. “Right. Soon there’ll be a little Nikki running around.”
I handed Kelly a tray of coffee as Lilly passed 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 linger. She gets one ‘gasm, and gets out. Okay?”
Lilly and I reigned in our laughter and nodded at Kelly before she left our shop.
Karim popped up between us and let out a shaky breath. “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 in my ears as she smiled.
Fuck yeah you did.
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