Page 16 of Back to You

Ethan was slightly amazed to see Brandon immediately follow orders, albeit with a fabulous scowl.

“Need anything else?” the blonde asked Ethan, smiling as though she hadn’t just dominated a man about twice her size. Or maybe because of that, who knew.

“I’m good,” he said, slinking off to one of the cushy armchairs across the room. He was man enough to admit he was slightly afraid of this woman now.

Ethan settled in with his study materials and coffee, which he absently noted was delicious. Making a mental note to add this to his list of favorite cafes, he dove once again into the hell that was studying for the bar exam.

The next thing he knew, a gruff voice said, “Hey man, we’re closing.”

Ethan startled. Where the hell was he?

“Sorry to wake you, but we close at 6 and it’s 6:15.”

What a lovely dream, Ethan thought. His subconscious had taken pity on his study-mush brain and conjured a gorgeous man for Ethan to admire.

He focused blearily on the dream man standing in front of him. Damn, look at those sexy arms, he thought, reaching out to pet one because boundaries don’t exist in dreams.

“Excuse me?”

Ethan shook his head, trying to focus. Wait a minute. He’d gone to the coffee shop to study. Was he home dreaming? What had happened to the day?

This … wasn’t a dream, was it?

“Oh shit,” he breathed. He snatched his hand away and leaped out of the chair, intent on gathering his things so he could run away and die in peace. He hadn’t counted on the not-a-dream-after-all man to be standing so close.

Wham! Ethan felt his face impact the other man’s at high velocity, and both of them staggered back. “Oh my God, I am so sorry!” Ethan yelped, grabbing for his nose and noticing the other man doing the same. “I’m so sorry!”

The other man sat down at a nearby table and probed his nose carefully. “Not broken, it’s okay.”

“Really, I’ve just been studying so much and not sleeping enough and I can’t believe I fell asleep, and oh my God, did I grab your arm? I am so sorry, I swear I’m not like this usually, I have an understanding of boundaries, I really do.” Ethan continued snatching up pages of notes from the floor where they’d fallen from his sleeping hands. “Oh God, it’ll take me a month to get these notes back in order, what the hell, Ethan? You just fall asleep in public like a weirdo and molest perfect strangers? Sir, I apologize, really I’m so sorry, I just don’t know what came over me. And I love this cafe and you make the best coffee and now I’ll never be able to come back and that sucks because it’s close to my apartment and I can’t make decent coffee to save my life. And now I’m stuck driving to Starbucks and their chairs aren’t nearly as comfortable. Which is probably a good thing so I won’t fall asleep in public again like a crazy person.”

The sound of laughter stopped Ethan’s frantic actions. He glanced over to see the man laughing hard. It was a good sound — deep and happy. It made the already attractive man even hotter, if that was possible. Such a shame I’ll never see him again, Ethan thought, going back to jamming paper into his satchel.

“Oh man, I needed that laugh.” The man stood and smiled at Ethan. “It’s okay, really. That’s not even the weirdest thing to happen in here this week.”

Ethan smiled back weakly. “I really am sorry, though. I swear, you won’t have to worry about me doing that again.”

“Because you’re going to run screaming into the night, never to return?”

“Pretty much, that was the plan, yeah.”

The man smiled again and patted Ethan on the shoulder. “Really, don’t worry about it. We’d love to have you come back, no need to be embarrassed. You wouldn’t believe some of the crazy regulars we get in here.”

Ethan blew out a breath and tried to relax. “I’m Ethan, by the way.”

“Brandon.” He held out his hand for Ethan to shake, then suddenly pulled back. “Wait, this is okay, right? I wouldn’t want to overwhelm you with my sexy arms.”

Ethan went rigid again. “Oh God, did I say that out loud?”

Brandon started laughing again. “It was like you were in a trance. I could tell you had no clue what was happening. I’ve never seen anyone wake up like that.”

“Yep, off to go die now.” Ethan grabbed his satchel and slung it across his body. “Here lies Ethan, cause of death massive embarrassment.”

Brandon stopped him again, his laughter ending. A faint blush colored his cheeks, to Ethan’s fascination. “Actually, I was thinking maybe me and my arms could take you for dinner?”

Wait a minute.

Was this talk, dark and handsome man seriously asking him on a date? After the fiasco he’d just witnessed?

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