Page 22 of Allured By Her

“Good morning,” she said, leaning over the counter and tilting her chin forward. I stared at her for a second. Was she expecting me to kiss her? We hadn’t discussed what we were doing outside of parties at all.

“Um,” I said, unable to stop staring at her puckered mouth.

“No kiss for me?” she said.

“Not while I’m working,” I said, and she pulled back.

“Fine,” she said, but I didn’t miss the flash of disappointment on her face. She was really laying it on thick. “I’ll have that fruity strawberry thing. Iced. Large. And a chocolate croissant.”

I tapped in the order and she paid, winking at me before sliding over to the pickup area.

“What the fuck was that?” Lark said in my ear, low enough so no one else could ear.

“I don’t know,” I hissed back before I smiled at the next customer, one of my regulars who was an older guy who worked for the postal service.

Since Tenley had messed with me earlier, I went ahead and decided to mess with her a little bit back.

“Sevenly? Sevenly?” I called out when I finished her drink and set her croissant on a plate.

Tenley was right there, glaring at me.

“Cute,” she said, snatching the drink and the plate.

“I’m not the one named after a number,” I said.

“You’re hilarious,” she said as she grabbed some napkins and headed to her table, but I couldn’t help smiling.

* * *

I’d half-expected her to come over and bug me again, but she did her normal thing of getting out her computer and typing away, staring at the screen in concentration and occasionally muttering to herself, pink headphones firmly on her ears.

It wasn’t until my break that she spoke to me again. I was on the picnic table, shoving a bagel in my face and scrolling through social when someone sat next to me.

“Watcha looking at?” she said, scaring me so much that I almost dropped my bagel.

“Holy shit, you scared me,” I said, putting my bagel down. “Can you read the sign?” I pointed to the EMPLOYEES ONLY sign on the wall.

“Yes, I can read it, but I’m choosing to ignore it,” she said, leaning back and tilting her face upward.

“What the hell was that kiss thing earlier? Kissing outside of parties wasn’t part of our deal,” I said, doing my best not to watch how her hair lit up in the sun, and how pink her lips were.

Tenley laughed and looked at me. “Oh, I know. I just wanted to see your reaction. Totally worth it.”

I scowled at her and she giggled, and the sound was so adorable that I could barely stand it. This giggle was a very different sound than the laugh she’d used with her friends last night. Or maybe I was just imagining things.

“You’re lucky I don’t spit in your macchiatos,” I said, even though it was something I’d never do.

“You wouldn’t,” Tenley said, taking her hair down so it tumbled over her shoulders and then combing her fingers through it. “You’re too much of a rule follower.”

I scoffed. “I’m not a rule follower.”

“Please, high school was not that long ago,” she said, twisting her hair up again.

“You didn’t notice me in high school,” I said, snorting. None of those people noticed me, unless it was to make some sort of mean comment. Tenley had never been someone who’d done that, but she’d stood there and said nothing.

“I noticed you in high school. You were just too cool for the rest of us,” she said, and I blinked at her.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

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