Page 9 of Falling for Fury

“Pompous dick,” I catch the mumble under her breath.

“Sorry, what was that?” I give her a devious grin; she doesn’t think I heard her.

“Nothing.” She sits and then turns to me with a curled lip, looking me up and down, and for some reason, it just makes me smile wider.

“What are you doing? There are plenty of tables, and you choose one near me?”

“You’re sitting at my usual table. But I am a gentleman, after all,” I say while ironically making to look her up and down. “So, I think instead, I will just sit over here by the window.” I throw her a wink, and her expression melts into one of defeat. She shakes her head and focuses back to her laptop.

“Why are you here on a workday?” I challenge as she throws daggers with her eyes. JJ approaches, bringing me my coffee. He stops and stares between Addison and me again with a thoroughly pissed off look. What is up his ass today? I give him a curious eyebrow raise.

“How do you two know each other?” he asks, or rather, demands. His voice deep, leaving no room for arguments.

“JJ, don’t,” Addison scolds, changing the direction of her daggers.

“That wasn’t rhetorical, Karvelas. How do you know Addison?”

“Woah, man, what—”

“Jessie, please just go back to the counter. I am fine.” Addison levels JJ with a lethal stare that is laced with unspoken words. He grunts and turns to leave, but not before staring into my soul with a message I feel is something akin to I am watching you, and a shiver runs down my spine. What is this guy’s problem?

“Sorry, he is… uh, protective, I guess,” Addison explains, somewhat apologetically.

“You know JJ on a personal level?”

“He is my older brother. He is the eldest, actually.” She looks down at her hands. “He wasn’t always this broody, but he pulls the brother card when it comes to being a protective ass.” She grunts the last part and grabs her coffee to take a sip. I do the same, to allow my brain some time to catch up.

JJ is her brother.

And I am suddenly painfully aware of how many dates I have brought to this coffee shop. His angry expression now makes sense.

“JJ never mentioned he had sisters? Actually, Ava and Matt both never mentioned this?” So confused how this has not come up before. She shrugs, also unsure, and I decide it doesn’t matter.

“Anyway, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just came here to get some work done.” I sit down at a table next to the window, leaving one table between us, and get my laptop set up.

“You never answered my question?” I ask, accepting I will get zero work done with Addison’s strawberry scent filling the room.

“What question would that be?” She doesn’t look up from her computer, and I don’t miss the sigh of annoyance in her voice.

“What are you doing here on a Monday?”

“Studying.”

“Oh? What do you study?”

“Law.”

“Impressive. Full time?”

“Yep, Columbia. Finish in May.”

Our back-and-forth continues, each sentence from her clipped as her eye line doesn’t leave her computer.

“Have you decided what area you want to practice in?”

“Why are you so interested in me?” She looks at me then, and something about the look she gives me is pained, something I can’t quite nail down but hits me straight in the chest like an arrow.

I shrug, giving her my cheekiest grin. “Humor me.” I wonder how far I can push this before she really gets sick of me.

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