Page 19 of Complete Me

Xander: Cheesy smile gif

I snort and shake my head.

Me: He’s such an ass

Xander: That’s what I said

Xander: Please come

Rolling my eyes, I shove off the wall and walk toward his lecture hall.

Me: Heading your way now

I close the app and slip the phone into my pocket while ignoring the butterflies in my stomach.

Fifteen minutes later, Xander and I walk through the doors of the coffee shop near the front of campus. It’s crawling with students, and I do my best to make myself as small as possible, avoiding random contact.

“There he is.” The excitement in Xander’s voice is unmistakable, and I ignore the stab of jealousy. I’m smaller and more nimble. If I really wanted to, I could get to Bjorn first. But that’s not going to happen. Even the idea makes my skin tight. Instead, I grunt acknowledgement and trail behind Xander, letting him carve a path for us.

When we finally make it through the crowd, Bjorn’s excitement is palpable. Xander reaches him first, and Bjorn hauls him into a bear hug so tight I swear I can hear his bones creak. I ignore the jealousy stabbing through me. I can’t even tell which of them I’m more jealous of. And isn’t that annoying. I sit and wait, but when the hug goes on longer than is typical for friends, I finally clear my throat. “Should I get our coffee order while you two wrap up your PDA?” I modulate my tone to amused exasperation. With obvious reluctance, Xander lets go of Bjorn. I have very definite, and completely annoying feelings about that, but don’t want to look at them too closely.

“Hey Kaino. Good to see you, too.” I drop into a chair, and there’s a flash of disappointment in Bjorn’s expression, but he shifts gears easily like he always did, holding out a fist for me to bump.

Which I do. “Sure. It’s good to see you.”

Bjorn claps his hands together. “Okay, I’m buying. No arguments. You know I’ll win anyway. What are we having?” Before either Xander or I can open our mouths, he points to me. “Espresso and madeleines. Yes?” It’s all I can do to keep my mouth from dropping open. Even years later he still remembers. I nod, not trusting my voice. Then the asshole winks at me, and heat sweeps through my entire body.

He turns to Xander. “A dalgona coffee?”

Xander beams, and I see a few students do double takes and elbow each other. “You remember.”

“Of course I do. Okay, I’ll be right back.” He weaves through the cafe, heading for the counter like he hasn’t just rocked our worlds.

Clearing my throat, I flick my gaze toward the students who have their phones out and are taking pictures or filming Xander. His smile disappears, and he glares at them. They laugh, quickly turning away, and he drops into the chair next to me with a sigh. “I should have insisted we meet at my office.”

“You’ll get no argument from me, but what was that about?”

Xander tucks his fingers under his glasses and rubs his eyes. “If I had to hazard a guess, they’re stunned by my happy expression. I’m not particularly known for being pleasant, let alone for smiling. Unlike someone we know.” Xander gestures toward the counter. I glance over at Bjorn, who is charming the pants off of the barista behind the counter. It’s not even intentional. He just exudes golden retriever energy, and everyone falls all over themselves to make him happy. Next to me, Xander snorts. “He’s a menace.”

I can’t disagree. “He’d be dangerous if he knew he was doing it. But it’s just who he is.”

“Thoroughly disgusting.”

Tilting my head, I consider. “You know, if we could bottle that, we’d make a fortune.”

“And probably be arrested for witchcraft.”

“True.” I turn away from Bjorn, who is far too distracting, and focus on Xander. “How did class go today?”

With a significant sigh, Xander slumps in his chair. “Have I mentioned how much I detest teaching freshman intro classes? Thankfully, I only have the one, but dear gods, how have these individuals managed to graduate from high school without learning how to write a coherent paragraph, let alone an entire paper?”

I raise an eyebrow. “And get off my lawn?”

He blinks at me. “Sorry, what?”

“I figured that was next. You sound like a crotchety old man.”

Xander bristles, turning his cold stare on me. “I beg your pardon. I’m not old.”

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