Page 12 of Sidelined Love

“Are you ready?” Jeff asks me.

“Yep,” I say in response. I set the timer and then we get to work.

Since I'm sitting on the side with the white pieces, I make the first move—advancing my king's pawn two spaces. Jeff mirrors what I've done on his side of the board. We continue exchanging moves, both aiming to control the center as I had demonstrated earlier. I have to admit, Jeff proves himself a worthy opponent, countering each attempt I make to gain the upper hand.

I gain a slight advantage when I manage to exchange my bishop for one of Jeff's knights, but he responds aggressively, putting my king in danger. I have to think carefully to find a way out without losing too much ground.

Just as I'm about to force a draw, he makes a careless move, giving me an opening to checkmate him in three moves. I consider showing him the sequence but decide it's something I can explain after the match is over. Instead, I take his queen with my knight, leaving his king defenseless.

“Checkmate,” I say, sliding my knight into place and sticking out my hand. He stares at my hand for a moment, stunned, before he reaches across the board and shakes it. “That was a close match.”

“Yeah, it was,” he says with a grin. “I'm getting better.”

“You are,” I respond. “It was really good. Let me show you the mistake you made.”

I reorganize the pieces as we had them before and show him the move he made and how I was able to use it to get the win. He nods along as he watches, hopefully understanding what I'm trying to showcase here.

Our discussion is interrupted by the timer going off, signaling the end of this round of matches. I help Jeff clean up our board before standing up to address the room. “Great job today, everyone. If we can all help by cleaning any messes that we created, that would be great and won't piss off the manager here. We'll meet at the same time next week.”

I'm kind of impressed with the number of people that stayed behind to clean things up, making my life easier. As the last members leave the coffee shop, I let out a long exhale as I sink into a chair.

I'm done for the night.

“Do you need anything?”

I look over and find Jenna staring at me before I shake my head. “Nah. I'm going to head out for the night.”

“Sounds good.”

I take a deep breath and stand up. Time to go home and recharge for another day. I leave Brewed Beginnings and walk back to my apartment, checking my phone and finding that I don't have any missed calls or text messages.

Unexpectedly, loneliness creeps in because the one person that is always there for me hasn’t returned my text.

5

LEVI

What the hell am I doing?

It’s all I can think about when the smell of coffee slams into me as I pull open the front door of Brewed Beginnings. I'm greeted with the sound of the bell above the door, one that I'm beginning to wonder, if I come in here enough times, will I start to hear it in my dreams. After all, this is the second time I’ve been here in three days, so I’m convinced it is bound to happen.

I hear Asher yawn as I hold the door open for him. There is no doubt in my mind that if he could get away with it, he'd strangle me right now.

“Why are we here again?” The exhaustion and annoyance in his voice is apparent.

“To get some coffee,” I answer matter-of-factly as if he'd asked the worst question in the world. Why else would most people go to a coffee shop?

Asher might have responded to me, but I don't hear him. All of my attention is on finding the person who, for the last couple of days, has played a starring role in the movie I keep playing in my mind. I look around and smile when I find the beautiful girlstanding behind the counter with a black apron tied around her waist. Her long brown hair is in a bun on the top of her head and, right now, there is nothing I wouldn't give for the opportunity to run my hands through it.

Hailey doesn't bother glancing up from the steam wand hissing in her hands, but maybe she didn't hear the chime near the door. She's too focused on what looks to be a latte of some sort that she's making for a customer. There's a permanent crease between her eyebrows as if every coffee order is a personal attack on her peace of mind. But it’s clear she takes pride in her work because, I swear, she's the most efficient worker here.

“I'm going to order something. Do you want anything? I'm buying.”

Asher slowly turns his head toward me. “No, but I want to deck you for forcing me to wake up early just to come here before practice.”

I wince slightly because I do feel bad about waking him up this early. But we usually travel to practice together, and there was no way I was missing an opportunity to see the girl who has caught my attention if I didn't have to.

My eyes follow Hailey as she finishes up the latte order and rings the customer up. I wonder if she's always this intense or if it's the pressure of the morning rush getting to her.

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