Page 3 of Autumn Falls

“Whatever.”

“Expand your vocab, little sister.”

“Chinga tu madre.”

“Whoa, I don’t know what that means, but you need to stop hanging out with Marisol because her ass is teaching you some bad words.”

“Actually, it was her brother, and it means…” I whisper it in her ear with a giggle.

“Ugh, oh that’s even worse, but I agree,” she says with a laugh because Marisol’s brother has a huge ego and is only sixteen. “And don’t go saying that to people who piss you off.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s behave so we don’t get the boot.”

“I’ll try. Especially since they have the snipers on the rooftops.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you know, since they had that terrible shooting up at the parade in Highland Park. It’s a crazy security measure, but I guess it’s for the best.”

“It is a bit scary to me, but we need the protection. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Seriously, Elle.”

We walk to where I want to stand, but there are chairs there and I’m about to cry, but there’s a sign on them. “For Autumn Sager & Friend.”

My mouth falls open and my sister says, “What?”

“Who did this? Did you?”

“Maybe…”

“When did you do it?”

“Well, maybe I was up early this morning.”

“So you’ve been fucking with me all this time?”

“Yeah. I came to help Andie and her shop set up, so I put a thing of chairs for you right away. We just have to give them back to Andie before we go back.” I give my sister a big squeeze and squeal. “Yeah, but you owe me. Now go get our coffees.”

“Fine,” I huff. “If I must.” I roll my eyes, smiling the entire time.

“Do you want your usual?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I’m practically skipping as I make my way over to Café La La, which is just twenty-five feet away. The line is pretty short right now, but soon it will be down the street. Thankfully, there are two shops on this street that sell early-morning coffee. Although they’ll pause for the parade.

“Sometimes I forget why I hate this place,” I sigh to myself, forgetting how nosy my neighbors are.

“It’s a shame to hear how you hate it here,” a deep voice says behind me. I gasp, feeling the color draining from my face. I have no idea who it is, but I refuse to back down from the assholes in this town, so I turn around and see a man in full tactical gear.

My eyebrows raise and so does his. They’re sexy brows too. Like the kind that comes from a man who is all beast. “Oh, I guess I shouldn’t be telling you that I hate this place.” My heart thumps inside my chest, but it feels like it could burst out.

He has his baseball cap on backward with his shades on the top of the hat, looking tough and ready to take down any troublemaker without breaking a sweat. The thought of him pinning me down crosses my mind, and my brain is going haywire. “Why is that?” he questioned, staring into my eyes like he was reading my soul.

“Well, I might seem like trouble,” I confess, biting down on my bottom lip.

“Hardly. You don’t look like the kind of trouble I’m watching for, but just in case, I’ll make sure I keep an eye on you.” Seriously, I don’t need soaked panties now. It’s too damn cold outside for it. They’ll be popsicle panties before the day is out.

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