Page 103 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

I rush forward and grab mine, muttering a hasty, “Thanks!” Then beeline for the exit. Of course, that’s the moment a hoard of teens barrel through the door, forcing me to hold it open until the entire gaggle has stormed the café.

Once outside, I hustle to the crosswalk. I punch the button and glare as the sign counts down from thirty.

And then I hear my name being called.

I glance toward the café and, much to my horror, the attractive man whose butt I was admiring is rushing toward me, coffee in hand.

“Hey! You’re Skye, right?” he asks.

“Yes. That’s me.” Maybe he didn’t mind my checking out his butt.

“You took the wrong coffee.” He taps the side of the cup with the name SKYE written in Larissa’s lovely cursive.

“Oh.” I turn mine around and see Sidney scrawled on the side. And it’s a pumpkin spice latte. Half sweet, skim milk. “Wow. I would have spent the rest of the afternoon working from a bathroom stall if you hadn’t caught me.” At his questioning expression, I continue with the embarrassing word vomit. “I’m lactose intolerant and this much dairy would mean stomach cramps for days.” I bite my lips together and close myeyes. “Sorry. You didn’t need to know that. I haven’t taken a sip. See. No lipstick prints.” I thrust the cup toward him and reluctantly crack a lid.

He’s smiling. Widely. “I’m very glad I caught you when I did then. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for an afternoon of prolonged discomfort.”

We exchange takeout cups. “It would’ve been my fault for not checking more than the S, but I was trying to escape my embarrassment. Seems like it’s following me around and making things worse.” I step away from this exceptionally hot man who inspires an unprecedented amount of word vomit. “Thank you for stopping me. You, uh...you didn’t drink out of mine, did you?”

“I didn’t.” His eyes are blue. So vibrant and pretty and his teeth are straight. I glance at his hand. His ring finger is bare. Then I realize he’s giving my hand the same inspection. “Do you work around here?”

“Just across the street.” I thumb over my shoulder. “You?”

“No, but I’m in the area often.” He tucks a hand in his pocket. “Maybe you’d like to grab a coffee later this week?”

I blink at him. Then open my mouth and ask a stupid question. “Are you asking me out?”

“Unless you’re already seeing someone. I didn’t see a ring, so I was hopeful.” His bottom lip slides through his teeth and for a moment, he looks boyishly handsome.

“But…you don’t know anything about me.” I don’t know why I haven’t said yes yet. He’s attractive and thoughtful enough to stop me from drinking the wrong coffee. His kindness saved me from ending up curled in the fetal position on a bathroom floor.

He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve seen you here before. I’ve been working up the nerve to introduce myself. Looks like the universe gave me a push in the right direction.” He holds up a hand and gives his head a little shake. “I’m probably making thisawkward. I’ll be here Wednesday at eleven-thirty. Hopefully, I’ll see you then.” And with that, he turns and disappears into the crowd.

Chapter Two

Tails I Go, Heads I Don’t

Skye

“I got asked out on a date,” I blurt when Violet walks through the door.

“Cool.” She drops her backpack. “The guys are here, too. We’re supposed to order pizza and chicken wings, remember?” She thumbs over her shoulder as four gawky teen boys appear behind her.

“Hi boys!” My voice is all pitchy.

“Hi, Miss Hall. Congratulations on the date,” Michael, a senior who likely has a crush on my daughter, says.

I’m pretty sure they all have a crush on her, but none of them have enough balls to ask her out. Also, it would make the team dynamic awkward, and Violet isn’t interested in any of them. At least not that she’s expressed.

“Why don’t you guys get comfortable in the living room, and I’ll bring sodas in,” Violet says.

“I can help with the sodas,” Michael offers.

“It’s cool. I got it.” She plasters on a smile as they file out of the kitchen like awkward baby ducklings. She peeks around the corner before turning back to me. “You forgot they were coming over, huh?”

“I’m sorry. Today was busy. I have a set of taxes to prepare before tomorrow at five, and they’re a mess.” I motion to the kitchen table, which looks like it was struck by a paper bomb. I have a twenty-four-hour extension, which means tonight will be a long one. “It completely slipped my mind that the boys were coming over.”

“It’s cool. I’ll put out a bowl of chips while we wait.” Violet calls the pizza place and orders a lactose free pepperoni pizza for her, a gluten-free barbeque chicken pizza for Michael and Toby, and a meat-lovers for Ali and Kiernan and two orders of wings and chicken fingers. She tells them she has a coupon code for a free extra-large pizza and a pound of wings and once all the discounts are added, she writes the total on the whiteboard.

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