Page 108 of Cold as Ice

“I know,” Elliott said. God, why was Mal making this worse? He needed him to just cut bait now, before Elliott’s heart broke even further.

He didn’t know which was worse, that he wouldn’t have Mal in his bed anymore, or that he’d lose his chance at skating with him.

Mal pulled the door open to the coffee shop and practically dragged him along until they reached an empty table.

“What about your class?” Elliott knew he had a class right now. Mal had probably never even dreamt of ditching, and now he was doing it, without a second thought, forhim.

Somehow that felt even worse.

But Mal was dismissive. “Don’t worry about it. Sit. Actually—go get us some coffee, okay? I want to go over this test.”

“I—”

“No,” Mal said inexorably. “Get us some coffee. This doesn’t make sense. It needs to make sense.”

Of course Mal would feel that way.

“It makes sense,” Elliott said, fighting through the lump in his throat. “I didn’t do it. I fucked up. Ifailed.”

But Mal grabbed his arm and squeezed it, hard. “No, you didn’t. I don’t believe that. I won’t believe that.”

“Don’t make this worse,” Elliott begged.

“I’m going to fix it,” Mal said.

Elliott wanted to tell him it was in shambles, broken beyond repair, and even Malcolm McCoy with all his intense certainty couldn’t right it, but the words wouldn’t come.

Instead, he found himself walking over to the front counter and actually ordering fucking coffee.

Of course the guy at the register wastheguy. The one who’d gotten his number and Elliott had ignored and then subsequently shut down.

Maybe he should make nice, as the guy looked at him with an assessing expression, because this thing with Mal was going to end. Probably sooner rather than later. But the idea of dating anyone—eventouchingsomeone—who wasn’t Mal made him feel even more like puking.

He couldn’t do it.

It was Mal or no one.

“Hey,” Elliott said, coming to a stop in front of the register. “Cold brew—”

“Large, with room?” the guy finished. “And what does your boyfriend want?”

Thebword sounded more than a little bitter, and Elliott supposed he couldn’t blame him for that. “He’s not my boyfriend,” Elliott said.

Cute Coffee Guy shot him a look full of incredulity. “Someone didn’t tell either of you that, then,” he said. “The way you two look at each other—” He shook his head, looking unexpectedly full of regret.

But Elliott couldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole. Not today.

“Large black coffee, two sugars,” Elliott said instead.

He and Mal had never come to Koffee Klatch together, but somehow he still knew his coffee order. Didn’t even remember when he’d learned it, only that he’d found out one day and his mind had hoarded that knowledge, like it had collected every other little tidbit of Mal he’d discovered.

It’s all you’re gonna have now.

Elliott paid and dutifully picked up their coffee and brought it back to the table.

Damp curly hair fell across Mal’s forehead as he stared at the test and scribbled something down on another piece of paper next to it.

Mal glanced up when Elliott put his coffee cup down.

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