Page 45 of Unlikely You

Honey’s eyes went wide and she stepped closer and spoke in a low voice that made me think of sweaty tangled sheets and heavy breathing and I gripped the matcha until my fingers went numb so I didn’t make any kind of embarrassing noises.

“I guess it was their anniversary the other day and he forgot so she’s going to make him pay for it. Passive aggressively of course.”

“Shitttt,” I said, and Honey let out a low laugh.

She shrugged one shoulder. “I went over to get some cheese when he was on a break and she talked my ear off. I think I’ve got one of those faces that makes people want to tell me their whole life stories, you know?”

I let out a snort. “My face is the exact opposite.”

Honey giggled. “You do give off a kind of ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe sometimes.”

Good. That was what I wanted.

“But then you smile, and it changes your whole face.”

Fuck, I needed to stop talking to her. I needed someone to come up and ask me about my book sleeves so I had a good excuse. Only problem was the lack of customers wandering by to use as a distraction. Just a few people wandered by, and they were pure browsers. Not interested in anything but wasting time.

I hated how my face went red and I couldn’t put my hands up and hide my cheeks without drawing more attention.

For something to do, I sucked in a sip of the matcha which caused me to almost choke. I managed to keep the liquid in my mouth and not spray it all over Honey and the floor, but it was close.

“You okay?” Honey asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, my voice rough as I had another (smaller) sip. It was actually good. The honey was a nice touch.

“Honey, we need more tea,” Ellie said, coming over and tapping her sister on the arm before turning and speaking to me.

“Hi Bren!” I’d never seen anyone so happy to see me in my entire life. It was almost unnerving.

“Uh, hi, Ellie.”

“Do you want some tea?” she asked me.

“No, I’m good. Your sister brought me a drink already.” I held it up.

“You should get another drink, Honey, and then you can have them together,” Ellie said, bouncing on her toes next to her sister. Okay, this kid was cute. Not subtle, but cute.

Honey grinned at me, as if we were sharing a joke.

“I think we should let Bren get back to work, don’t you? And we should make one last batch of tea for the day.”

Ellie let out a heavy sigh paired with an epic eye roll. Honey had her hands full with this one.

“Come on, Ellie Belly,” Honey said, throwing me a wink and ushering her sister back toward the table.

A group of teens chose that moment to find my table and get excited about my book sleeves and stickers, so I lost track of Honey for a little while. It was almost time to go and I was practically twitching to be out of here and not have to speak to another person for the rest of the night. I’d also finished the matcha and that might have also contributed to my antsy feeling.

“I’m guessing you just want to get out of here, huh?” Honey asked, startling me. I’d literally been staring off into space, completely mentally checked out for the day.

I had officially reached my limit and no amount of caffeine was going to help.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked, my voice a little rough. The first few weeks of working at the marketplace, I’d actually lost my voice by Sunday night. Now I was more used to so much talking, but I still drank special throat soother tea a few times a week.

“How are you always so…” I trailed off and gestured, unable to find the right word. I was worded out for the time being.

Honey crossed her arms, drawing attention to her perfect chest. Polo shirts looked pretty bad on just about everyone, but the way it stretched across her breasts made it even harder to think. “So what? I feel like whatever word you come up with might be insulting.”

“No, not insulting. You’re just always so friendly and smiling. How?” It was the question I’d been wondering the second I’d seen her the first time.

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