Page 14 of Strong Coffee

Cam pinched my chin, tilting my head back to meet the hard impact of his mouth. “Right now,” he whispered against my lips. “We’re just existing.”

EIGHT

Camden

Not being able tohave dinner with Beverly, didn’t sit well with me. We had been meeting once a month ever since we got divorced. I was sure people thought it was odd how close we still were. I even called her parents Mom and Dad and her sister often told me that her baby would still refer to me as Uncle Cam. I loved all of them like they were my own flesh and blood and I couldn’t ask for a better extended family. My parents were also grateful for it because a lot of people didn’t have it so easy when they came out. I was more than thankful for the support.

While Brady and I sat in silence, I couldn’t help but take in his appearance. He wore dark blue jeans, a black dress shirt that wasn’t done up, with a bandT-shirt on underneath it. When I asked him about the shirt, he had told me it was a heavy metal band that played at Coffee Beans & Love every chance they could.

Brady looked my way every so often. There was a red tinge to his cheeks, and it was because of me that it was there in the first place. He smirked, his eyes shining with lust that I couldn’t wait to explore later. But for now, we were going to have some food, some drinks, and go somewhere to listen to music and have more drinks.

“Does Coffee Beans & Love have bands play there often?” I asked him, thinking we could go there after food.

“We’re trying to make that happen. We’re doing whatever we can to get it out there that we welcome any and all events,” he explained, giving me a small smile.

“So it’s not just a café but a bar too?”

Brady chuckled, running his hand through his shaggy black hair. “Well, that’s a funny story. We named it Coffee Beans & Love because we love coffee and had every intention of keeping it to coffee and baked goods only. There had been an event in town that came to our café and we were so busy that we had to turn people away. We lost a lot of business that day. So, we decided to buy the building beside ours and expand Coffee Beans & Love. We then turned it into more of a coffee bar I guess you could call it. But we didn’t really want to go through the hoops to change the name, so we just stuck with Coffee Beans & Love even though we don’t serve just coffee or baked goods anymore.”

“I’m glad your business is doing so well.” I sat back in the booth, taking a sip of my whiskey. “I know how hard it is to get off the ground.”

“It’s been very hard but I’ll never forget those customers who helped us grow. Sure, we still have issues from time to time and money isn’t rolling in as much as we’d like but it could be worse.”

“It definitely could be.”

We continued talking about our businesses. I liked listening to him and seeing how proud he was of Coffee Beans & Love. It was amazing to me that four friends who grew up together and went to school together, also decided to own a business together. That could make or break a friendship, so I was happy to hear that Brady was still close with his best friends. While I didn’t overly like how close he was with this Shane fucker, we all had a past. I couldn’t fault him for that.

I enjoyed spending time with Brady, so I didn’t want this night to end anytime soon. Beverly had texted me a few times, giving me advice and tips and offering suggestions to help me relax. It was just who she was, and I loved her even more for it. If this thing with Brady became something more than us just fucking, I hoped the two of them could become close too.

“How’s your food?” I asked Brady, noticing how he was pushing around the noodles on his plate but hadn’t taken a bite in a few minutes.

I had him meet me at a Korean restaurant. The food was delicious, but I especially liked the quiet and warm ambiance of the place.

“It’s good,” he muttered, staring down at the plate in front of him.

“Are you sure? If it’s not your thing, we can go somewhere else.”

He looked up then, quickly shaking his head. “No. The food is delicious. Thank you for the offer but I’m fine here.”

“Then what is it?” He had gone to the bathroom about ten minutes ago and came back in a different mood.

“I’m just nervous.” He shrugged, pushing his dark bangs out of his eyes. “That’s all.”

We had been talking about our businesses but after that conversation finished, he became quiet. His timid and shy demeanor did something funny to me. I found that I wanted to protect him at all costs.

“You don’t need to be.” Before I could stop myself, I slid out of my side of the booth and went up to him. “Move over.”

“What are you doing?” he asked but did as he was told and slid across the seat.

“Listen.” I sat, taking his hands in mine and forcing him to look at me. “This is new. This is new for both of us. Like I told you, I haven’t dated since before I was married. It’s been a while for me. But I like you. A lot in fact. I’m not going anywhere. I know your situation with your best friend is a little weird right now…” My voice trailed off, unsure what else to say to reassure him that we could have some fun without making things too serious.

“What are you wanting out of this?” Brady asked, his dark eyes meeting mine.

“I don’t know. Am I looking for a relationship? I have no idea but whatever we do, I promise that I’ll only be with you and no one else while we’re fucking. If it ends, it ends. But in the meantime, I am yours and only yours.”

“Okay.” He let out a slow breath. Maybe he thought that I wanted a piece from him and others at the same time. Sure, I had fucked around before, but I meant what I told him. It was just him and that’s it.

“So, Brady. Tell me more about yourself.” I grabbed his hand and placed it on my thigh, needing some sort of connection with him.

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