Page 38 of Dryad, Try Again
The next day,the evening shift at Mummy Mocha is much more relaxed than the morning rush. With midterms well underway, the dean wants us open for later hours to fuel the studious monsters in the heart of the library. I don’t mind too much; thezombie doesn’t take tips, so more hours means more earnings for me. I need cash if I want to continue impressing Kovi on dates.
I finish an order for two trolls, then smile when they place a few bucks in the tip jar. I do so love this job. What I don’t care for, however, is my boss-slash-friend grinning from ear-to-ear. We’ve been busy enough that I dodged all his post-date probing yesterday morning, but I knew this was coming for me. Kovi and I both spend a lot of time with Seth, after all, and he’s not exactly the shy type. Work is winding down, and I don’t want to be grilled again. I got enough of that yesterday from my human friends.
“So, anything fun happen to you these past few days?” He smiles coyly and leans on the counter as I clean out the tumblers.
I snigger and avoid Seth’s gaze. “Uh, I got an A on the environmental sci midterm?”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, anything else?” he asks with all the patience of a hungry dog. “Any big news?”
“Nothing of note.” I clear my throat and look around; the café is pristine. It seems the zombie busboy has the place cleaned, and the last of the patrons are leaving.No distractions, wonderful.
“Nothing at all?” Seth moves to the cash register and begins the closing count. “Come on, McGregor. Give me something.”
I snicker. “How many times do I have tell people I don’t kiss and tell?”
“You’re no fun,” he grumbles. I can hear the pout in his voice.
I begin closing all of the ingredient containers. “Don’t you live with Kovi?”
“Yeah, but he’s all over the place, and I’m always working.” He moves to the back office, then, moments later, walks back out. “I thought my good human friend Tanner would give me some sweet, sweet gossip.”
I put away the glasses and snort. “You’d think there was no one else dating on this campus,” I mutter.
“Actually, on the contrary; I know there are plenty of romances going on. These humans… man, you would not believe the stories I’ve heard. This incubus I met, he started…well…” Seth is interrupted when the zombie moves past us with the mop and bucket. “Goodnight, zombie!”
With a grunt, the bus boy disappears. I have no idea where he goes off to between shifts. All I know is Mummy Mocha is closing for the night, and I can’t keep avoiding the conversation with Seth.
“So what are you up to now, Tan?” he asks after I clock out.
“It’s late, but I have no morning classes.” Kovi and I have been flirting via text, but we agreed to a date this weekend. Refraining from begging him to have lunch with me has been a subtle torture. But I don’t want to move too fast. I already miss Kovi, and if Seth knew, he’d never let me live it down. “Why?”
“Want to watch some trash TV with me and my suitemates?”
I nod and we walk out the lobby together. My heart beats faster knowing that includes Kovi. I try to school back my eagerness and purse my lips. I nod at the night sky and slowly say, “Uh, if you don’t mind, I guess I could come by…”
Seth snickers and rolls his eyes. He’s been smirking at me all week, but I can’t be too mad. I have Kovi’s best friend’s blessing on my side, and that’s more than enough.
Ten minutes later,we barge into his upperclassman suite in Karloff. “Surprise!” Seth announces.
“Why are you so loud, fucker?” a familiar voice asks behind the door.
“Because…” I can hear Seth’s grin, and trail behind him. “Look who I found!”
I step behind Seth to see Kovi and their other suitemate. “Tanner?!” The guy I’m dating yelps and darts up like I’m the dean.
“Oh uh, hey.” I scratch the back of my neck and my cheeks burn. I knew Seth wanted to surprise Kovi, but I didn’t realize how exposed I would feel. I’m wearing a plain black t-shirt and my old denim jacket. Meanwhile, Kovi’s only in a loose, wrinkled tank top and boxers. He glances down and nervously tries to straighten out his outfit, but I can’t get over how good he looks. His lithe legs are just as shapely as I remember from several days ago. I’ll never say no to staring at all that delicious dark skin.
“I…didn’t expect to see you like this.” His voice is strained and he continues to play with his clothes. The other two, meanwhile, glance at the two of us with manic grins.
“It was kind of last minute,” I mutter, trying to give a reassuring smile.
“We need to chill out for midterms. Plus, we had a long evening at the coffee shop.” Seth leans in and places his head on Kovi’s shoulder. “You don’t mind me inviting him here to unwind, right Kovi?”
Kovi slaps him in the crotch and the other dude giggles when Seth falls back onto the couch. He seems to really be stressing out. Maybe I should have texted first?
“I’m sorry if this is too weird. I can go…”
“No, don’t!” Kovi yelps. Then he clears his throat and looks away. “I just didn’t anticipate…uh, I don’t usually dress like this at home.”
