Page 130 of Absolute Certainty
Jay should have asked him to take on Martin and the girl, but a part of him wanted to be the one to do it. A part of him wanted to dump the coffee right onto his head or find a reason to kick the grin off of his smug face.
The teens kept Molly occupied with twenty-one questions.
He sighed, irritation ballooning inside of him, as he walked over to the registers. The girl was reading the menu above Jay’s head. Martin was looking at his phone. “Ready to order?” Jay asked, his tone dry.
“Is there a special?” Martin asked. What a stupid fucking question from a stupid fucking man. The girl was ignoring him, too.
“Menu’s right behind me,” Jay said, suppressing an eye roll. He turned to the woman beside Martin then. “Do you have a flavor preference?”
Martin answered again. “I’m not really a coffee guy. She is.”Are you the type of guy who knows how to fucking shut up?he wanted to ask.
Once more, Jay aimed the question at her. “Do you have a flavor preference?”
“Yeah, can I do an iced vanilla latte, please, with almond milk? Is the syrup sweetened, and can you add less if it is?”
“The vanilla is sweetened, yeah. How does half the number of pumps sound?”
“That works,” she replied.
“Small, medium, or large?”
“Medium,” she answered.
He added the order to the register and made a note on her cup. Martin placed a bottle of water on the counter. “Better for the voice,” he said to the woman beside him.
Jay bit down onhis tongue, trying to hold himself back from reacting. She smiled nonchalantly.
“Can I get a name for the order?” Jay asked.
“Martin,” he answered.
Ignoring him, Jay looked at the woman.
“Nancy,” she said.
He wrote her name down on the plastic cup and set it aside, pressed calculate on the register, and read the price aloud.
Martin paid with his phone and walked away. Nancy thanked Jay.
He nodded courteously.
When they had their back turned to him, Jay gave in to the annoyance that’d stirred inside of him. Is this how he’d been with Sahar? Talking over her? Subtly trying to pass his opinions off as facts? Keeping her quiet? He was attractive; he’d give him that, about three-four inches shorter than Jay, but his pretentiousness made everything about him vastly unappealing. He wanted to say something—punch him in the throat and fuck up his vocal cords for life. He wanted to give him hell for making Sahar feel like she was too much.
At some point, he realized the teenagers had left the shop. He looked over at Martin again, who was glancing at the vinyl records on the wall and telling the woman how he thought the recent craze was overrated; she looked unamused. “I actually think they’re cool,” she added.
Just then, the shop’s door swung open again. Willa’s voice came first. “I stand by my opinion.Mamma Mia 2is the superior movie,” she declared.
Sahar’s stunning laugh traveled right through Jay before she stopped in her tracks.
“Sahar?” Martin called out.
Disgust made its way into her gaze as she looked over at Martin and gave him the fakest wave Jay had ever seen.
Then, she turnedand strode toward the register. She was wearing a blue denim vest with matching shorts, anddamn,his girl was pretty. A real, warm smile illuminated across her face when she saw him, and his heart fucking melted. He’d bear Sahar’s anger and apologize profusely if she hated what he was about to do next, but he couldn’t help himself.
Mine, he wanted to announce, but he would show it instead.
When she was at the register, Jay leaned over the counter, cupped her face in his hand, and pressed a quick, searing kiss to her mouth.
