Page 143 of Breaking the Rules

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"You could say that." If I hadn't been so desperate to impress Chase, it would have been my only hobby. I check the temperature. Perfect. "Here."

I show her how to pour the water over the beans. It's a simple spiral pattern, but it takes a lot of practice to get the nuances.

"So that's it. Chicks, tattoos, and coffee?"

"The coffee is recent."

"You want me to believe you weren't sucking down Americanos to keep youupall night?"

"Never experienced that benefit of caffeine."

She chuckles. "You know what I mean."

"It was energy drinks back then."

She sticks her tongue out. "Vile."

"Yeah." I feel the same way now. Hell, I'm disgusted by vanilla lattes now. But back then—"I just wanted the high."

"They make caffeine pills."

"Had them."

She nodsreasonable.Presses her ass into the counter. Stares into my eyes.

We're farther away. There's two feet between us. But now we're eye to eye.

It feels closer.

But not close enough.

"What else?" she asks.

"Comics."

"Of course."

"More graphic novels now. But still comics sometimes. I've been into them since the first time Chase loaned me hisThe Amazing Spider-Man. Fuck, what was the issue?"

"How did you get from there to art?"

"It's not interesting."

"Well…" Her cheeks blush. "It's not uninteresting."

We stare for a long moment.

Until the timer beeps.

I instruct her on how to pull the filter.

Her voice gets soft. Uncertain. "This is way too many steps."

"You want good coffee or you want minimum effort coffee?"

"I prefer blackmailing you into making the coffee."

"Sure."

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