Page 34 of Atlas
I grin. “I bet you spent most of your teenage years tired.”
She giggles and the sound stirs something inside of me. “I did.”
“Which explains your addiction to coffee.”
She bites her lower lip to stop her smile getting wider, but her eyes shine under the twinkling lights, letting me know she likes our conversation. “I do have an obsession.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say, “but it’s not for coffee.”
Her eyes flick to mine, shy and unsure, and fuck I have to force myself to stand and turn towards the counter and pretend to scan the menu just so I don’t kiss her right here in the middle of this little coffee shop.
The barista smiles. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll take a double espresso.” I turn back to Rue who’s watching me. “And the lady will have . . .”
She blinks, seemingly pulling herself back from wherever her mind had taken her. “Erm, a pistachio latte, please.”
“Tap your card to the machine and I’ll bring them over,” she tells me.
Once I’m sat down again, I relax back into the chair. “Do you read here often?”
She giggles again. “Most nights. I love it here, and it’s quiet.”
“Do you live far?”
She shakes her head but doesn’t comment further. It pleases me to know she doesn’t just blurt her address out. “How’s Kasey?”
I nod. “A royal pain in my arse, but she’s all good.”
She grins. “I swear I’m trying my best to get the money together, so she’ll be out of your hair for good.”
“Is that the plan?”
Her smile fades and she stares out the window for a moment before replying, “I don’t know what else to do.”
“Have you asked Kasey what happened?”
She nods. “She just said it was to do with Dad, and she’d speak to him.”
“Will he help?”
“I doubt it, but she seems to think he will.”
“Do you want me to talk to her?”
“Do you think she’d tell you anything?”
I shrug. We’ve spent the last week together. She follows me to the garage and insists I teach her shit, and she takes it all in, likeshe’s some kind of fucking genius. “She might. I think she trusts me now.”
“After I left, I didn’t realise things were that bad. I mean, Dad’s always been a lost cause, but he’s never gotten us involved. And Kasey, well, if Dad tells her to keep things from me, she does.”
“We need a plan that doesn’t involve you running out on me,” I say with a small smile.
“So, who’s the posh woman Kasey mentioned?” She blushes before quickly adding, “You don’t have to tell me.”
Our coffees arrive and I take a moment to gather my words. “Apparently, it wasn’t serious.”
She eyes me over her cup, poised to take a sip. Instead, she asks, “You thought it was more?”
