Page 20 of Push My Buttons
"Don't you dare ignore me," she signs, stepping directly into my line of sight."That boy is learning sign language for you. For. You."Each sign is emphasized with dramatic flair.
I roll my eyes and sign back quickly,"He learned it from YouTube. It's not a big deal."
Maya's grin turns positively wicked. "Not a big deal? The man who flirts constantly is learning a whole new language just to talk to you, and that's 'not a big deal'?" She air quotes with her fingers, eyebrows dancing.
I busy myself with the next drink order, hoping my face isn't as red as it feels.
Maya waggles her eyebrows at me."So when's the wedding? I'm thinking spring. You in pink, him in whatever ridiculously expensive suit he probably owns."She fans herself dramatically."The man is learning an entire language just to flirt with you more effectively. That's like... next level dedication to getting in your pants."
I feel my cheeks flush hot as I focus intently on the drink I'm making."He probably just feels bad for me,"I sign quickly.
"Oh please," Maya scoffs, leaning against the counter."Men don't learn languages out of pity. They barely learn them for international business deals."She starts arranging pastries in the display case, still signing with one hand."He's into you. Like, seriously into you."
I roll my eyes, but can't help the small smile that tugs at my lips. The thought of Theo sitting up late, rewinding sign language tutorials, practicing the movements until his fingers cramped—it creates a warm flutter in my chest that I wasn't expecting.
"Besides," Maya continues,"have you seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one's watching? Like you're some puzzle he's desperate to solve."
I nearly drop the cup I'm holding, my hands suddenly clumsy.
I realize with a start that I'm smiling—actually smiling—and haven't thought about the package or the stalker for several minutes. The warmth from Theo's unexpected kindness has pushed away the cold dread, if only temporarily. It's strange how something so small—him learning to sign—has managed to eclipse something so terrifying.
"Earth to Wren," Maya waves her hand in front of my face."You're totally zoning out on me. Is that a dreamy smile I see? Are you imagining Theo's hands signing other... things?"
I snap back to reality and flick water at her from the steam wand. She yelps and jumps back, laughing.
"Rude!"she signs with exaggerated offense."I'm just saying what we're both thinking."
I roll my eyes and turn back to the espresso machine, but the momentary reprieve has already begun to fade. The weight of the pendant in my bag seems to grow heavier with each passing second, pulling me back into the spiral of fear.
I hand a to-go cup across the counter to the next customer and their hand jerks as someone knocks into them, spilling drops of coffee on the clean surface.
“Oh, sorry,” a man says quickly, the deep baritone hitting me oddly in the chest.
I blink, freezing for a second.
Something in the way he says it... familiar.
But when I look up he’s already gone, lost in the early morning rush.
My hands tremble just slightly as I reach for the milk jug to start on the next order.
Maya must notice the shift in my expression because her teasing smile fades, but before she can press further, the rush hits its peak. Three groups of tech workers arrive simultaneously, all needing their caffeine fix five minutes ago.
I throw myself into the work, grateful for the distraction. The rhythmic hiss of the espresso machine, the precise measurements, the practiced movements—they ground me, giving my anxious hands something productive to do. But still, my mind is racing through possibilities. Who could have left that package? How did they find me? What do they want?
And most importantly—what am I going to do about it?
I've spent eighteen months disappearing. Becoming someone new. Building walls and hiding behind them.
But walls don't work if the monster already knows where you live.
Chapter 7
Jace
I'mlate.Catastrophically,embarrassinglylate.
The code that was supposed to be a simple fix turned into an all-night debugging nightmare. One error cascaded into seventeen others, and by the time I finally squashed the last bug, sunlight was streaming through my apartment windows and my eyes felt like they were full of sand.
