Page 60 of Tides of Discovery
Valentine’s Day Special! 10% Off at The Coffee Cove — Because Love (and Coffee) Always Wins.
Simple. Bold. Hopeful.
I printed five hundred coupons and packed them up, then made my way to Mason’s bookstore. He took the bundle from me with a quick nod, his brown eyes steady and kind.
“We’ll make sure everyone knows what’s real,” he promised.
And, somehow, I believed him.
My phone chimed with a text from Jack.Slow, but making progress.
As I walked back to the shop under the heavy gray sky, chilly air biting at my cheeks, one thought anchored itself in the whirlwind of everything I was feeling: Jack was still fighting for me.
He always had been, hadn’t he? Long before fake reports and review bombs, long before this temporary relationship had started blurring into something terrifyingly steady. He was there—loyal and sure—the moment I needed him, without hesitation, without condition.
Jack didn’t just defend The Coffee Cove. He defended me.
I thought of the way he touched me without thinking, the way he looked at me recently when he thought I wasn’t payingattention: like I wasn’t just his best friend, or a project to be saved, but something worth choosing, again and again.
Maybe I’d been so focused on surviving these battles that I hadn’t noticed the quiet war Jack was waging in my heart. A war I was rapidly losing—and didn’t want to win.
The Coffee Cove wasn’t just my future.
Jack was starting to feel like it, too.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Cooper
The Thursday lunch rush at The Coffee Cove was in full swing. I snapped the lid on a to-go cup and kept one eye on the line that stretched nearly to the door. February rain pelted the windows and drove even more customers inside. Their umbrellas dripped on the hardwood floors.
“Order up for Denise.” I slid the matcha latte across the counter.
I kept glancing toward the door every few minutes, my pulse quickening each time the bell chimed. The rain had been coming down steadily all morning, turning the world outside into a watercolor blur of grays and blues, and I hoped Jack would still make it in for lunch despite the weather.
When he finally stepped inside, shaking droplets from his jacket, our eyes met across the shop and I felt that familiar flutter in my gut—the one that had nothing to do with caffeine and everything to do with the way he looked at me like I was the best part of his day. His hair was damp from the rain, and there was a brightness in his expression that made warmth spread through me despite the chill he’d brought in from outside.
He joined the line but kept his gaze on me. When he reached the counter, instead of his usual order, he asked, “How’s The Boyfriend Starter Pack doing?”
The question caught me off guard, and I felt something tender uncurl in my chest. “It’s growing,” I said, unable to keep the smile from my voice.Just like we are.His face lit up at my answer. The plant had put out new leaves in the past week, reaching toward the light with the same tentative hope I felt every time Jack walked through the door. Maybe—just maybe—he would decide we weren’t temporary come Valentine’s Day.
“Good,” Jack said, and there was something almost reverent in his tone, like he understood exactly what I wasn’t saying. “That’s really good.”
I reached for a large cup. “Americano?”
“Thanks.” His eyes crinkled at the corners, and I wondered why I’d never noticed before how absolutely adorable it made him look.
He peered into the refrigerated case. “And a ham and Swiss on baguette if you have any left.”
“We’ve got plenty.” I grabbed the sandwich from the glass case and popped it onto a plate.
Jack pulled out his wallet, but I waved him off. “On the house.”
“Cooper,” he protested, “you can’t keep giving me free food.”
“Why not? I own the place.” I leaned across the counter and dropped my voice. “Besides, don’t boyfriends get perks?”
A complicated expression crossed Jack’s face—surprise and something that looked almost like…hope? Then his lips curved into a crooked grin. “I suppose they do…baby.”
