Page 13 of Mixed Connection
Jameson
How could I not watch you?
A little creepy, no? *devil smile emoji*
Jameson
Not if you like it.
My mouth drops open and I involuntarily kegel…Oh, I like it very much. I snap my mouth shut and lean my back against the bar, replacing my shock with an insatiable grin, until I hear the two chatterboxes I’m sharing duties with tonight.
“What’s got you smiling like that?” Brianna’s voice perks up at the end of her question but I don’t get the chance to answer before Paloma slides in next to us, pulling at one of my curls.
“MMmhm, maybe you should be asking herwhohas her smiling like that?” Her voice is teasing as they both wait for my response, wiggling their eyebrows.
“I think the who in question is that tall glass of hunk sitting in the booth with his friend,” Brianna says before blowing a raspberry. “Who was clearly sculpted by the gods.”
“You both are insufferable,” I respond with a laugh. I swear these two will never let me live this down… I can imagine the teasing already.
“But seriously Cass, I’ve been working at the bar since the beginning and have never seen you glow the way you have been over the last week. What’s up?” Brianna pipes in. I know she’s right and I don’t want to fight it.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since the reunion. I’m either laughing or blushing from his compliments or by the way he looks at me.” I look back over at Jameson talking with Anderson. Allowing my gaze to linger a bit longer before turning back to the girls, my phone chirps again. I know who it is which in turn makes my phone feel like it may burn straight through the back pocket of my jeans. I fold my lips into each other, holding back a tight smile while the girls stare into my very soul.
“He text you didn’t he… just now?” Paloma asks. Her playful tone is serious with a need-to-know. “Bitch, don’t keep him, or us, waiting. Open that text!”
“Could you be any louder?” I swat at her.
“Actually…” she says, leaning up on her tiptoes as I pull my phone out. She most definitely will yell it across the entire bar.
Jameson
Now who’s the creeper?
You like it!
Jameson
Oh, I absolutely do.
My cheeks darken and squeals sound around me, as the girls lean over my shoulder to see what he text.
“Okay enough out of you two, we’ve got to get back to work.” I laugh at my instructions because I would much rather sit at the edge of this bar and text Jameson for the rest of the night.
“Fine!” they say in unison. Brianna goes back to the kitchen, I assume to check on a few appetizer orders, and Paloma heads towards the register where a group of customers are huddled nearby with our book pairing’s menu. I send him a couple of blushing emojis and slide my phone in my pocket, where it’s going to have to stay if I am going to get anything done tonight.
6
Anders
*shares song* Usher: “You got it bad”
I know Anders is speaking because I can hear the hum of his voice but I can’t bring myself to focus even though I know I should be listening. Coming to Shaken Tropes was supposed to kill two birds with one stone: meet Anders about the project we are going to be working on as well as see Cassidy.
What I wasn’t expecting was finding out my best friend already knew her or that my eyes would follow her everywhere. Seeing her here, being in her element, makes me relive all those times I would see her in the hallways at Cypress Lake.
Janelle was one of my closest friends at school, she was almost like a sister. We kept up with one another as much as we could while she was overseas, but letters and calls were still few and far between. When we were in school, wherever Janelle was, so was her friend with the loud, boisterous laugh and bouncing curls—Cassidy—and my eyes found her often while she scanned the pages of a book or joked around with her friends.
I crack my knuckles, a bad habit I can’t seem to be bothered with breaking, thinking of how those curls would feel wrapped around my hand.
