Page 18 of Needing More
Chapter 7
Sapphirewashandingawoman her order when the bell rang over the café door. Looking up, Sapphire smiled at Finn, who stepped inside. Finn's eyes were bright with eagerness as she nodded at the customer and held the door open for her as she exited. Once the door was firmly shut behind her, Finn hurried over to her.
Earlier that morning Finn had been working with Joel and Hayden down at Randy's garage. Since getting the bike at the beginning of the week, Finn had been at the mechanic every day going over the exact details of getting the bike back into working order. Today she was wearing a loose tank that showed off her black sports bra through the gaping arm holes on either side. Grease and grime-streaked bits of her face and arms testifying to the work she had put in at the garage.
"Guess what?" Finn asked, coming up to the counter and leaning both hands on the edge.
Grabbing the bottle of cleanser to her left, Sapphire held Finn's gaze as she sprayed at her grimy hands.
Finn jumped back from the spray. "Hey!"
Sapphire raised a taunting brow at her and smiled evilly. "I can see the dirt on your hands from here."
Scowling at her, Finn took a dutiful step back from the counter as Sapphire wiped the spots she touched. "Anyways," she said stressing the word. "Guess where I just saw two," she held up two fingers, "moving trucks pull up at?"
Sapphire blinked in realization before hurrying around the counter toward the windows. "Is it the dorm? Are the students moving in?!" she asked excitedly.
Ever since summer started the whole town had been speculating about when the students would move into the recently finished apartments. The new five-story building was more than nice. With an indoor pool, laundry facility, covered parking, and a dedicated shuttle pick up and drop off for the Oakes University in Stardust Cove, the building couldn't help but be the talk of the town. The bell jingled above them as they both rushed outside. Going to the end of the street just a little past the café building, she and Finn stopped and stared at the two large moving vans. Bright yellow and impossible to ignore, the trucks were like beacons to every passing citizen. Cars slowed and heads turned trying to see the men that unloaded the trucks.
"I wonder how long it will take until they realize their dorm is in the middle of nowhere?" Finn muttered.
"Hey," Sapphire said disapprovingly. "It's not the middle of nowhere and I'm sure they're well aware of where they are."
Finn gave her an astonished look before laughing. "Wow, that's real rich coming from you. When all I ever heard when we first met was how much of a wasteland this place was."
Sapphire wouldn't dignify that with a response and kept looking toward the building.
Finn however wasn't done. "And now you've changed your tune due to your everyday sex party with the guys."
Sapphire turned and gave Finn her most frosty look. "Don’t make my love life tawdry just because you're feeling some type of way about the new students moving in."
Pain flickered in Finn's hazel eyes before quickly disappearing. Sapphire immediately regretted her accurate words.
Hooking Finn's arm into hers, she turned them both and marched them back into the café.
"I'm sorry," she began. Sapphire knew how much Finn wanted to go to college, but couldn’t quite afford it yet. Hell, she would be in the same boat if it weren't for Joel and Hayden. "I was just being defensive."
"No," Finn let out a ragged sigh and scrubbed both hands over her face, smearing one of the grease stains on her cheek. Plopping into a chair, Finn stared at the ceiling. "You're right. I…I kind of resent the hell out of those kids for getting this shiny new start in life." Sitting up in her chair, Finn looked at her with a pained desperate look. "I mean do you even know how many times I dreamed of living in that dorm? From the day they proposed the idea at a town-hall meeting, I've been obsessed with it. And I'm still no closer to that dream. Hell, I can barely afford a semester of college."
Sitting down in the chair opposite, Sapphire gave her a questioning look. "But I thought your dad was cool? I thought living at home wasn't so bad."
Finn made a deep sound of exhaustion in the back of her throat. "I'm already dealing with him going crazy at Joel and Hayden for the bike. Did they tell you he came up to the bar last night to yell at them?"
Sapphire bit her lip. She had heard about it that morning. Both Joel and Hayden thought it was kind of funny. They told her Tony Upton and his brother came into the bar looking for a fight with them. Supposedly the whole bar had quieted down and listened while Tony lit into all three Heathens standing on the other side of the bar.
Joel had laughed as he recounted the event. He told her they were still filling out drink orders as people would signal and whisper at them through Tony's tirade for another drink. Eventually, they were able to reassure Tony they planned on teaching Finn to ride the bike properly before actually giving it to her and that getting taught how to ride had to be better than Finn doing it all on her own. Plying the man with drinks and reason eventually curbed the fight the man had been looking for. Unfortunately, that did nothing to help with the embarrassment Sapphire knew Finn was feeling about the whole thing.
But there was something she could do, Sapphire thought. It had been an idea she had already talked to both guys and Julie about. Last night, she spent all night baking and packing cookies and muffins to stock in the café after spending the afternoon working the register while simultaneously researching for her classes. Next week, she would need to drive back and forth from Stardust to not only register for fall classes in person, and visit the bursar's office, but also visit the secondhand book store near the campus and buy her books. With the money she was making from the baking and the serious crunch in her schedule and not to mention her upcoming fall class schedule, working in the café was becoming less and less of an option.
"What if you took my place here at the café?" she asked in a rush of air.
Finn stilled in her seat before rising to sit up straight. Looking at her like a bird of prey, Finn's hazel eyes assessed her as if waiting for her to say it was a joke.
"You…want me…to work here?" she clarified carefully.
"I mean only if you want to." Sapphire spread her hands out. "With the baking and classes in the fall, I don't think I could reliably do this anymore. Besides, it would pay more than the thrift store job you have now and-"
Finn didn’t give her the chance to finish. Out of her seat in a blink, Finn was reaching for her and yanking her up and out of the seat and into her lean arms for a strong hug. "Oh, fuck yes. Yes, I’ll take it."
