Southern Storms (Compass 1)

I snickered. “Are you asking to be my Aladdin?”

“Something like that.” He swayed nervously in his shoes, and even when he was shirtless, his dorky side was coming out loud and clear. “I don’t have a magic carpet, though. Just a beat-up pickup truck.”

I bit my bottom lip and glanced to my left, where Joy was smiling to herself as she wrote away in her notebook. I was almost certain she was listening in and that smile on her face was for Jax’s shyness.

He rubbed at the back of his neck, and his hair fell over his face a little, making him look that much more rigid and handsome. “If you aren’t interested, it’s not a big deal. Yeah, no, it’s a stupid idea. Sorry I even asked. Look, let me get out of your—”

“Can we start with Marshmallow at the coffee shop?” I cut in, making the nervous guy stop fidgeting.

“The coffee shop?”

“Yeah. I want to meet the coffee shop cat. Plus, I’ve heard they have a great chai latte.”

“Right. Yeah, okay.” The light that touched Jax’s eyes made my own heart light up. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Okay. Cool. Maybe I can pick you up tomorrow morning? Unless you’re busy, because if you’re busy—”

“Nine AM works.”

He grimaced. “I normally have coffee with Joy at nine…”

“Oh hush, boy. Go see the coffee shop cat. I’ll be here any other day,” Joy yelled, waving his comment off and making it clear that she was eavesdropping on our conversation.

I smiled. “So, see you at nine?”

“Yeah,” Jax agreed. His lips curved up, and I felt lucky to witness it. Jax didn’t smile very often, so when he did, it felt like the sweetest dessert. He began to back up toward his truck, where Connor was waiting. “Cool. Awesome. It’s a date.” He paused, wiggled his nose, and cringed. “I mean, not like a date-date, but like a friend-date. You know like—”

“Aaand okay, this has been cringeworthy enough for all of us, so I’m going to pull this guy away. Have a good night, Kennedy. Jax will see you in the morning,” Connor said, dragging his boss away. I snickered as he scolded Jax. “Dude! I told you to play it cool, and that was the complete opposite of cool! Could you be any more awkward?”

Jax told Connor to shut the hell up, making me laugh to myself.

Connor didn’t know it, but seeing awkward Jax made me a million times happier than I’d been in a while. For the first time in a long time, things felt…normal.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Joy said after the guys drove off. “He really needs a friend.”

If only she knew how much I needed one, too.

* * *

“I’m going to be honest, you might be a little underwhelmed by Marshmallow. The guy can be a bit of an asshole,” Jax explained as we drove into town. I tried my best not to show my anxiety about being in a vehicle, but I was losing the battle. Thankfully, we arrived within ten minutes.

I gave him a tight smile. “I don’t see myself ever being disappointed by a famous small-town cat. Besides, I kind of have a thing for the assholes of this town,” I joked as he pulled up and parked on the curb in front of the coffee shop.

He smiled a little, and my heart did a flip.

“I like when you smile,” I said, unbuckling my seat belt. “It reminds me of younger Jax.”

“Your smiles kind of make me want to smile more,” he confessed, hopping out of the car.

We walked into the coffee shop, and I ordered my drink, which Jax refused to let me pay for. “You can get mine next time,” he offered.

My heart skipped a beat at the idea of a next time with him. He had no idea how many more next times I wanted with him.

We sat down at a table, and I kept looking around for Marshmallow as I sipped at what might’ve been the best chai tea latte I’d ever had in my life. That cup alone was enough to keep me in Havenbarrow. And the banana loaf? Oh my gosh, it melted in my mouth.

“This is probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” I moaned, licking the crumbs off my fingers.

Jax snickered. “Don’t let Gary from the café hear you say that. He and the owner here have been going back and forth for decades about who makes the best banana loaves.”

“Okay, but I’m just saying. I could eat fifty slices of this and not get tired of it. Honestly, I’ve probably eaten more carbs in the past few weeks of being in Havenbarrow than I have in my whole life due to people bringing me sweets. I swear, I’m almost certain they are trying to make me gain the small-town fifteen or something.”