The relief absolutely brought me to my knees in gratitude but I was so very angry at her for this stunt. Out getting bloody coffee! Sweet Christ! I pulled over immediately and just rested my head on the steering wheel for a moment. I so needed to set her down and explain a few things about how her life would have to change over the next few months. And that solo morning runs were definitely off the menu.
Bugger me!
My fingers shook as I texted: Which coffee shop?
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A short pause and then: Hot Java. R U mad???
Ignorant question.
The coffee shop she named was the one not more than a block from my flat. We’d even gone there together a few mornings when she’d stayed the night with me. Brynne had been right close to home the whole time! I texted back: Don’t leave!! Comin 2 get u!
It took at least ten minutes to navigate the roads back to my neighbourhood. I was angry at myself—for several reasons, but mostly for sleeping through her waking up and leaving without my knowledge. I’d been in such a rush going after her, I’d passed right by her in the coffee shop, and that was just unacceptable. I was slipping.
I decided to put the reasons for my deep sleeping aside for the time being.
Nightmare from hell and resulting shag-a-thon, maybe?
Oh, I knew it’d be dredged up again in conversation at some point, probably soon, because Brynne would ask me, but right now I was just too raw to face what was bubbling up with my subconscious. Denial looked so much more attractive.
Fuck me running! Pun intended.
Fucking hell, if she wasn’t in the shop like I’d told her to be but out on the sidewalk holding two coffees! And she wasn’t alone either. Some bloke was all over her, chatting her up, who knows who the fuck he was to her. Somebody she knew? Or someone feeling her out for God only knows what purpose! She was so getting spanked for this stunt when I got her alone.
I had to park on the opposite side of the road and then cross. She spotted me approaching and said something to her companion who looked over at me. His eyes flared a bit and he sidled up closer to her.
Wrong fucking move, asshole.
“Ethan,” she said, smiling as if this were a perfectly acceptable way to start the day.
Oh, my darling, we very much need to have a talk about things.
“Brynne,” I said tightly, pulling her into me at the waist and getting a good, long look at her friend, who needed to be on his merry way like ten minutes ago. The guy was a little too bold for my tastes, standing there like he was entitled to be talking to her, like he’d done it before and had history with her. Shit! He knew her. This man knew Brynne.
“Ethan, this is Paul Langley, umm…a friend from the art department. He teaches… I was just leaving and there was Paul coming in.”
She was nervous. Brynne looked uncomfortable and if I was good at anything, it was reading people. I could smell the unease coming off her. Now the bloke was a different story. He looked far too smug and a bit too entitled, which was how I figured it out.
Brynne seemed to catch herself and said, “Paul, this is Ethan…Blackstone, my boyfriend.” She handed me one of the coffees. “I got you a misto.” She looked at me and took a sip from her cup. Yep. She was uncomfortable.
The plonker stuck his hand out and offered first.
I hate you.
I had one arm around Brynne and the other hand occupied with the coffee she’d just palmed off on me. I had to let her go in order to shake. I hated him in his slick suit, professional, clean cut and from all appearances plenty of brass. I unwound my hand from around Brynne’s waist and accepted his grip. I squeezed firm and tried not to think about how bloody awful I looked which was exactly like I’d just fallen out of bed.
“A pleasure,” Langley said, not meaning it.
I returned the briefest nod. It was the best I could do and I didn’t really give a shit whether I was being rude or not. He was a bloke in the wrong place at the wrong time to ever be a friend of mine. I loathed him on sight.
His eyes flicked over me. I decided I would be the one to end this handshake first. Or pissing contest as it were.
I withdrew my hand and pressed my lips to Brynne’s hair, but kept my eyes on him as I spoke. “I woke up and you were gone.” I drew my arm back around her.
She laughed nervously. “I just felt like a white chocolate mocha this morning.”
“You still need your morning coffee, I see. Some things never change, eh, Brynne darling?” Langley grinned conspiratorially at Brynne and in that instant I knew. He’d fucked her. Or tried his best to. They had some sort of history and I could only see the red rag of jealousy being dangled in front of my eyes. Holy fucking hell, the violent emotions that washed through me in those seconds. I wanted to show Langley the way down to the sidewalk face first with my fist, but I needed to get her away from him even more.