“Sounds good, but if it tastes like shit, you’re going to lose some credit over here.”
He snorted. “As if.”
I smiled and watched him in his element. The smell of coffee filled my senses, leaving my shoulders relaxing and my mind clearing some.
“One cold brew with enough room to top it off with cream,” he said and handed me the coffee.
“Thanks. Now, get me the good shit you guys use and tell me about this damn weekend,” I said and took his offering.
“Ah, the sweet cream stuff. Made it myself this morning,” he said.
“Which is why you really should open your own place. I’m sure you could patent this shit or something,” I said, filling my coffee cup. “You know you could make a killing. Why don’t you get after it?”
“Eh, I’m good where I am,” he said.
“You’re comfortable where you are,” I said.
“Coming from the master of not doing anything that makes him uncomfortable, that’s a shocking statement,” he said.
“I just don’t think intelligence automatically makes someone bett
er than anyone else. I know a bunch of useless shit, but nothing that would make me successful in any kind of industry. You, on the other hand, could make a mint selling your coffee concoctions.”
“Shut up and let me tell you about this weekend,” he said, grinning.
“Alright, alright. How was that party you tried to get me to go to at 2 in the morning last Saturday?” I asked.
“It was awesome. The women were gorgeous, and since they’d already been bar-hopping, they were ready to make hasty decisions with their lives.”
“Of course, that’s what you would go for first,” I said.
“There was free booze and loud music. Some dude went all out for his 21st birthday. Rich bitch and all, I guess,” he said.
“Ah, so you crashed a party you knew about, not one you were invited to,” I said.
“Is there any other way I do things?” he asked, smirking.
“So, give me the nasty details. Who did you take home, what did she look like, and will you see her again before you lose her number?” I asked.
“I didn’t end up taking anyone home from that party,” he said.
“Which means you got found and kicked out,” I said, chuckling.
“They were sore losers. Apparently, people can’t dance shirtless on the tables. Who knew?”
“We all know, Todd. We all know,” I said.
I took the first sip of my coffee and couldn’t help but shiver. It’s absolutely idiotic for a man to have that kind of reaction to coffee, but anyone who has tasted Todd’s cold brew has done it. The man fucking needed to open his own place, pronto. The coffee shop he worked at was using him for all his ideas and paying him slim-to-none for them, and there was a part of me that was enraged by the situation.
“You need to fucking open your own place,” I said.
“Obviously. You just sucked down half that cup. I take it you’ll need two?” he asked.
“Probably,” I said before shrugging my shoulders. I was slowly crawling back into my shell. It was easier to live life from there.
“Alright, I’m asking since you’re not offering. How you doin’ since your mom’s death, Christian?” His expression tightened a little. I knew the conversation would head that way. He was too good to me not to ask about it.
I shrugged while my mind threw me back to last weekend. I had gotten his invite to the party just as my stepsister and I were unhooking our parents from their ventilators. They’d been in a major car accident, and neither my sister nor I even knew they were traveling out of town until the police called us.