Page 69 of One More Time
“No reason,” I murmur as I pour myself a mug-full of steaming hot java and lean against the counter. My grandma pulls her glasses down her nose and eyes me.
“You’re lying. I can tell. I might be old, but I’m not stupid.”
Yeah, well, what am I supposed to say? That the guy I have been trying to get back at for making my sophomore year a living hell has managed to crawl into my chest and carve a space in my heart? And just when I realize that I like him more than I should, he keeps on fucking leaving me cold and alone in the mornings.
“Just some trouble with a guy,” I murmur and take a sip of my coffee. I wince and stare over at my grandma. “Grams, this is nasty.”
She huffs a laugh. “It’s from yesterday. I reheated it.”
I sigh just as a timid knock sounds at the front door.
My grandma moves toward the door and opens it. I stare into the muddy sludge in my mug and sigh. Well, fuck me. What the hell am I supposed to do all day now that he’s gone? Mope?
I could totally mope. I could be the mopiest.
“Oh, hi there,” my grandma says, a smile in her voice. I stand up a little straighter.
“Um, hi. Is Alec here?”
The sound of Jude’s voice makes me jolt so fast the coffee sloshes over the sides of the mug. Jude makes an appearance in the kitchen as I try to pose casually against the kitchen table. He has two cups of coffee in his hand, a brown bag in the other.
“Sorry to be weird and just show up here, but I left to grab you breakfast and when I got back, you weren’t there. But your car was. So I figured you might be here…”
I nod, moving toward him as my grandma grins maniacally in the background. I’m gonna kill her if she spills the beans about how upset I was just moments ago.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
“I did. I left a note.”
I snort and take the coffees from him. “I didn’t see a note.”
“Oh, well it probably blew away. I bet it’s under the bed or outside in a bush.”
I grin at him, feeling better already. “Why didn’t you message me?”
“I didn’t want to wake you.”
I roll my lips between my teeth, wanting to kiss him, but not wanting to eat his face in front of my grandma. She’d never let me live it down. So I settle with glancing at the coffee cups, trying to decide which one is mine.
“I um, I got you a mocha. I didn’t know what you like. I got a caramel latte if you want that instead.”
“This is perfect,” I say as my grandma moves up to Jude.
“Can I give you a hug, young man?” she asks. “That might be very forward, but I’m old and feel like I can ask for what I want and get away with it.”
“Oh yeah, sure,” Jude says, setting his stuff down and letting my grandma wrap her arms around him. His face is squished into her hair and his hand gently coils around her to pat her back. When they finally pull away, my grandma beams at him. She can’t seem to stop smiling.
“My grandson was such a grump when he came over. He thought you left him.”
“Grams,” I murmur, but she won’t be deterred.
“You showing up brought the light back to his eyes. And he’s never brought a boy he’s serious about home to meet us before.”
I roll said eyes and glower at her. She needs to zip it. She’s making me sound lovesick. And I’m not. I’m not in love with Jude. I like him, a little.
I don’t hate him anymore, that’s for sure. And I didn’t bring him home. He just showed up, looking all sorts of hot.
“Oh, well, I don’t think we’re serious,” Jude says, making me frown even more. “And um, I’m sorry I didn’t bring you anything, Helen. I would’ve if I’d known Alec would run over here…”