Page 77 of Rival Darling
“What are you doing here?” Mia’s voice contained a mixture of disbelief and disapproval. It was the first time we’d spoken, and while I’d thought she might be somewhat surprised to see me here, I wasn’t expecting such an adverse reaction. She obviously didn’t like me. Or, at least, she didn’t trust me.
“Hey, Mia.”
“You know my name?” The look she was giving me was filled with suspicion. Like most people, Mia had probably already formed a poor opinion of me, but as Violet’s cousin and best friend, she was most definitely someone I wanted on team Reed. I just had to hope she could see past the Darling Devil rumors and give me a chance.
“Of course, I know your name. You’re Violet’s cousin.” I cleared my throat and lowered my voice as I continued. “Also, it’s on your name badge.”
“Oh yeah, right.” She flushed as she glanced down at her badge.
“You having a good day?” I asked in a vain attempt at sounding friendly.
“Sure, now what can I get you?” Mia’s answer came quickly as though she wanted to wrap up our interaction as fast as possible.
“Uh…” I looked up at the menu on the wall behind her. I had no idea what to get. I never drank coffee, and I couldn’t remember the name of the multicolored concoction Violet had made me last time I was here.
“You did come here for a coffee, right?” Mia said after I’d been staring blankly at the wall for too long.
“Of course.” I lied. “What’s Violet’s favorite drink?”
“You want an iced white chocolate mocha with a dash of cinnamon?” she said, letting out a soft laugh.
“Sounds great.” At least this one didn’t sound like it was pink.
Mia smirked in response but nodded before she went to make the drink. She kept glancing over her shoulder at me as she worked. Her eyes were sharp and inquisitive, almost as if she were trying to figure me out. While it was clear she didn’t think much of me, I was hopeful that coming here wouldn’t make her opinion any worse.
“Here you go,” she said, placing my coffee on the counter in front of me. “But this isn’t what you actually came for, is it?”
Yep, Mia was onto me. I took a long sip of my drink as I tried to come up with a reply and was pleased to find it tasted just as good as Violet’s unicorn coffee.
“A guy can’t swing past his favorite coffee shop for an iced white chocolate mocha with a dash of cinnamon?”
She raised an eyebrow at me, but the corner of her mouth also lifted a fraction. It was the first hint I’d gotten that Mia hadn’t completely written me off.
“A guy can,” she said. “But if the guy in question never usually comes here and happens to be pretending to date my cousin, it feels like a bit of a coincidence.”
“Will you keep it down?” I hissed, giving a quick glance around the café. Thankfully, there was just an elderly couple in a booth on the far side of the room, and they were deep in conversation.
Mia smirked. “You’re a lot jumpier than I expected…”
“I’m not jumpy,” I growled.
That only seemed to make the sly smile on Mia’s lips grow bigger, and my reaction appeared to have relaxed her a little. “Violet’s not working today,” she said.
Damn. I hadn’t seen her yet, so I wasn’t surprised, but it was hard not to be visibly disappointed. I did my best to hide it. “I told you I’m just here for coffee. Sweet, sweet cinnamon coffee.”
Mia folded her arms across her chest and looked at me like I’d just insulted her intelligence.
“Okay, maybe I’m here for Violet.”
“Obviously.” She laughed. “You know, you could have just messaged her in advance and saved yourself the trouble, right?”
I was well aware of that, but the many, many messages I’d drafted and then deleted proved it wasn’t that simple. I couldn’t just ask Violet to meet up without having a good reason. Coming to the coffee shop was supposed to be subtle, but clearly that was not my forte.
“How’s she doing this week?” I asked, ignoring Mia’s question.
“She’s okay.” Mia frowned though, and I immediately started to worry.
“What’s wrong?”