Page 1 of Tastes of Him

CHAPTER ONE

Sean

Fuck Cupid.

Seriously.

That little cherub bastard could catch these hands all the way to hell.

I sneered as I watched another happy couple walk together hand-in-hand to a table, and I couldn’t help the way my vision shifted green. I tried not to let my envy show around Cameran. I knew she’d probably feel bad and tamp down on her own happiness at finding someone who fit her so well. I didn’t want that for my bestie.

But I didn’t give a shit about these random people. I had no desire to choke on their happiness.

“You should probably fix your face.”

I rolled my eyes before glancing over my shoulder. Cameran wasn’t looking at me, but I could see she was smiling knowingly.

“My face is fine.”

She looked up then, her lips split with a wider grin. “Oh, really? Why are you frowning, then?”

“Because I can.”

Her snort was unnecessary, but instead of calling her on it, I decided to be the bigger person and turn away. I fixed a smile on my face when someone else stepped up to the counter.

The day had been long, and it was barely even half over. Normally, I was able to lose myself in the habit of making baked goods and serving coffee as customers ebbed and flowed through our café doors. Today, though, I felt restless. Everything was too loud, too grating on my senses. I wasn’t sure why given that nothing in particular had happened today or even this week. Work was fine, and we’d even recently hired a new part-time employee, who would be starting this week. In other words, life was going as well as could be expected.

“So, Rod comes home in a month.”

Fucking hell.

I forced my smile to stay on my face as I welcomed the customer. He was attractive, with light hazel eyes and a flirtatious smile I would have been all over if not for that last little tidbit of information that was now on an endless loop in my mind.

Rod comes home in a month.

I had, of course, known he was returning. That had always been the plan, according to him, but somehow, I had talked myself into thinking that his absence was permanent. After all, he’d been gone living across the country for four years. Excuse the hell out of me for thinking that maybe he’d decide to settle there instead. I blinked and focused my attention back on the customer in front of me in time to catch the last of his sentence.

“…so, what do you think?”

“About what?” I asked, drawing a blank on the entire conversation that had apparently been happening while I was lost in my own thoughts. The man’s smile fell slightly.

“About going out…with me?”

Normally I’d be all over that. My dating life had been horrifyingly tragic the past few months, if not for the past year, for whatever reason. Getting out there was probably a good idea if only to keep me from one too many solo Netflix and chill sessions on my couch.

“Sure.” The guy’s expression seemed taken aback by my less than enthusiastic response, but he nodded anyway and asked for my contact information. Before I could talk myself out of it, I reached for a cup and wrote my number on it. I threw in a half-hearted wink to salvage things, but even his perked-up smile wasn’t enough to spark any more enthusiasm. Cameran took the cup from my hand, shooting me a pointed look when she noticed what I’d written. I knew she’d have something to say about it, and I wasn’t looking forward to that either.

I was kicking myself for not just brushing the guy off even as he got his finished drink and shot me a final parting smile that I forced myself to return. I let my eyes trail after him as he left to stall for time. Dating Julie had made Cameran bold in a way that I appreciated…except when it was turned on me.

“Really, Sean?”

“Not a word.”

Her gaze looked like she was itching for a fight, but I wanted nothing to do with it.Rod comes home in a month.That damn sentence was going to drive me up the wall for the rest of the day, and the worst part of it was the flutter of excitement in my chest. I could admit to myself that I missed Rod with his ridiculous dad jokes and soft laughter. The guy was comfortable and safe, so of course, I would miss that stability. It wasn’t like I had a whole lot of that growing up. Clinging to it now made sense.

“When you’re done incorrectly self-diagnosing your issues, can you grab more cups from the back room?”

I pursed my lips and looked over at Cameran. Her gaze was steady as she watched me, and it took everything in me not to respond with a curt word. Instead, I brushed past her, smacking my hand on the door that led to our storage area. Maybe some alone time was what I needed to get myself together. I knew she meant well, but this crusade of hers to set me and her brother up was ridiculous. If something was going to happen between us, it should have happened already. The occasional flirting was fun, sure, but that didn’t mean we would make it as a couple. Plus, Rod had never shown any interest in a relationship with me.