“Black coffee?” Audrey looks from me to Zack and back, her eyes on him disapproving. I’d let her hit him, if she wanted to... She looks about ready to do it. I’d even make sure she wouldn’t get in trouble with her boss over it...
“Yes. Twice, thanks.” I hope that my smile shows how sorry I am for Zack’s actions and that I really don’t approve of them.
“Got it. Coming up.” And she’s off.
“Z...” I glare his way. “Can you behave nicely, for just one week? Just the one week?”
He narrows his eyes at me, like he’s considering it. “What would I get out of it?”
“I don’t know. But I’d like for there to be just one week where our parents don’t yell at us, or where cute girls won’t ignore us because you were being an ass to them.”
“Okay. What do I get in return?”
I sigh, giving in. “I’ll be your date to the Night Gala. But no kissing and hands stay above the waist at all times. If you can be good for one week, I’ll play along in your charade.” I already know I’m going to regret this, I’m going to severely regret this, but I’m feeling like I’ve got no other way out.
Maybe after we’ve been all outrageous at the Night Gala, and Zack isn’t constantly putting Cyra on edge and has even moved on to some other girl, maybe then I get to finally talk to her without her immediately distrusting me. Or without the only conversation between us being me apologising for Zack’s shit.
Cyra has been on my mind all weekend and I just... I don’t care if she’s human, I just want to get to know her. She seems nice and sweet, someone who’s fun to be around and could make me smile.
Hell, just because I don’t have a mate, and don’t really want one, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate having a girl around who’s smart and who I can have actual conversations with about worldly things. Unlike the asshole next to me right now...
But for that to happen the asshole needs to stop his shit first, and I’m not sure how easy that’s going to be... I’m willing to try just about anything today...
I walk over to the counter. I’m paying today, since somehow Zack has been behaving ‘well’ and putting his resolve to the test this early into our one-week ‘challenge’ would be a bad idea...
“Hey.” Cyra looks up, smiling, though her eyes aren’t shining. She looks tired.
“Hey.” I nod to the table where Zack is still sitting. He’s doing something on his phone, totally engrossed in it, like a little kid. He looks like one of his triplet siblings right now, he’s even sitting in the same way, and it makes me smile, before I turn back to Cyra. “I’m here to pay.”
“Okay.” She taps on the computer and then looks up again, smiling more this time. “Was everything to your wishes?”
“Yes, it was.” I quickly pay, but don’t walk away yet. “Are you okay?”
She stops a moment and then nods. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. Had to get up early, not used to it.” She hands me the receipt and instead of accepting it, I take her hand. I don’t know why.
Her hand is soft, and I catch a light nail polish on her nails, barely visible, so light, but it makes her hands look even longer and more elegant than they already are. Her breath catches and when I look at her, her cheeks are all red and she’s licking her lips slightly.
“I’m okay. Really.” Her voice is all breathy and I want to do nothing more than push her against the counter and kiss her silly, but instead, I let her hand go again.
“That... That’s good.” I nod. Not really sure why I did what I just did. I just felt like I had to touch her for some reason. I nod again. “Have a good evening.” I quickly turn around, walking back to our table.
“You too.” Her voice is all soft and that makes walking away even harder. Fucking hell. That’s not... That’s not how I normally act. I’m in control of myself, I’m not impulsive like Zack.
“What’s with you?” Zack raises his eyebrow at me. “You’re telling me to act normal and then you go and grab her hand for no reason?”
I smack him over the head, for good measure, and take my jacket. “At least I don’t sexually harass her. Let’s go.” I have no idea why I did it either, but something just... Something took over, making me act out of character, wanting to claim her, needing to claim her as mine.
“Sure, Romeo.” He gets up. “Can I at least tell her goodbye?”
“No.” I put my hand on his shoulder and push him through the cafe, while he blows kisses to the waitresses. Cyra looks mortified while Audrey just laughs. Yeah, that’s one way to deal with him...
Once we’re outside, I let him go. “If we’re going to the Gala, we’re going to have to get suits.”
“Matching suits.” Zack smirks. “I know the perfect place.” He grabs his phone. “Hi. Yes, Zack here. Could you keep the store open for a while longer? I need to pick up a pair of suits.” As he says the words, his smirk gets even bigger, before he hangs up and winks at me. “Taken care of. We can pick them out right now.”
“Oh, great.” I groan. “Who did you call?”
“You know that fashion show your sister was involved in a couple of years back?”
I look at him, mostly
