Midnight Secrets

In mythology class the next day, I struck up a conversation with those around me. If we were going to have group projects, it was probably best I got to know some of my classmates—assuming we were allowed to pick our groups. I walked with them after class, and to my relief, they were also headed to the same dorm building as me so I didn’t have to walk alone.

Another benefit was that Ezra hadn’t approached me.

More inappropriate thoughts of him tried invading my mind, but thankfully, they weren’t images like the other day, and for the most part, I cut them off pretty quickly. I wouldn’t know where to begin explaining why I was randomly gagging in the middle of class.

I still couldn’t understand why my mind was working against me, conjuring images and thoughts that were unwelcome. I bet he tastes as good as he smells, was not a thought I ever wanted to have. It was a serious no for me.

Since Addie and I had the early shift at the diner, we didn’t join Sel when she went out with friends. Instead, we stayed in and binge-watched TV shows.

My shift at the diner was fairly standard, with nothing out of the ordinary until I was nearing the end of my shift in the late afternoon. A group of students entered the quiet diner since it was that awkward area between lunch and dinner, with only a handful of other customers. Students came in here all the time so at first, I paid them no mind.

It wasn’t until I gave them more than a cursory glance that my heart rate picked up when I spotted Cassius. I vaguely recognized a couple of the other guys with him, having seen them hanging around him before, but I didn’t know their names.

I was busy cleaning the spilled coffee left on the counter by the older man who had just left, watching from the corner of my eye as they debated which booth was best. Please don’t sit in my section. I just barely stifled my groan when they chose a booth in, you guessed it, my section.

Son of a fucking bitch.

I briefly considered trying to convince Addie to take them for me, but she was busy with another customer at the moment. Why did they have to choose that damn booth?

Releasing a long sigh, I made my way to their booth, pulling out my notepad from my apron as I forced a pleasant expression on my face. I gave my usual introduction line, asking what I could get them to drink as I flipped open my notepad, keeping my focus on it for as long as possible. My focus immediately landed on Cassius as I looked up at them. He was sitting closest to the window on the right side of the booth. His gaze was on me as he leaned his elbow on the table and stroked his jaw.

With a great deal of effort, I pulled my attention away from him and focused on his friends as they ordered their drinks. The last thing I needed was to embarrass myself by getting their drinks wrong in front of Cassius. As his five friends ordered, I noticed a pattern. Not only were they grinning like idiots, but they each called me beautiful or some variation of it after their order. I knew there was something I was missing, some inside joke I didn’t know about, but I didn’t know if it was something I even wanted to know, so I let the comments go.

Despite their comments, I took their drink orders, acting like a professional and like I hadn’t had a sex fantasy about Cassius the other day. He was the last one to give his order, and he left off any sort of pet name, which I appreciated.

I headed back to the kitchen, and as the door swung closed, I saw Cassius reach over the table and smack his friend with shoulder-length blonde hair upside his head. I stood in front of the closed door, stunned. What the hell was that about?

That couldn’t have anything to do with me.

Shaking my head, I got their drinks ready, placing them on a tray, which had taken me forever to get the hang of using. A lot of spilled drinks could attest to that, but now, using it was like second nature, and I barely struggled.

While taking my time with the drinks sounded appealing, I knew I couldn’t pull it off without seeming obvious since I had only one other table, and he was busy working on his pie.

They were all laughing when I approached the table and deposited their drinks. “Are you ready to order, or do you need a few more minutes?” I asked, placing my hand on my apron where my notepad sat.

The friend Cassius smacked earlier shot me a charming grin that I just knew probably had many girls swooning over him. “Sorry, beautiful, we got distracted. We’ll need a few more minutes.”

I gave him a closed-mouth smile that said I wasn’t falling for his bullshit as I nodded and turned away. The auburn-haired guy sitting across the table from him chuckled as he said, “Ouch bro, she just rejected you.”

I couldn’t see how that counted as a rejection, but I did know that if he had made a pass at me, I would’ve instantly shot him down. Not only did I know better than to get involved with his type, but I wasn’t stupid or petty enough to get involved with Cassius’ friends.

After leaving the receipt on my other customer’s table, I headed behind the counter to wait for Cassius and his friends to look over their menus. It only took them a couple of minutes before they were calling me over, and I returned, pen poised to take their orders. I looked their way as little as possible as I wrote, nodding along so they knew I was listening.

Just as I went to turn around, the auburn-haired friend spoke. “Hey beautiful, you have a boyfriend? A pretty girl like you can’t possibly be single.” His lips tipped into a smirk as his gaze darted to his right. I followed his gaze to Cassius. He had an arm draped over the back of the booth, his forearm flexing as he grabbed the back in a tight grip, making the maroon vinyl crinkle. Before he or his friends could catch me looking at him, I returned my focus to his friend.

I’ve been hit on several times in my two years working here, and normally, I’d politely decline any advances or brush off any comments so it wouldn’t affect my tip, but not this time. Their pet names and humor over this inside joke that I couldn’t figure out were grating my nerves and patience. I didn’t think they were childish or stupid enough to make fun of me in such an obvious manner, but whatever the case, I wasn’t in the mood.

“Seriously? That’s the line you’re going with?” I planted a hand on my hip as I shot him a bland stare. “What is with men and their lack of creativity? If you’re going to make comments or advances, at least make it original or even interesting. You’re never going to get a girl with corny lines like that.”

He tipped his head back and howled in laughter, making me frown, having not expected that response. “The girl’s got some fire.”

I must’ve been losing my touch lately. This was the second time I amused someone when I snarked back. Shaking my head in confusion, I spun away from them and headed toward the kitchen to ring in their order.

I was behind the counter, refilling salt and pepper dispensers when Addie joined me. “Having fun?”

“A blast.”

Addie laughed at my unenthused expression as she pulled out her sagging ponytail and redid it.

“You want them?” I offered, not caring if it meant they knew they annoyed me. I couldn’t get over the feeling that I was missing out on an important inside joke: one that amused the others but not Cassius.

“Nice try,” she said as she headed for the door to the kitchen. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to take away your only customers.”

My gaze flicked to the man leaving his table with some money placed under the salt shaker. I made my way over to the table, only to find he stiffed me on the tip. “Fucking cheap asshole,” I muttered under my breath as I stuffed the cash in my apron and cleared the table.

For me personally, I preferred the hours where we were busy. It gave me something to do and focus on, making the time pass by quickly, unlike now, where it dragged. All of it was made worse with Cassius here and the overwhelming urge to look over at him. Their booth was far enough away that I couldn’t make out what they were saying, not that I tried listening in. I would never do that…

It was a serious struggle not to let my gaze stray to Cassius every time I glanced at their table to ensure their drinks were still full. I wasn’t successful, my gaze straying to him a few times. He was relaxed as he joked with his friends, his expression open and at ease in a way it hadn’t been the other times we interacted lately. It was almost like he knew I was watching him—even though I was subtle about it, and he wasn’t looking my way. He kept doing things that had my body responding and had me feeling jittery. More than once, he swiped his thumb slowly over his plush bottom lip or adjusted his arm along the back of the booth, making the muscles in his arm flex.

The next time I glanced at their table and looked at Cassius, I nearly jumped when I found him looking at me. The left corner of his lips hitched up ever so slightly as he crooked a finger at me. My stomach clenched at that action. I don’t know why, but there was something so sexy in the way he did it and the confidence in the move. At the same time though, it pissed me off at how he thought he could summon me like this. Who did he think he was?

I slowly rested my forearms on the counter as I held his stare, raising my eyebrows. “Yes?”

His half-smirk became full-blown, and my stomach clenched even tighter. “Can I have a water?”

I wasn’t confident my voice wouldn’t sound breathless, so I nodded and spun around to grab a cup and a pitcher of water. Two of his other friends also had water, and I figured I could top them off while I was at it. Rather than force me to reach across the table, Cassius reached for the cup, his fingers brushing mine, and I jolted at the contact. It was such a simple thing, his fingers brushing against mine, but it still had me speechless. I had to mentally shake myself to look away from him as I flexed my hand.

As soon as I topped off the other waters, I heard the ding from the bell in the kitchen, signaling the food was done. Even though I had done this hundreds, if not thousands of times, I was still careful when carrying their food to the table. I couldn’t help but scoff and roll my eyes when a couple of his friends said, “Thank you, sweetheart.”

Another group came in and took a booth in my section, this one two men and two women, all in their mid-forties. Grabbing a stack of menus from under the counter, I headed over and gave my usual spiel. It was a relief to finally have something else to do other than try and fail not to look at Cassius.

When I went over to refill their drinks, I gave them their receipt, thankful they weren’t splitting the bill. When they eventually left their table, I could’ve sighed in relief as I entered the kitchen to grab the food for the double date.

My eyebrows pulled together when I went to the table where Cassius and his friends had previously sat and found the money in the middle of the table. I ended up counting and then recounting. They had vastly overtipped me, and I had a sneaking suspicion this was all Cassius’ doing.