We stopped at a bar-height table, and Joel pulled the stool out for me, its legs screeching on the wood floor.
“Stay here,” he said, looking worried.
I glanced out into the store but didn’t see Chloe in between the stacks of books. She’d probably left, which meant I’d failed my mission. My spying capabilities had obviously gotten a little rusty. I sighed heavily and took a napkin from the table. I shredded it quickly, only to put it back together as a mini-pom-pom. I sniffled. I missed cheering!
I tried to control the new flood of tears that had begun to wash over me, but before I knew it, something frosty nudged my forearm. I looked up to find a Frappuccino in front of me and a smiling Joel sitting in the other chair with a large bag full of books.
“For me?” I asked, holding up the drink.
“Yep. You looked like a Frap girl. Vanilla, right?”
I took a sip, smiling down at the calorie-laden drink. “Caramel,” I said between sips. “But this is pretty darn close.”
Joel sipped from his coffee cup and glanced around the room before looking back at me. “Do you want to talk about why you just dissolved into a blubbery mess at the register?” he asked.
“No, thank you.”
“Then we won’t. Do you want to talk about the meeting you had with the principal?”
“Ick. Not really.” I took a long sip from my drink, taking comfort in the yummy goodness of the whipped cream. I sat up straighter and met Joel’s kind stare.
Joel nodded as if truly considering something. “Fine,” he said. “Then we’ll talk about…” He paused and rubbed at his chin. “Fishing.”
I smiled. “Fishing?”
“Yeah,” he said, as if I was crazy to question the topic. “Fishing.”
“With worms and hooks?”
“So you know of it?”
I opened my mouth, trying to figure out if he was serious or teasing me. He looked completely serious—not even a smirk. “Yes, Joel. I’ve heard of fishing. Even went a few times with my dad when I was little.”
His mouth softened. “Really? Ever catch anything?”
“Not a thing.”
“Wow.” He shook his head. “You must have really sucked.”
“Be quiet!”
“It’s okay.” He laughed, reaching out to pat my hand. “I’m sure it was the fishes’ fault.”
I leaned into the hard backrest, feeling decidedly less depressed, but I crossed my arms over my chest in mock anger and narrowed my eyes. “And how about you, know-it-all? How many fish have you caught?”
Joel’s hazel eyes were amused. “Never been.”
I gasped, and he sipped at his drink like he hadn’t completely led me to believe he was a fish-catching expert. “Wow,” I mocked, running my fingertip down the condensation on my cup. “You must have been really lame as a kid.”
“Totally was,” he said without missing a beat. “Read mystery novels and taught myself to play guitar while everyone else was impaling worms on hooks. Weird, huh?”
I started laughing just as a figure came into view behind Joel’s shoulder. I gasped.
“Hey, Tess.” Aiden walked up, his hands shifted in the pockets of his khakis. “Saw you sitting over here. Wanted to say hi.”
My heart leapt from my chest as I ran my eyes over my favorite guy. “Hi,” I answered. I’d thought Aiden left for campus a while ago. Maybe he stayed for me. Maybe he missed me!
Joel extended his hand to Aiden. “Hey, man,” he said. Aiden nodded in greeting. “I should probably head out.” Joel exhaled, motioning at his seat for Aiden as he stood up. Then he faced me, his expression soft. “Thanks for the talk, Tessa,” he said. “And good luck hooking that fish.”
I smiled, wrapping both hands around my nearly empty cup. After Joel walked away, Aiden plopped down across from me, but it was obvious something was wrong. His eyes were a little red and his T-shirt was wrinkled. I was suddenly filled with dread. Why did he look so upset? Especially when he’d stayed behind to look for me?
“You look positively dismal, Aiden. Is everything okay?” I reached over to put my icy fingers on his. He looked down and smiled weakly. When he finally lifted his head, he stared deep into my eyes. But rather than being comforting, his gaze was completely unsettling. There was something on his mind.
“Everything’s all right,” he finally said, squeezing my hand reassuringly. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. When I saw you sitting here earlier…you just looked so sad. I couldn’t leave you like that.”
“Aww…” He really was sweet as honey.
“I—”
“Oh my God! A!”
My stomach twisted as Chloe Ferril came out from behind a bookshelf and beelined straight for my ex. Drats! She hadn’t left after all. And now she was taking away my Aiden time. I might have growled under my breath.
“Uh…hey,” Aiden said, looking back at me. I had just opened my mouth to talk when Chloe leaned in for a quick hug.
I tried not to let my blood boil over, seeing them together again. I had a lot of bad memories there. And it certainly didn’t help that Chloe’s red nails were clutching Aiden’s tanned skin possessively.
“Hey, Tessa,” she said without looking at me. Then she reached out to brush at Aiden’s hair. “You look so grown,” she cooed. “Oh, did you know that Mrs. Foster mentioned you in class the other day? It was so funny. She…”
The remains of my Frappuccino melted in my hand as I watched Chloe ramble on, obviously excited about Aiden’s return. And even though she still looked gothy—black blouse, dark eyeliner, heavy boots—her cle**age had made a return. Hm…you’d think she’d known to expect him.
“Did you want to grab a coffee?” she asked him, motioning toward the barista. She glanced at the clearly empty drink in my hand but didn’t invite me. The claws were about to come out.
It didn’t matter if Aiden and I were technically broken up; he could not—absolutely not—drink any kind of beverage with Chloe. If he said yes to her, there might be a Kitten fight in here.
“Sorry,” Aiden said, running a hand over his newly shortened hair, looking uncomfortable. “I have to head back up to school. I was just stopping to see Tessa.” Aiden looked at me and my stomach stopped twisting.
“Sure,” Chloe said, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Well, I guess I’ll catch you next time you’re in town. Talk to you soon.”