One Drink Away || Colt Grice

||Chapter Nine||

It was already five and you were opening up for the evening.

As it was the middle of the week, you weren't expecting many people but it was seemingly empty apart from Hannes and Pyxis but they were there every day so it wasn't surprising.

It was around seven when your favourite person walked in.

"Hey (Y/n)!" He forced a cheery voice but you could tell he was extremely stressed. You nodded in greeting and set about making a drink for him. He watched as you expertly handled the bottles and moved around the kitchen like he did every other day he came to you.

"Moscow Mule?" He asked, seeing you pick up ginger beer and vodka. You smiled and nodded.

"You're getting better." You said, pouring lime juice into the mix. You poured it into a copper mug with a lime slice on the side before taking a sip and sliding it over to Colt. He lifted it up to his lips and took a long drink.

"Beautiful as always. Very refreshing. Thank you." He said with mock solemnity. You rolled your eyes and waved him off as you went to go serve other customers.

You can back a few minutes later to see him scratching his head and loosening his tie.

"Bad day at work?" You asked sympathetically. He nodded with a sigh.
"Your brother is awesome but is kind of a tyrant." He shuddered. You nodded knowingly.

"Yeah I heard the call today. He was being a real donkey." You said, reaching out for Colt's drink. He handed it to you and you took a sip before handing it back.

"Huh? Does that mea-"

"I had lunch with him today. You cut him off.

"Hey that's great! You're building up your relationship more! So what happened?" He asked with a tone of curiosity lacing his voice. You chuckled and got into the story of that day, not sparing any details.

"He called you in the middle of the night?" Colt laughed, "You would've been so grumpy."

"I was. He was interrupted my beauty sleep."

"It's not like you really need it." His eyes widened at his own reply as red crept up your cheeks.

"Gosh you're barely a drink in and your already flirting." You joked to try and diffuse the situation. It worked as Colt's shoulders slumped in relief. "Is my idiot brother being too hard on you?"

Colt laughed. "No. I'm just not sure if I'm cut out for the job. He's really intense, you know?" He spoke, swirling his drink around in his cup, listening the clinking. You just stared at him blankly until he looked up at you and questioned your gaze.

"Intense? My brother is an imbecile." You say honestly. "He has a bloody piss kink."

"You love to bring that up, don't you?" Colt chuckled to which you answered with a nod and smirk.

"I'm gonna wait until he's dating someone and I'll show them videos of him saying something weird." You held up your phone and shook it a little.

"Oh let me see a video!" Exclaimed Colt, peering up over, hands supporting him as he leant over. You blushed at his close proximity but complied, pulling up a video of him talking about pissing his pants in a way that made it sound sexual.

"Ah yes. Laughing over my boss's disgusting fetish with his little sister." Colt chuckled as he reached for his drink only for a frown to grace his face upon realising it was empty. He tipped the last drop onto his tongue before looking to you pleadingly.

"I don't want to have to carry you home again." You sighed, polishing a glass.

"Just one more drink. Nothing strong. Please?" He begged, clapping his hands together. You sighed once again before a great idea came to mind.

"Okay. But you're gonna be my guinea pig just like when we were younger." You smirked.

You grabbed a tub of ice cream, a bottle of blood orange sofa and a bottle of Aperol.

"A float? Or are they called spiders?" He questioned, looking at the ingredients you picked out.
"Depends on where you're from."

"Aperol is French right?" Asked Colt as he watched you heat up the spoon to scoop out a perfect sphere of ice cream. You nodded.
"Yeah. It's got stuff like gentian, chinchona and rubarb in it."

"I only recognise on of those words, but like yes. Sounds great." You rolled your eyes at him with a chuckle, adding a slice of orange to the cup along with a sprig of mint before pushing it over. He inspected it before taking a sip.

He then made a face.

And took another sip.

"Okay damn. I didn't expect ice cream and orange to go that well together. I thought it'd like curdle or something." He said with surprise. You nodded with a smile and held your hand out for the cup.

He held it up to your mouth, so hiding how flustered you were, you took a sip.

"Damn I'm good at my job." You laughed. Colt chuckled and agreed.

The two of you giggled over stupid things and fell for each other a little bit more each time you smiled. And there was a lot of smiling.

Smiles that kept feelings hidden, even thought it was blatantly obvious to any onlookers that the two had feelings of affection for each other. But out of fear of ruining their friendship, not a word was uttered.