Sequins and Shots - Book Three of the Café Latte Trilogy

Part One: Chapter 4

Hello my loves! I hope you enjoy the next chapter of Sequins and Shots.

Love, Cam

♡

Chapter Four

The first time I fell in love with Edward Sapphire, I was nineteen.

"That can't be your real surname."

Edward shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Ross, it's my real surname."

I grinned at Ross' face, which could not have held stronger disbelief if he'd tried. "Give me your driver's license," he said, holding out his hand. "I absolutely refuse to believe your surname is Sapphire without proof."

Edward rolled his eyes dramatically, and reached into his pocket. I had enjoyed watching him slowly unwind over the last four months. He and Ross had struck up a surprisingly quick friendship, even with Ross' prickly nature. Ross did not make friends easily, which God knew made him a nightmare to be around sometimes, but this hadn't been even slightly difficult. Edward had just... slotted into the group. I had spent so much time around Ross, I hadn't realised how cynical we had both gotten. It was nice to be around someone who gave off so much light.

"This has to be fake," Ross said, looking at the license.

"You realise you have known me for several months and didn't know my surname," Edward pointed out. "If anything, I should be wounded that you didn't know the most basic thing about me. It's my Facebook name!"

"I thought that was a fake name to steer clear of people you knew back at your folks' place," Ross replied in horror. "Who sees Sapphire and assumes it's a real surname?" His eyes widened. "Your full name is Edward Clyffe Sapphire? Are you kidding me?"

Edward offered him a lazy grin. "Name a kid that, what'd you expect him to grow up to be? I am going to absolutely get rid of the Clyffe, though, that is beyond even me."

Ross tossed the license back to him and put his head in his hands. "Never before have I been so grateful to be Ross Daniel Stone."

"What's your middle name?" Ed asked me.

"Don't have one," I replied. "Which I'm happy with, makes filling out forms quicker."

I filled out an intense amount of forms over the three years of my treatment. I hadn't revealed that yet to Edward, and froze as soon as I mentioned it, but he didn't pick up on it. He probably assumed I meant for work.

Edward stretched, pocketed the license, and got to his feet. "Right, I'm at work in a half hour, so I'm going. What time tonight?"

"Ten," Ross and I chorused. We were headed to Reboot for a foam party - or rather, Ross was heading to the foam party, ready to get half-naked with a pool of men, and Edward and I were going to sit at the bar and avoid getting soaked in a mixture of foam and god only knew what bodily fluids.

Edward saluted, and headed out the room. I watched him leave; I usually did, I felt a strange protectiveness over Edward. When I'd first met him in the summer, he had been very different. Friendly, and approachable, but nervous over every little facet of his individuality. Under his carefully constructed 'socially acceptable' mask, he was light-hearted, silly, and endlessly hilarious. I liked it when he showed it, and had tried to encourage it.

Oddly enough, Ross was the main reason that Edward had started to take the mask off. I hadn't seen Ross make a friend so quickly in my entire life, especially one he hadn't immediately tried to mount.