Sequins and Shots - Book Three of the Café Latte Trilogy

Part Two: Chapter 4

Hello my loves! I hope you're having a lovely weekend and avoiding this dreadful flu that's circulating!

Love, Cam

♡

Chapter Four

Edward

"I think he's getting railed soundly."

I threw a cushion at Ross. "Are you capable of talking about literally anything else? Please?"

"No, this is the first interesting thing Harper has done in months," Ross frowned, returning the cushion with a very precise throw. "I think he and Adrian are more than friends. C'mon, tell me they didn't seem like more than friends."

We had seen Adrian at lunch, when Harper brought his new friend to Café Latte. They'd been friends for a few weeks now, going for lunch a couple times per week, and we had been eager to meet him. Unfortunately, we'd been leaving when he and Adrian walked in, so we only got a quick hello and smile.

"We spoke to him for about twenty seconds, there's no way to tell," I shrugged.

"I could tell," Ross snorted, and to give him credit, he was rarely wrong when it came to the matter of who was shagging who. "They're either screwing or they're on the cusp of screwing. Adrian's not hiding his crush, and Harper did that weird giggle thing."

Harper had a specific giggle that told Ross and I that he was very much smitten. We'd only heard it a few times, and usually when it came to celebrity crushes, but Ross was right. He had giggled like that about Adrian.

"Hm," I replied. I didn't know how I felt about that. Harper wasn't my partner, and hadn't been for many years. I had no claim over him, and no right to feel weird about him dating someone, but it was still strange any time Harper dated someone.

"Well," I shrugged, deciding to just let it be. "If they are dating, then it's a bit weird that he didn't tell us, but maybe he's just seeing how it goes."

"Maybe," Ross mused. "How did your date go, anyway?"

I pulled a face. "Who knows? He didn't turn up. I got ghosted. It was going really well, we'd been talking loads and having great dates, and then suddenly it was radio silence."

Ross shot a mutinous look at my phone, as though he could drag the man out of the app and pummel him. "Who's the guy? I'll fucking call him and tell him where he can stick it."

I smiled and leaned over to kiss him on the side of his grumpy face. "Thank you, but it's okay. I'm happy with how things are right now. Mark and I are having fun, and honestly outside of work it's all I've really got time for."

"Still," Ross grumbled.

My phone lit up and I frowned at the unknown number. "God, I hate cold callers," I said, and picked up. "No, I do not want gas or electric. I do not want insurance. Go away."

There was a brief pause, and a familiar voice said in a clipped voice, "I'm not trying to sell either, Edward."

I pulled what could only be described as a face of pure terror, and Ross looked at me with wide-eyed alarm. I closed my eyes and said, "Hello, mother. How are things?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "How are you?"

"I'm well," I answered.

Ross immediately rushed over to the wall and scribbled down something on the whiteboard Harper and I used to remind ourselves to buy groceries. DO YOU NEED A FAKE EMERGENCY?