Idiots to Lovers (bxb)

8 | A Furious Manager and A Brave Escapade

Okay, maybe I did have a crush on Everett.

A very minor...inconsequential one.

I saw him as soon as I walked through the door, my gaze drawn to him by some magnetic force.

It would be impossible not to notice him. He was skidding from table to table, his neon Nike's almost skating across the floor. He was like a chaotic whirlwind, whooshing around like a shooting star.

He lit up the whole damn place.

His curly hair was a total mess, sticking out around his head and falling into midnight eyes. The pink polo he wore brought out his golden tan. It was fitted snugly around his lean biceps...and his jeans fitted snugly around his—

I mentally slapped myself.

"Clementine!" he yelled, seeing me as he did a 180° spin after putting down an order.

"I've been waiting hours," he emphasized as I walked towards him. "I thought you'd forgotten about me."

As if that were even remotely possible.

"Sorry, I know I said ten minutes but...."

I trailed off, not wanting to explain how I'd then spent an agonizingly long time in front of the mirror.

"I was kidding dude, it's fine. I figured you were just getting ready." He glanced at me momentarily. "You look really nice by the way."

"My allergies have been really bothering me today honestly," I burst out quickly before Everett could comment on my reddening face.

"Oh, yeah." He brushed a finger against my cheek, his touch only causing it to warm up further. "You're not breaking out, just a bit red...but maybe we should skip the zoo?"

"No, no," I hurriedly amended. "I'll be fine at the zoo."

"You sure?" His brows knitted together in concern. A customer was frantically waving for the bill, but Everett paid them no heed. "We can do something inside, maybe go for a movie?"

A movie seemed an awful lot more like a date than the zoo.

"Nahh man, let's go to the zoo," I said, putting all thoughts of a dark cinema out of my mind and trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Okay!" Everett beamed and started dragging me out of the cafe. "Just lemme know if you're not feeling well at any time, okay? We can just leave."

"I'll be fine," I assured.

Maybe I had let the pretend seriousness of my allergies go a bit too far. I have got to stop blushing around this guy.

"Hey wait," I said as we reached the car. "You didn't tell anyone you were leaving, don't you need to inform the manager?"

"He won't let me go, Clementine, this is an escapade!"

I balked. "That doesn't seem like a good idea."

Just then, a hefty balding man caught sight of us through the cafe windows. His eyes widened in shock and he rushed outside.

"Oh shit, that's him!" Everett yelled. He yanked open the drivers seat and shoved me in before vaulting over the hood and throwing himself into the passengers side. "Drive, Clementine!"

I fumbled with the seatbelt and Everett hurriedly shifted the gear to drive as the angry man neared us.

I squeaked and quickly turned the wheel; the car zoomed past the man, just inches away. "Careful! I wasn't ready!" I yelled.

"Sorry! I thought he was gonna come pull me out and make me finish the shift!"

I glared at him. "Well, now you're fired for sure."