friends with benefits // c.b

09

||May 7, 2017||

Lucy Florence

I wake up with a pounding headache, my face against Brennen's bare chest. A low groan along with vibration from his chest signals me that he is awake.

"Mm, good morning." His voice is deep and rough... and sexy.

"Good morning." I groan with a stretch, rolling onto my back.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Brennen asks me, sitting up.

"No." I whimper, holding my head. "But I need a fucking aspirin." I sit up slowly before exiting my bedroom to the kitchen. In the cabinet above my stove, all of my pain and other medications sat.

"What time is it?" I call to Brennen as I swallow the pill with the help of water.

"Umm..." There is a short pause, "9:00 am." At this moment I spit the water out of my mouth onto the counter.

"Shit, I'm late for work!" I run into the room, Brennen still laying on my bed. I open my closet and grab a white tank top then move to my dresser to grab a bra, panties and some cutoff shorts. I change immediately, not caring that Brennen was there. I put my hair up into a tight ponytail.

I tie a flannel around my waist and throw some white converse on. Brennen follows me to the living room where I grab my keys.

"Make yourself at home. I'll be back by seven-ish. If you leave, the spare key is under the glass frog on the table out front." I say quickly, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

***

"Lucy, where have you been?" My manager Eric shouts as I rush into the little coffee shop.

"I'm sorry. I woke up late. Just take it out of my paycheck." I rush, tying my apron around my waist. As soon as it's on, I rush to take over the cash register.

"Damn, you look like shit." Ashley greets me.

"It's been a long weekend." I sigh, putting on a smile for the young customer in front of me.

"Hello, what can I get for you today?"

"Um, I need four venti caramel macchiatos with extra caramel sauce. For Elizabeth." She explains.

"You got it. That'll be $19.50." I smile and take the money, giving her the change. "Your order will be ready soon." The woman thanks me before waiting in the short line for pick up. We weren't too busy this morning so I helped with some drinks.

***

At about 3:00 things started getting busier and the shop was crowded. I look up from the register and see Colby enter through the door, Brennen immediately after him. He looks up at me, making eye contact before quickly turning back around. I see him and Brennen share a brief glance before Colby shoves past him back out the door.

Brennen Taylor

I look up at Lucy and see the heartbreak in her eyes and face. We share a sad smile and I wait in the line.

"Hey, Brennen." She sighs, looking into my eyes.

"Hey, babe." I give her a hug over the counter, making her smile.

"What do you want, on the house?" She asks, trying to lighten the mood.

"Just water." I shrug.

"Well, those are free anyway." She chuckles, walking away from the counter. She comes back after a short moment, yielding a clear cup with water in it.

"Thank you." I smile, taking a sip.

"My break is in a few minutes if you want to stick around?" She asks nonchalantly.

"Yeah totally!" I smile, moving away for the next customer.

***

"So, how is your day going so far?" I ask her.

"It was going perfectly fine until Colby showed up," Lucy mumbles, her posture slumping on the small couch. The shop had slowed down a bit and there weren't many people. I scoot closer to her and pull her in for a hug.

"I tried to explain to him what was going on and he just kept interrupting me." She cried and sniffled.

"Hey," I lift her up and sit her so she is sideways on my lap, my arms around her petite body, "don't cry," I say softly, rubbing her back. We earned a few stares but just ignored them.

"I just want to go home and cry and eat ice cream." She mumbles against the skin on my neck. I rub her thigh with one of my hands, allowing her to cry silently.

"Everything will sort out eventually. If he really cares about you... he'll come back." That pains me to say. She was so caught up with Colby when I'm the one actually in love with her.

"Yeah." She says simply, resting her small hand on mine. Her thumb rubs against my knuckles. We sit there in silence, watching the people, old and young come and go until Lucy calmed down.

"Oh yeah, I cleaned the water you spit out earlier." I chuckle after a while. She laughs at this.

"Thank you." She giggled.

"No problem." I smile, "you hungry?" I ask.

"Starving." She sat up.

"How much longer is your break?"

"Mm, like another forty-five minutes." Lucy groaned, stretching her arms out.

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