coffee // joshler

8

tyler's point of view again

babe.

he called me babe.

my heart flutters in my chest when i read his message and i shove my phone back into my pocket.

only a few more hours, and then josh will come get his second coffee, and he'll hold my hand, and he'll smile at me. then he'll take me outside and let me sit on the back of his motorcycle and ill have to hold onto him from behind.

and then we'll get to his house, and he'll ask why i was acting weird. then i will tell him, and he'll never talk to me again because im a freak.

i probably wont even tell him. ill chicken out or come up with a lie thatll make me look more stupid than i already do. then he'll definitely never want to talk to me again. its a lose-lose situation.

i sigh and busy myself by rearranging the pastry display until i hear a bell ring above the door. i look up and there's a flustered woman with two children stepping inside.

i smile at them and listen carefully to the mother's order. "ill have that ready for you in just a second, miss."

she sits at a table and one of her kids, who appears to be maybe twelve, is playing on her phone while the smaller, who looks to be five, is crying.

when i bring their mother her coffee, i bring two of my honey biscuits along with me. i set the coffee down in front of her and hand each of her children a biscuit.

"oh, i didnt order these," she looks back up at me while her little boy is already eating his snack.

"i know. they're on the house. im trying a new recipe, so ive been giving some free samples," i smile and the little boy smiles back. the girl avoids eye contact and her cheeks flush a rosy pink. "let me know how they are, yeah?"

"thank you," their mother smiles at me, relieved her child is no longer crying.

after they leave, a few customers come and go, but i start to get antsy when the clock nears time for josh to arrive. my stomach is tied in knots at thought of explaining everything to him, and im not even sure what ill say.

he walks in right on time and i smile widely. "hi."

"hey, babe."

babe.

(an: i was thinking that its too early for him to talk to josh about that stuff but then i was thinking that they've known each other for a month and i guess tylers reasoning is more that he needs to preface any possible relationship with that so if it did make josh uncomfortable they wouldnt be wasting each other's time.)