Coffee Shop

• 22 •

Seeing Brian with his friends was a good thing. I'd never seen a group of people love each other more than family would. I'd never seen such happy faces.

Now, I wouldn't say that my family was bad, but we were atypical. We showed love in different ways. My father had that hard, strict, overbearing love. My mother was kind, but very to-the-point if you knew what I mean.

And Jun... well, Jun was like me.

Now, friends? I didn't have any the way he did. There were some in school, but none that stuck, you know. For the longest, my ex's friends were my friends. Except, you know... the one hiccup with that one girl that sent me spiraling into emotions I hadn't known existed.

Which also led me to make some pretty big decisions. Grown-up decisions. Moral decisions.

With that thought in mind, I stepped out of the Uber Brian had ordered for us and grabbed his hand as he led me towards the entrance of his apartment building. He looked back at me with his bright, rainbow smile, and inside, the tiny cheerleading Kay swooned so hard she fell over. That twinkle, that dimple, that love in his heart, it was all mine, wasn't it?

"Are you sure about this?" I whispered as he pressed his key into the lock and guided me into the lobby. "The shop's a big responsibility."

Brian pulled me forward, so I quickly stepped in front of him, then slowly wrapped his arms around my waist while we waited for the elevator.

"It's fine," he whispered in my ear, pressing just a small peck against my earring. "The guys got it. It's just one day."

One day.

Everyone, Leeny included, decided we needed a day together. Just Brian and me. No drama. No arguments. Our way to properly makeup and reestablish the relationship we'd built.

Now, at first, I was a bit against it. I knew it was Sunday, but they threw Monday on the table, considering the end of our weekend had spiraled a little. Despite how it ended up, which was great, we had to make up for the time we lost. That's what they said.

So, I had said, "It was only a few hours... not even a full day."

This had only made Rianne pull me aside and whisper in my ear, "Girl, I may enjoy being single, but I know for a fact having a full day of just loving is what everyone needs once in a while."

Leave it up to the gorgeous Rianne to sort of giving me "sex" talk. Awkward.

Me giving in to this time together only meant one thing—Rianne, Shawn, Kyle, and Leeny would run the shop on Monday. Our phones would be off—not that mine worked, anyway. And we were to be left alone, in peace.

Watching the numbers slowly come down to the main floor, I slid my fingers between Brian's. "But you've spent almost every day there... it's your baby."

The elevator doors opened and with both legs on either side of mine, Brian gently led me inside. He tapped the number five button lazily with one hand as his other gripped me tightly. "But you're my baby, too," he said against my neck as the doors closed behind us. When the first number quietly dinged, he pushed me forward again, and I pressed my hand against the wall in front of me for support. "And I have some apologizing to do."

I wanted to say he'd apologized enough, that I was the one who needed to say 'I'm sorry,' just a few more times. But when his chest pressed fully against my back and a full kiss covered the curve between my neck and shoulder, I knew what he meant. It wasn't just apologies.

Was I too innocent to say that I honestly didn't know what make-up sex was like? I mean, I'd read about it, seen it in movies; that hot, sultry love scene; couples wiggling around in sweat and fiery breaths, whispering just how much they needed each other in the other's ear.