FORBIDDEN DESIRES; BL (BOOK 1)

001

Elias

"One caramel latte for... Linda!" I exclaim in the quiet cafe. A woman with dark brown hair approaches me. I hand her the cup and she hands me a two-dollar tip. Cheap. But I usually don't get tips, so I shouldn't be complaining.

I turn around to see Caleb standing there. He's pouting and leaning against the counter he should be cleaning.

"What's wrong?" I ask with a raised brow. He groans and I already know what he's going to say.

"The place is so empty today," he says. "Why do I have to be here?" I turn back to face the shop. All the seats are empty. We've only had like ten customers and we opened at least three hours ago. 

"Well, that new place across the street looks like it's doing well," I say. We both look outside to see the long line outside a coffee shop.  They opened only a week ago and stole all of our customers. Seriously, how is their coffee that much better?

"Maybe I should ditch this place and get a job there," Caleb says with an amused grin. My mouth drops as I look back at him. He laughs. "I'm just kidding," he says. "I'll only leave if you leave." I smile. It was true that Caleb wouldn't do anything if I agreed to it.

I hear my phone vibrate. I take it out of my back pocket. I sigh. Why now of all times? My eyes scan the texts my sister has been sending me for the past week.

"What's up?" Caleb asks curiously. 

"My sister has been dying to come by this weekend to visit," I reply. "And she wants to bring her boyfriend." Caleb walks closer to me and looks down at my phone, reading the messages. After a few moments, he looks up at me.

"I don't see the problem," he says. He's so clueless that it hurts me to even reply.

"Her boyfriend is the problem!" I exclaim. "She's only bringing him here to make my single ass jealous." I cross my arms. Sure, I was being a little selfish and bratty, but I always hated all of Evelyn's boyfriends.

"Aye!" I hear someone exclaim. Caleb and I both turn around. Daniella, the shop owner, is standing there. "Get back to work," she says. 

"There's no one to serve, ma," Caleb says to his mother with a shrug. She looks around and sighs. I actually feel bad for her. I've been close with Caleb ever since we were kids, so I was naturally close with his mother as well.

"If it keeps going on like this, we might have to close down the shop and sell it," she says, walking to the other side of the counter to pick up an empty cup of coffee on one of the tables. Her words make my heart race.

"No, we can't do that," I say. "I need the money. I've applied to three different places and haven't heard anything back." It was pretty hard to find a high-paying job nearby. I feel as if I went to college and got a degree in illustration for no reason.

Daniella walks over to me and rubs my shoulder. "I'm sorry Elias," she says. "You should probably start printing extra resumes just in case." She gives me a reassuring smile before walking into the back.

I lean on the counter and cover my face with my hands. "What am I going to do?" I murmur in a worried tone. I'm gonna be broke by the end of the month.

"It might take a while, but I can help," Caleb says, walking to my side. 

"I'll never make as much money in time," I protest. "If I don't pay the hospital bills once a month, they'll kick my mom out. Plus, I'm paying for my dad's stuff and my house bills..."

"Hey, calm down," Caleb says, widening his eyes. "I have some extra money stashed away"

I shake my head. "I have to do this by myself," I reply. If I'd known it would be so hard to make money in a family like mine, I would've moved back home where I could've made more money.