Unhinged

Chapter Five

***

"Want me to call you an Uber?" You offered when you got to his side after slipping your coat on as the wind picked up, and you shoved your hands into the pockets, looking up at him.

"No, thanks."

"No luck with the pub's most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes inside?" You swayed a little, your tone light and a bit teasing.

"Not interested." He mumbled and you nodded more than a few times with pursed lips.

"So, when did you serve?"

Because apparently, you're going to make small talk until his ride shows up or he just storms away from you and again, you have no idea why you care – but maybe, in reality, you just don't want to admit it to yourself yet.

"Long time ago."

"Private James." You tried it out and that had a ghost of a smile cross his lips, still not meeting your eyes as you both faced the street, but you kept sneaking glances to gauge his reactions.

"Sergeant." He corrected easily and you hummed.

"Sergeant James. Nice."

"Isn't your friend waiting for you?" He asked, no anger in his tone, and you only shrugged before he side glanced you, giving you a quick once over.

"I've still got..." You checked the time on your phone, "Twenty minutes left, and I eat fast."

"Come on," He sighed, probably feeling guilty about taking up your break, and then he gently nudged your bent elbow with his hand, guiding you to turn back towards the café, "I'll walk you back, no use having them hate me forever."

"Plan on seeing them again soon?" You mused teasingly, walking next to him, and he rolled his eyes, but he didn't seem mad anymore.

"They're glaring at me," He noted, some uncomfortable fear in his voice that made you have to stifle a laugh behind your closed fist as you looked up at him, and he looked back at you with some softness to him while you two now stood outside the café that had glass walls surrounding it, "I should probably go."

"I um," You started when he turned to leave, something in you saying that you shouldn't let him walk away so easily, and you cursed yourself for it, but, "I hope I didn't lose the pub a customer. Especially a vet. Feels disrespectful on so many levels."

Okay, that was painfully awkward, but he smiled, so it couldn't have been that bad.

"I'm going away for a week or two," He admitted, and you nodded, glancing down at the sidewalk, "But I wouldn't worry about it," He shrugged, starting to walk backwards, "I'm a sucker for cute, closed off bartenders."

"I'll tell Leo to cover my shift when you get back then!" You called after him and he laughed loudly before turning around to walk away.

You watched him leave for a few moments and caught him looking back, both of you smiling bashfully, but you prayed he couldn't see you blush since the sun had gone down.

You only had about ten, maybe fifteen, minutes left in your break, and you rushed inside, a flutter of apologies tumbling from your lips as you slid into your seat across from Alex at a round table. They tried to play it like they were bothered, but they were most likely just amused and a little smug as they took in the sight of your flushed cheeks with a cocked eyebrow behind their cup of coffee.

"Thought you weren't keeping him." They abruptly interrupted you talking about what they missed while they were gone a few minutes later and you stopped short.

"Uh, what? Who?" You were taken off guard, but a second later, you knew.

"Nothing..." They trailed off ominously, wanting to scratch at your brain and pull questions from you before they opened the conversation about the soldier, but you knew them well enough, so you didn't play into it.