Coffee Stains ♥

Prologue

Seven years ago...

Lacey Evans sat down at Old Joe’s Crab Shack, trying not to focus too much on the guy sitting at the table opposite her. She could feel his eyes lazily taking her in, but she was used to the unwanted male attention. Still, the thorough examination made her ache with sadness. Seven weeks and counting, she thought glumly. Sometimes, she had to pinch herself, as a reminder that she was now as single as a penny.

"I'll have a hamburger, extra cheese and pickles, little ketchup and relish, no mustard." She made a tsk sound in the back of her throat and looked at the menu again. "Side of fries and ketchup and a dish of rocky-road ice cream. An orange float too, if you don't mind."

The waitress eyed her sympathetically. "Bad breakup?"

She stared blankly ahead of her, the droning sad music of Lana Del Rey echoing in her mind. "Not really," she said tonelessly.

The waitress looked momentarily confused before brushing it off to get her order. Lacey's lips twitched with amusement. Nobody understood when she talked about her breakup with Alex. Hell, she wasn't even sure if she understood herself. 

He wasn't a bad guy; in fact, he was the one who wanted to stay with her as she went off to college. She was actually the one who broke his heart, telling him that their relationship wasn't made to last, not while she traveled across the country to college. He'd understood, holding her in his arms and kissing her temple for what he knew would be their last time together. “Sunny California won't be the same with you,” he had said in that voice.

The worst part was knowing that she was lying straight to his face. She could've made a long-distance relationship work; she just didn't want to. As a freshman, she'd been so persistent on finding a match that she would have perfect chemistry with. That meant being single for her first high-school year. During her sophomore year, her friends—who were in happy relationships—tried to couple her with various guys. None of those worked out, either. Finally, during junior year, she gave up, exasperated until her friend Ali, scathed her with the words that would haunt her for the rest of her high school career: "It's like you're looking for a marriage instead of a relationship." In the end, Lacey ended up dating the guy that had been one of the first guys to ask her out. He had liked her since freshman year, and when she finally agreed three years later, he had been more than happy to accept.

It was just that the damn sparks she had always wanted wasn’t there.

Why was it so hard? She had wanted to move on with her life, but that part of her that was so used to being in a relationship made it difficult. Without Alex, there was always going to be that empty part of her that refused to patch up unless she found herself another man.

And yet. She refused to get involved with someone else, at least not for the next year or so. She had always believed rebound relationships to end messily.

And then, there was always that guilt of lying to her 13-month boyfriend’s face. As if not dating anyone made the guilt less bearable.

“Hey,” A deep, clearly masculine noise shook her from her thoughts and she looked up to see the guy, who had been intently watching her from the opposite table, sit down across from her. She scowled. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attractive. Not. At. All. If she hadn’t been so wrapped up in guilt, she would’ve called the guy hot even. Every 6 foot 2 inches of him was both lanky and muscular, his dark hair tousled and his hazel eyes gleaming with a keen interest in whatever he saw in her.

“You’re too pretty to be stood up,” He said in a smooth voice, and she smirked internally. The line was so common; she had literally heard it a billion times. He frowned immediately, as if sensing her thoughts.