Heartthrob ✓

two

T W O

SOMETIMES I WAS WORRIED FOR MY COUSIN.

Bretton White was many things; a seasoned athlete, an over-achieving student, and a good friend to give you company. But the fact that he had such a soft heart always stood out amongst that. You could make him do anything for you, you just needed to ask of it from him. It went from asking him to go out and buy me a chocolate cake or to drive my friends and I to the movie theater, to paying your bills if you were short or calling in sick pretending to be your worried lover - we were step cousins, so there was nothing incestuous about it, though I'd never even consider and neither would he. He was just easy to bend, and I knew that much from the girl he came to Claver's with.

Claver's was a fancy café downtown that provided a romantic atmosphere for just about any occasion. It was a place I frequented, leading to me developing a close relationship with the staff, staying until the closing time so I could take advantage of the free wifi for I had none of my own. I was dead broke and single in Philadelphia, spending up to five hours a day trying to search online for hiring opportunities. I had quit Happenstance a month ago because of some misinformation I heard about a big job in Washington D.C. opening, and Katie always would remind me that I could come back for my job at any time, but something about the way I left felt like there was no going back for me.

I happened to be in Claver's today when Bretton came in, his arm draped over the shoulder of some blonde who didn't really seem to care about him or why she was here - which I could easily assume was a date. In fact, ever since his career in Major League Baseball took off, I found him spending time with lots of women though none of them were the one for him, the one he deserved. Sure, you couldn't win with everyone, but you to had with someone at least.

He had left to go to the bathroom, leaving me with the blonde girl who was sipping on a latte and checking her phone while I searched through pages and pages of advertisements, trying to avoid making any conversation with her so that I wouldn't jump into the obvious negatives that presented themselves here scare the poor girl off. I loved my cousin and I disliked the girl in front of me, but after enough meddling with his love life, it was time for him to burn and learn from his mistakes so that he wouldn't even accidentally do them again.

But if you didn't poke the bear, chances were, it would poke you first. "Who are you," the girl said with an air of distrust in me. "Are you like another girlfriend or something because I can leave you two be? I don't want any drama, honestly. From me to you, he's only average in bed, we really don't have to fight over him."

"No, I'm not his girlfriend," I said in a low voice, trying to keep myself from growling at her because that would be more embarrassing on my end than intimidating to her. Much to my dismay, even if that wasn't what I was going for, she still didn't even flinch at my words, maybe her eyes flashed in realization that we weren't dating, but it was more of a short flicker before she returned her focus back to her phone.

I wanted to explain for her so that she would get it, but the door to the bathroom opened, Bretton White stepping out of it with a smile on his face. "You two seemed to have talked. Getting along?"

Thankfully, there was no one else here besides us, and the staff who didn't pay attention to us, because they would've known that we were doing anything but. Not that she had been outwardly rude to me, but because I couldn't trust her and she didn't seem to take me seriously. It was only a matter of time before she broke his heart and that scared me more than anything.

But I shut my mouth and nodded.

-

THE NEXT MORNING, I WOKE UP LATE, SO I DECIDED TO TAKE A SHOWER BEFORE GOING TO CLAVER'S.