Face To Call Home (Love Came In #1) ✔️

Chapter 5

I shut the door behind me as I got into Matt's car, an old Mercedes E-class, and waited for him to start driving. I looked at him as he winced at the loud sound of the door shutting behind me, and glared at me with his eyes narrowed. It was a Saturday, and I had to go to work today.

Growing up with two very speed-obsessed men around me constantly, I was used to going fast, and loved it too. My mom, when she was alive, loved driving and was really good at it as a teenager. She had a rich dad, who gave her a Shelby '67 at the age of 17. She would race all the guys on the circuit, and that's how she met my dad - by beating him in a race - and what followed was the most legendary love story of our town.

The car sped along the road as Matt drove; winking at the few short-shorts clad blondes walking along. They giggled and blushed as I rolled my eyes beside him.

He sighed. "God I missed this." Matt said.

"What? The ladies? I don't think they missed you." I smiled at him sweetly. He rolled his eyes at me.

"Here we are."

"Thanks, Matt," I said before getting out. He yelled an 'anytime sister' at me as I laughed and walked towards Sam's Place.

The cafe was a small white-washed building that served many customers every day, any time of the day. It was a popular hub for teenagers and adults alike, the heart of our small town.

Although I technically don't need the money I get paid by working at this place right now, I still want to pay for a part of my college education by myself. 

The cafe was bustling as I stepped in. Removing my Mary Poppins bag and ditching it on the back counter, I  stepped behind the cash register and removed my badge from under the counter.

I had worked at Sam's place under my boss, Samantha, for 2 years, since I was fifteen. At first, the job was a distraction from all the events of my life, what with my mom passing away and Matt leaving, but it soon became one of my favorite places.

The cafe was like a second home to me - the smell of cakes and coffee in the air, the lunchtime rush and wafts of greasy food - it was all familiar, familial, and warm at a time when nothing was.

"Hey, Brooke!" Lily, a girl working here who was a year younger than me, greeted me enthusiastically and I greeted her back. 

As I bent down to retrieve a tray of freshly baked pies that I had helped Samantha make, the bell above the door rang and I could hear Lily gasp and giggle softly at the sight of whoever had walked in. I heard laughter and the sound of deep, masculine voices.

As I got up from my crouched position, one of the three guys who had walked in averted his eyes from my butt to my face and smiled broadly at me from his seat at the furthest table. They were the three guys I saw with Cole in the hallways yesterday, and I finally got a chance to study them.

They had seemed to know Cole well already, and they were all extremely good-looking, which I thought was a very unfair and cruel thing for the universe to do. One of them, I noticed, was quieter than the others, and he sat on one side of the booth, facing the other two. The bulkier guy out of the three of them was laughing and cracking jokes, at which the third one laughed as well. The silent, sulky guy only rolled his eyes with a twitch in his lips.

"Who's that?" I asked as subtly as I could to Lily as she smiled broadly, so wide I thought her jaw would break.

"You don't know?" She said. "They're the most popular trio in your year. The hunky one is Liam, he's quiet and shy but really smart, and really handsome." she giggled.

"The two brothers, James and Reece, are so hot and they are loved and lusted over by all the girls in school, especially Reece. He's a player, and James is a drummer. James is  known for his musical talent and always looks brooding and so serious, and Reece is the jokester of the group and captain of the basketball team."

Her face was red with a blush, and I looked back at them and they were still laughing and kidding around. 

Suddenly, they got up and came towards the cash register counter.

"How can I help you today?" I smiled at them and asked in a sweet voice. Reece, I think, leaned forward, resting his arms on the counter in front of me, a smirk on his face. Liam and James groaned.

"I know you can help me; pretty face like yours, you can help me a lot." He said, at which my nose scrunched up in partial disgust and amusement. He was the guy who had also shamelessly checked out my ass, and he was pretty hot with his boy next door looks along with a bulky frame.

"No thanks, I think I'll pass," I said, and Liam laughed at what I was guessing was a shocking rejection.

Reece muttered something under his breath and offered his hand to me.

"I'm Reece. This is Liam, and that's James." He said, pointing to them. I hesitantly took his hand, shaking it slowly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Brooke, that's Lily," I said, and Lily blushed and giggled again, running out the room.

James was looking at his phone, and I saw how his face was drawn up in harsh angles and creases. It looked like he was 10 years older than his real age, and the tight pull of his lips and lack of laugh lines around his eyes told me that he probably smiled very less, and laughed even less. But he was, nevertheless, hot.

"Yeah, we know who you are," Liam said, immediately getting hit in the head by James.

"What? We do," he muttered, and then replied at my confused stare. "You're Matt's sister, right?"

"Yeah, unfortunately." I grinned at them as Reece laughed. "So, what would you guys like today?"

"We'll have two lattes, a hazelnut hot chocolate, and a blueberry muffin. Oh, and one donut." Liam said like he had memorized their daily order. I got to work on the order quickly and smiled at the cheesy jokes they continued to crack.

The doorbell jingled again as someone walked in, and I looked up with a grin of amusement on my face, directed at Reece, to Cole. Our eyes clashed as the navy blue irises across from me narrowed in on me and I couldn't look away.

Cole quickly looked at Reece and shot him a dirty look, at which he backed off from the counter with hands in the air. His eyes returned to mine as I cleared my throat and looked down, a light blush on my cheeks.

"That'll be $11.50." I was still looking down when I said this, and I noticed from the corner of my eye the three of them leaving, so it was just Cole and me in the store.

After a few seconds, a large, calloused hand extended with a $20 bill in its clutches, and I looked up at Cole as our eyes once again met with a tension I did not want to investigate.

I looked down at the hand and just as I was about to take the money, Cole's other hand shot out over the counter and grabbed my hand, opening the palm slowly and placing the money in it, then closing my hand over it. He suddenly yanked me forward so his face was next to mine.

"You smell like vanilla and sweetness, stop being so tempting," He muttered into my ear, lightly grazing his lips on my ear lobe just as he was pulling away.

I stilled and met his eyes, the deep blue seeming darker and sporting a glint of mirth and mischief as he faced me again.

I darted a look at the boys standing outside and was mortified to see them studying us as if trying to figure something out.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." I shot a shaky smile at the boys and ignored Cole's penetrating stare as I shoved the money into the cash drawer and quickly exited the room to walk into the kitchen through a door, lifting the trays from the counter to put them in place.

I didn't see their return smiles because I was too busy trying to take deep breaths behind the closed kitchen door.