Finding Love in a Coffee Shop

Hot Chocolate

"Hey! There's my favorite regular!"

"Hi Dimitri," I greeted, smiling at the tanned barista as I approached the counter of the café. "How are you?"

He flashed his incredibly white teeth at me, shrugging. "Ah, you know. College. Fun stuff."

It had never occurred to me that Dimitri might've been younger than Will, so I was a little bit surprised. "You're in college?"

"Yep," he responded. "Last year, just like you. I'm a biology major though, I want to be a microbiologist... and who's this?" His eyes went over my shoulder, to where Dustin was standing.

"I'm Dustin," he said, stepping forward and squaring his shoulders. "The little brother."

Dimitri grinned at him. "Hey. I'm her friend, Dimitri."

"Good to see she's no longer keeping up her sociopathic tendencies."

Rolling my eyes, I ushered him closer to the counter. "Shut up. Order what you want. I'll have a hot chocolate, please."

Dimitri nodded and went off to take my order while Dustin figured out what he wanted. He decided on a skinny latte, which caused both Dimitri and I to crack up. "I'm on a diet," Dustin explained defensively as he received his drink. "I'm trying out for the basketball team. I need to get in shape."

"Right, because a skinny latte will make up for all that take out food you eat," I joked.

Ignoring me, he stomped over to the sofas in the back of the café, collapsing onto one of them and pulling a book out of his backpack. I sat on one of the leather armchairs, retrieving my laptop from my own bag. It was time to write another essay— this time, all about A Separate Peace. Fortunately, I had already read the novel in high school, so I already knew the themes and plot.

About twenty minutes into it, Will appeared by my side, peering over my shoulders. I didn't notice him, however, until he spoke up, which caused me to jump violently, nearly making me spill my hot chocolate. "Sorry," he apologized with an amused smile.

"No, it's fine," I told him quickly. "What did you say?"

"I said, coming to steal my Internet again?"

My cheeks heated and I crossed my arms over my chest. Will was still hovering over me, finding great mirth in making me feel embarrassed. "At least I buy something first," I retaliated.

His gaze flickered over to Dustin for a moment as he opened his mouth to respond, but he closed it almost immediately, a strange expression crossing over his face. He narrowed his eyes at the book in Dustin's hands, studying it briefly, before returning his attention to me. "Ah. What was I saying?"

"I don't know. What? Do you have something against the book Dustin's reading?" I teased.

Dustin glanced up from his novel at the mention of his name. "What does what have against who?"

Will offered Dustin a little smile, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "I have nothing against that story. It's just that I wrote it."

"Sorry?" I said, scrunching my forehead together. "What did you just say?"

Will's gaze slid over to me. "I wrote it?"

"What?" Dustin gasped, struggling to pull himself into a sitting position and letting the novel slip from his hands and onto the floor. "You wrote it?"

"How come you've never mentioned that you're a published author?" I demanded, eyes wide. He had mentioned he was a writer, but I would have never thought he'd have such a popular novel out.