Heavenly Brews

Chapter Seven

Sam’s POV

When my alarm sounds, I bunch up the pillow in my arms and curl into a ball on my side. Groaning, I duck my face into the sheets and lay still until the alarm gets on my nerves and I sit up to turn it off. Bones trots into my room, standing beside my bed, tail wagging and looking up at me with the sad ‘I want food’ dog face. I pat his head and untangle my legs from the sheets, yawning loudly. Setting his food bowl on the ground and watching him chow down, I shiver and look out the window, the sky a vast grey cloud. Still shaking, I take a hot shower and let the stream of water warm up my body. Drying off, I find a pair of Calvin Klein black boxer briefs, jeans, and a blue plaid flannel.

Tugging on tennis shoes and a jacket then grabbing my keys, I leave my apartment. My breath puffs out in the air before me as I start my Ford and turn the cold steering wheel.  The radio says there’s a possibility of snow, and I don’t doubt it with the sky looking so wintery. Pulling over at the curb, the Heavenly Brews sign looks strangely colorful in the dull light, and warm air welcomes me as I push open the door with the ring of the bells. Gabriel glances up and smiles, the sight making me smile in return, and I shudder as the cold air the followed me in passes me.

“Hey kiddo,” he says winking at me.

I raise an eyebrow at the term, “Hi Gabriel, how’re you?”

He turns to grab a coffee cup as I reach for my wallet and pull out a couple of ones. While his back is turned, I look him up and down and notice he’s wearing a red t-shirt and grey sweat pants that make his butt look good, but then I feel my face heat up at the thought and look away so he doesn’t suspect anything. As he’s pouring my coffee, not having to ask my order, he instead asks “So how’s dancing coming along?”

I frown as thank him as he hands me the cup, placing the money in the tip jar, “It’s terrible.”

“Discover you have two left feet?” Gabriel says with a smirk and leans his hip against the counter. I notice he isn’t wearing a beanie today, even though it’s cold out, and feeling the desire to brush my hand through his golden hair, I tap a hand on the counter impulsively.

“No I just- the drama teacher she- I don’t like learning it from her,” I try explaining and he nods in understanding.

“Well I’d be more than happy to help you, just give me a call sometime. No rush though, the musical is until…” he trails off, looking at me questioningly.

“End of February, I’m not sure what day yet,”  my hand slides off the counter and I tuck it into my pocket, the other clutching the cup, and I can’t help but think it doesn’t compare to the one with the number written across it. Sentiment, my alcoholic father said once, is a chemical defect found in the weak. I ignore his voice, as I had done when he was around, and Gabriel is staring intently at me. Pursing his lips–I can’t keep myself from looking at the movement–he claps his hands together in thought.

“That’s plenty of time,” he says, arms extending as he steps away from the counter, “I can teach you a lot in that time frame.” He winks and I mentally curse the fire in my face as heat creeps up at his words, he notices and smiles cheekily, his eyebrows jumping up and down.

Clearing my throat, I open my mouth to reply then close it again, glancing at my watch as he laughs softly at my embarrassment. I’m running late, so I switch the coffee to my other hand, “Oh, I have to go or the principal is going to be angry, bye Gabriel, I’ll call you later.”

He beams and waves, saying he’s looking forward to it, and when the door closes behind me he’s still smiling. The image make my lips twitch up at the corners as I hurriedly shut my truck door and turn on the heat, the coffee warming my hand as the truck slowly awakens in the cold air. I make it to the school just in time, walking into my class as the bell is ringing, noticing Crowley happened to be talking to a teacher across the hall as I enter my class. I hold back a scoff with the annoyance he brings, and greet my class, the first hour sleepy and despising the Monday morning.