Safe With You

29. What's The Harm?

Jen's POV

Starbucks takes a piece of my soul every time I show up. Working here while getting my degree might have been the dumbest decision I've ever made, but if I don't help Rebekah with the bills then both of us are homeless. Thankfully my shift is over and as I go to take off my apron, someone else walks up and I internally groan.

"Hey." Hunter walks up to the counter and I immediately blush.

"Hey what can I get for you?" I ask trying not to smile like an idiot.

"Um..." He furrows his eyebrows and scans the menu, then gives me his order.

"Hey, you're Aly's friend, right?" He says pointing at me.

"Yeah," I smile and nod. "So what are you doing here?"

"I got a short break from the studio, needed to talk to someone other than Dann." He says chuckling.

"Well, I'm just about to take my break, you wanna have coffee together?" I ask, then immediately regret saying that. Great now he thinks you're weird. Why? Why would you ask that? He's off limits.

"Sure." He says with a soft smile. I internally explode and quickly make myself a drink and take my stuff off. I clock out and sit in the seat across from him. "So I guess I never really formally met you, I'm Hunter, Hunter Hayes." He says reaching out for my hand.

"Jen, Jen Augusti." I answer and shake his hand back. He was so cute, and I knew he was going to be famous. "So, how's the album coming?" I ask.

"Good its uh-"

"Excuse me?" A teenage girl says as she walks up to our table. "Are you Hunter Hayes?" She asks looking at Hunter.

"I, yeah?" He says looking at me then back at them with red cheeks. "How can I help you?" He says laughing.

"Can we take a picture?" She asks showing him her phone.

"Of course!" He says getting up. "Uh, Jen I should probably go after this, sorry."

"No its fine." I say smiling and shaking my head. "I'll talk to you later Hunter." I say and grab my coffee heading to the back of the restaurant. My heart is pounding so hard I almost forget to grab my purse and keys. "Really Jen? 'hows the album going?' you're such a doof!" I say to myself as I start to walk faster. "What is wrong with you?" I ask unlocking the door and plopping my stuff down next to me. "What is wrong with you?"

Why am I trying to get him to like me? Did my brain forget that he's dating my second best friend?! I shouldn't care what he thinks of me! He's not single!

I bang my head on the steering wheel and the horn goes off.

But you like him, you know you like him. Why is it such a big deal that you do? I mean he's famous theres tons of people that like him like that.

Wait, what am I thinking?! It is a big deal! I can't like my friends boyfriend like this, no matter who it is.

Feeling guilty but happy about what just happened, I shake my head pull out of the parking lot. On my drive home it doesn't take me long to give up convincing myself to not like him.

What's the harm in a little crush?

Hunter's POV

I pull back into the studio with my half full coffee and sit back down letting out a breath. "What took you so long?" Dann asks fooling with some things on the boards.

"I had coffee with one of Aly's friends." I say and take a mouthful almost finishing off my drink.

Dann turns around and looks at me with what looks like a confused and are-you-an-idiot expression. "Are you an idiot?" Knew it.

"What are you talking about?" I take another drink, finish it off, and walk over to the trash can throwing it away.

"You can't have coffee with your girlfriend's friend! Unless its a dude, but thats just weird."

"Jen is nice. What's so bad about it?" I ask.

"Hunter, you're not exactly unattractive." He says turning his chair towards me. "You need to be careful, if she gets a crush on you, or you start to like her, thats going to be nothing but trouble." He explains and goes back to what he was doing.

"I'm not going to start liking her, I see no one else but Aly, and have for a while now. You of all people know that. I don't see what the problem is." I say shrugging my shoulders.

His head falls and he lets out a deep sigh. "If you walked into Starbucks and you saw Aly having coffee with, I don't know, Sam. Would you be happy about it?"

I let out a sigh of defeat. "I mean.." before I can finish he gives me that look. And he's right. "No." finally spits out and I look down at my hands.

"Exactly, now help me with this track." He says motion for me to come over.

What's the harm in talking to her friend. I don't like her, did she like me? Even if she did I don't think she would do anything about it, she's one of Aly's only friends.

Would she really do that to her?