Begin Again

chapter fourteen

"HE KISSED YOU?" I wince at the shrill voice of Sabrina as she badgers me for the millionth time. I'd made the mistake of confiding my Thanksgiving plans with Miles to her, and since doing so, she hasn't been able to stop criticizing me about it.

I nod again, wiping a wet cloth over a table that an elderly couple has just deserted. It's the end of another hectic shift at The Coffee Haus, which was again only Sabrina and I working, which is something I don't usually mind until now.

"When was the last time you talked to him?" she asks, briefly looking away to tend to a customer. I frown.

"Not since I left his house to go back home." I haven't realized it has been that long until I say it. It has been almost a week and a half since our kiss. We've exchanged brief texts here and there, but I haven't been able to hear his voice or have an actual conversation. After the initial first kiss, we'd stayed up almost the whole night, talking and exchanging even more kisses.

"And that doesn't strike you as weird or anything?" Sabrina asks, snapping me out of my memories. I shoot her an incredulous look, to which she shrugs.

"No, we're both busy, and he's graduating from college in a few weeks. Plus, it's not like we're dating; I shouldn't expect to see him every second of the day."

Sabrina scrunches her nose, pocketing some of the tip money left by the table she's just served. "I'm just saying, he's obviously into you, so why is he suddenly going all Danny Phantom on you?"

"Danny Phantom?" I repeat, my lips twitching at her irritated expression.

"Not the point, Eve," she says begrudgingly. I fight my urge to laugh at her exasperated look, knowing that if I do, she'll probably whack me with the nearest salt shaker. "Your track record for recovering over shitty guys isn't too great."

"Ouch, harsh much." Sabrina gives me a knowing look, and I sigh. She's right, even if she could've sugarcoated her delivery more. But that's Sabrina. All tough and a sprinkle of love if she's feeling generous.

"Speak of the Devil," she mumbles, her eyes looking at the door where the bell above it sounds, announcing a new customer. Turning around, I see Miles walking in, his hands stuffed in his coat pocket. I smile, waving at him as he sits at the front counter.

"I thought you were all about him?" I remind Sabrina. She shrugs, leaning her hip against the booth I'm wiping down.

"I also drink milk even though I'm severely lactose intolerant."

I spare her a glance. "That's not a good analogy. You're saying I should still talk to Miles even if he is metaphorically bad for me." Sabrina huffs, rolling her eyes at me before diverting her attention to Miles' sitting form.

"You might be my employee, but I care about you," Sabrina says softly. "If you go off and get your heart broke again, who's going to refill the water stations?"

"Wow, glad to see how much you care about me," I say dryly, throwing the dirty rags into the laundry basket.

"I'm serious, Eve," she cries out. "You're the only one who can carry the water jugs."

"It's all in the legs, Sab."

Miles looks up from the menu at the sound of my voice, a certain twinkle of mischief in his emerald gaze. "What's all in the legs?"

I smile coyly at him, already beginning the order for his black coffee. "Wouldn't you love to know." Sabrina scoffs beside me, but I ignore her, pouring Miles' coffee into a styrofoam cup. I slide it across the counter to him, and he smiles gratefully, his glove-clad fingers curling around the warm drink. Since Thanksgiving ended, New York's temperature has dropped significantly. Weather reports say it's supposed to snow about two feet or so within the next couple of days.