Dirty Lying Sirens

Chapter One

Three times in my life have I needed a double shot extra vanilla pump latte after nine p.m. - and I needed none of them as badly as I needed it tonight.

First, it was senior year of high school and I had an all-nighter of studying to pull off if I wanted to pass enough classes to graduate. Then it was the night I drove from the middle of nowhere Michigan to the Florida coast. Twenty hours of me and the highway, following the call of beach life and throwing away icy winters and dairy farms for good. Last, it was the night I broke up with my boyfriend for being a gaslighting jerkoff and I had to pack all my shit in one night to leave while he was on his graveyard shift.

And after possibly the longest damn day of my life, I found myself jobless, probably close to homeless, and with only a few nights to sort it out. Thus, the double shot extra vanilla pump latte.

The cool night air bit my skin with the breeze that came in off the water. The lights on the streets of the oceanside city were always lit, and with it being just after sundown on a cloudless spring evening, the night life would be kicking up now. I walked down the sidewalk, my sandals making soft slapping noises against the pavement as I walked.

Finally reaching the right block, I gave a half smile to the illuminated window of my favorite caffeinated hotspot. It was deserted for a Tuesday. A lot of the tourists wouldn't be here for a couple more weeks as schools let out for the summer, and the street is about as empty as it ever really gets.

My hand brushed against the door handle while my eyes drifted to the slightly peeling sign on the coffee shop window that displayed the business hours. They weren't closed yet. If I was lucky, maybe they'd still have something to eat in the pastry cabinet that wasn't completely dried out yet. My fingers just wrapped around the brass handle and I swung it inward, stopping suddenly as I hit something.

"Caspian!" someone shouted inside.

Alarm struck me and I dropped my grasp on the door. It shook me from my sullen mood and my heart pounded in my ears, threatening to deafen me as the door was pulled inward and I witnessed the aftermath of what I just did.

A pair of dangerously blue eyes met mine. A crisp jawline with dark stubble and a firm frown set under a serious brow. It probably had something to do with the coffee-colored stain now dripping down his once white button-up shirt. A half-empty paper cup with dark liquid dripping down the side of it still sat firmly in his hand.

I should apologize. I need to apologize. But instead I was frozen. Old aversions of talking to strangers, especially men, creeping up and silencing me.

"Caspian, are you alright?" Another man, just a hair shorter and with a mildly lighter complexion, came from Caspian's side and spotted the spilled drink down his shirt.

But Caspian wasn't looking at the problem or even at his friend, he was looking at me. A sharp, studying gaze that flowed from my eyes to the shape of my jaw to my mouth and back up again. Taking in my face while, admittedly, I took in his too. He finally tore his eyes from mine, breaking the tense air between us. Looking down at his shirt, his frown deepened.

I bit my lower lip. Shit, he was attractive. But my heart still pounded, whispering to me. Get away, get away.

"Shit," the new man hissed, pulling a fistful of paper napkins from the table by the door. "We have to meet the buyer in twenty minutes!"

"It's alright, Nikkos," Caspian said, brushing his companion's napkins away with his free hand. "I've got a change of clothes on the ship, it was just an accident."

Meeting my gaze again, his frown dropped and the tension across his chest lessened. In fact, he turned it into something almost to a smile. He winked, and my cheeks flushed as I backed out of their way. Burning with embarrassment, swallowing my nerves, I knew I had to apologize now.