Page 12 of After All This Time (A Time For Love #2)

Cooper

" I f he asks me to repeat all the tea selections we have one more time, I’m quitting,” Lily grumbles, her long, auburn hair swishing under the colorful bandana that’s holding it out of her face.

“Uh oh, he did it again?” I ask her as she joins me behind the counter, where I’m whipping up a latte macchiato for the sweet, elderly lady who always comes in on the same day every week and sits at the same table by the window.

“Yes, he fucking did it again. And if he does it one more time, I’m walking out of that door and I’m never coming back.” She punctuates every word she says by stabbing viciously at a couple of croissants in an attempt to put them on serving plates.

I wince as I mentally prepare myself to offer something complementary to the poor bastards that receive those croissants.

“You’re not quitting and I’m not firing you, no matter how much you torture my pastries.”

She stops her mumbling and looks down at the pastries in question, glancing up to give me a sheepish look.

“Sorry.”

I chuckle at her expression because I know that she really is sorry. She just can’t help having a temperament that’s closer to gasoline.

Lily was the first person I hired when I opened this coffee shop five years ago.

To be honest, she doesn’t need to work in a coffee shop, or anywhere really for that matter, but she has her reasons and I don’t want to pry. Whatever makes her happy.

I can’t believe it’s been five years already since this whole thing was put together. My very own small cafe that manages to bring in locals and visitors alike, in a far side corner of a Portland neighborhood. Close to home.

Something twinges in my chest but I squash it down. I focus on the previous conversation instead.

“I think he likes you and that’s why he keeps asking you to recite our whole catalog, so that he can talk to you without actually talking to you,” I tell Lily once she’s back from delivering the orders.

She stops dead in her tracks, staring blankly at me.

“Huh.”

That’s it. That’s all she says.

“Huh?”

She busies herself with cleaning the counter from a few stray crumbs.

“I guess I can cut him some slack then,” she sighs, and I smile at her dejected tone.

She’s quick to catch fire but she feels bad immediately after. She’s a total softy.

I check the time, seeing that it’s almost time for Matt’s shift, the bell at the door announcing his entrance as if I conjured him up.

We say our hellos and wait for him to leave his things in the office at the back and get ready before I leave him to his work.

I’m just about to go check if Lily and Matt need anything before I head out when my phone rings in my pocket.

My buddy Nate’s name flashes on the screen.

“Hey, man, what’s up?”

“Hey, Coop. Are you at work?”

“Just about done. Why?”

“So, you haven’t left, yet?”

“No, not yet.” I frown. “What’s wrong?”

Silence.

“Nothing’s wrong. Why would you think that?”

Oh, he’s definitely up to something.

“Because you’re terrible at hiding things.”

“No, I’m not,” he says, actually sounding affronted.

“Okay, sure. Are you gonna tell me now what’s going on?”

I hear him sigh loudly.

“Just wait there, I’ll see you in a bit,” he says and hangs up.

Okay, weird conversation.

I shrug and go help the guys for a little while longer while I wait for Nate.

It probably hasn’t even been half an hour when the door chimes and I turn from where I’m organizing a couple of shelves.

And my heart stops.

I would know him anywhere, no matter how many years had passed.

Even whispering his name in my head makes my chest ache.

Li.

My best friend is here, standing just inside my shop, his gaze sweeping every surface it touches.

He’s here and all I can do is be rooted to the spot as image after image of all the times we laughed together, did stupid shit, and were at each other’s side flash through my mind.

Until the images stop at the last trip we took together.

My heart thunders in my ears and I round the corner of the counter, taking a tentative step towards his direction.

And it’s not long before his eyes land on me and I watch as those familiar mossy-green eyes widen. As they lock on mine, refusing to break away even when another customer has to go around him because he’s blocking the entrance.

My eyes are powerless not to take in every detail they can of my best friend. Who was supposed to leave for a little while and instead it has been years since we’ve seen each other.

Phone calls, texting, and casual, friendly conversations do not count.

They have nothing on him standing right in front of me.

He looks almost the same.

His sandy-blonde hair is wind-swept, probably from the breeze outside that keeps getting stronger and stronger every day. He’s wearing jeans, a black shirt and a black, leather jacket and he looks as if he’s just dismounted a motorbike.

I don’t realize how close I’ve gotten until I’m standing right in front of him.

That piercing, intense gaze of his never drops.

“Hey, stranger.” It’s funny how no matter how hurt I am about the state of things between us, a smile still slips from my lips. “Took you long enough.”

The expression shifts in his eyes, something soft and wild swimming in their depths.

But then he breaks into the smile I know better than my own.

“I’m back, Coop.”

My stomach clenches so hard with the need to step right into him and put my arms around him. To have him swallow me whole in his embrace and forget how it’s been 17 years since the last time I was in there, feeling safe and protected.

But I don’t. I keep my hands to myself and every impulse I have, locked inside my chest.

I clear my throat. “Is Nate behind all this?”

Liam chuckles and the sound sends a shiver through me.

“Yeah, I asked him not to tell you anything. I – uh – wanted to surprise you,” he finishes sheepishly.

Well, color me fucking surprised.

“Yeah, he almost gave you away.”

“It wouldn’t be Nate if he didn’t. The guy can’t lie to save his life.”

“You could have called me yourself, you know.”

My words freeze the smile on his lips and it takes him a moment of swallowing before answering.

“I didn’t know if you would want to see me.” He says those words quietly, like he’s admitting to a terrible fear and it makes my gut squeeze. He’s dangerously close to an expression I never want to see on his face again.

So, I do the only thing I can think of.

I pinch his side. Hard.

“Son of a—!” he yelps as he dances out of reach of my hand. Just like he always did when we were younger. Which attracts quite a few startled looks our way.

“That’s for saying stupid shit. It’s the last pass you have. Next time, you earn yourself something harder than a pinch. You got me?”

He looks at me with an intense focus. Almost like he knows I’m giving him a whole different kind of chance here. A chance to fix things.

His face melts into the soft expression I’ve missed more than anything.

“I got you, Coop.”