Page 11 of Sunflower Persona (Classic City Romance #2)

Kori

H ead up. Make eye contact. Smile.

The mantra plays on repeat in my head as I march through the near-empty city streets. It’s a completely different vibe than the weekend. Hell, it’s practically a ghost town in comparison. I’m sure it not even being ten is also a contributing factor.

I think I like it better like this.

There’s no line outside Cutter’s, and the crowd isn’t any thicker inside the hazy bar. It’s certifiably dead. Aside from Gage’s friends grouped up by the counter, there are only a few lone strangers tucked away in quiet corners with their liquor.

“Kori, you made it.” Evelyn waves with enthusiasm, as if I couldn’t have found the group on my own.

Unsurprisingly, Karis and the flirty one are here too.

Both locked in an animated conversation with Gage, who’s leaning against the other side of the bar with a bored expression.

The man who greeted me the first time I went to Double Teep is also here—dressed for an office, not a bar—with a blond woman in his arms who he stares at like she’s his entire world.

My eyes gloss over the pair. Giving them any more attention would feel like intruding on a private moment.

With a sheepish smile, I wave back and walk closer. At Evelyn’s exclamation, Gage’s attention shifts from his friends, and his face softens with a half smile. I don’t have a chance to process it or respond, because my new friend greets me with a hug and starts introducing me to “the whole crew.”

“You already know Gage and Karis, obviously. The love birds are Jamie and Morgan.”

“James,” the blond woman corrects but doesn’t take her focus off her boyfriend.

“And this is Nathan,” Evelyn continues, not missing a beat as she gives a name to Gage’s other friend.

“We’ve met,” Nathan says with a flirty smile that feels forced, slinging an arm over my shoulder. “Good to see you again, Yellow.”

My whole body stiffens under his touch and the skeevy way he purrs the nickname.

“Her name is Kori. Use it,” Gage practically growls and pulls his friend’s arm off me with a sharp tug.

Nathan’s smile only widens, but he puts his hands up in surrender. “My bad. It’s good to see you again, Kori .”

“Don’t mind him. He doesn’t know how to be anything but an asshole,” Karis says as she maneuvers herself between me and her friend. “I think he was dropped on his head as a baby.”

“You’re one to talk. You love to push people’s buttons,” Nathan protests.

“But I’m not a creep when I do it.”

“I’m not a creep.”

“Oh really? Let’s ask Kori. Hey new girl, do you think Nathan is a—”

“Enough, both of you,” Gage cuts in with a glare.

They both grumble under their breath but turn their attention away from me. The tension in my shoulders eases, and I give my savior a grateful look.

“I would apologize for them, but if I did that every time they acted like idiots, it’s all I’d ever do.”

“They aren’t too bad,” I say as I twist one of the gold hoops through the strands of a braid.

“You don’t have to lie on their account.”

“They’re a lot,” I admit.

“That’s an understatement,” he says with a huff. “Do you want a drink?”

“Sure.”

“Let me guess. Something yellow?”

My cheeks grow hot as I hide my face in my hands. “You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”

“Probably not. Did you have something else in mind?”

“No,” I admit with a groan, and he chuckles.

“Then sweet and yellow, coming right up.”

He doesn’t go far as he mixes up my drink, and unlike the last time he did this, he doesn’t take his eyes off me as he tosses around the shaker and bottles with unexpected dramatic flair.

If it were anybody else, I’d say he was goofing around and putting on a show for me, but it’s Gage. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

Stormy eyes twinkling, he slides the ice-cold glass over to me and waits for me to take a sip.

It’s clearly a different drink than before—there’s sugar on the rim instead of fruits, and the color is less orange.

I don’t know if different is good. What if I hate this one?

Would I have to drink it anyway? I can’t not try it either—not after he spent the time making it for me.

I steel myself and take a tentative pull from the straw. Tart lemon and sweet peach fill my mouth, even more delicious than the drink he made last time. My eyes widen as I take another, larger sip.

“Good?” he asks.

A satisfied grin breaks through his stoic mask as I nod with vigor.

“I’ve been playing around with different drink options that meet your criteria.”

His confession fills my chest with warm honey. Or maybe that’s the alcohol. Either way, Gage has been thinking about me. Maybe as much as I’ve been thinking about him.

“Do you watch movies?” I regret the words as soon as they leave my lips.

I’m not great at this whole small-talk thing, but nine out of ten times, movies are a surefire way of getting people talking. In my experience, everyone has opinions on the matter, and people love talking about their opinions. Even surly bartenders…I hope.

“What?” He cocks his head to the side but doesn’t seem put off by my question.

That’s a good a start as any.

“Movies. Moving pictures on a screen, typically with sound and color. Good way to spend free time.”

“I know what movies are. Who doesn’t watch movies?”

“You’d be surprised. My roommate freshman year didn’t watch movies at all.

She claimed it was a ‘waste of valuable time.’ Although in this case, it was a dumb question.

You already told me about watching Rocky , and unless you watched that and decided ‘no more movies ever again,’ you probably still watch them.

” The words pour out of me in a blathering stream.

“Yes, I like movies. I used to watch more but haven’t had time for things like that these past few years.”

“Do you have a favorite? Or at least a favorite genre?” I ask, and he shrugs.

“Sports dramas are my favorite. Preferably about fighting. But anything with fast cars or explosions will hold my attention.”

“That’s way more normal than I was expecting. I was thinking you were gonna say something wild like you are into period pieces or Hallmark Christmas movies or something.”

“I’m a simple guy. What you see is what you get. No bullshit.”

“I’m seeing that. Not everyone is so forthcoming about who they are.

I hate that. Those types of people are impossible to read, and I already struggle with reading people as is.

At first, I thought you were all mysterious because you were quiet and broody, but now I think that’s just who you are.

It’s not a mask you hide behind. I like that. ”

“Are you saying you like the fact that I’m boring?” His question is tinted with the barest hint of amusement.

“Shut up, you know full well that isn’t what I meant.”

Gage smiles.

Not that half smirk that sometimes pulls at the corner of his lips, but an honest-to-God smile that even has the corners of his eyes crinkling.

It’s a miracle. I swear the sky opens up and lights shine down from the heavens while the angels’ trumpets sound from the clouds.

Coaxing this from him should get me halfway to sainthood.

Call me Saint Kori, the patron saint of amusing broody men.

That smile changes his face completely, softening his bolder features into something beautiful, and my stomach does a somersault worthy of an Olympic athlete.

“What about you? Is your sunflower persona a front, or is it the real Kori?” he asks, and that goddamn seagull comes back with a vengeance.

I have no clue what he means with the whole “sunflower” thing, but he says the word with affection, not malice, so I’m choosing to take it as a compliment.

“I don’t have the type of energy to pretend to be anything other than the real me.”

“Does that mean your favorite movies are chick flicks or something? I could see you being really into Legally Blonde .”

“Ouch,” I tell him with a laugh. “Is that really the vibe I give off?”

“Well, what do you like?”

“Do you know what kaiju movies are?”

“Like big monsters and Godzilla ?”

“Exactly that. I love those. Especially the Japanese Godzilla franchise.”

“I mean, big monsters fighting is cool.”

“It’s so much more than big monsters fighting.

The original Godzilla blended the Shinto religion with the fears and trauma of the Japanese people to create an allegory of the devastation that occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

As the franchise expanded, it continued to use current issues regarding humanity’s destruction of the planet in order to send a message. ”

The urge to explain in more detail is overwhelming, but I keep my mouth shut. No one ever wants to hear me ramble about old Japanese movies, and I’ve been ridiculed enough for my interests over the years to know when to keep it quiet.

Normally by this point, people have either tuned out, or they give me their best please-shut-up look. Gage isn’t looking at me like that, though; he is still giving me his full attention, and the remnant of that smile is still on his face.

“I didn’t know that,” he says in a deep timbre. There’s a spark of something in his gaze that has heat rising to my face and my eyes dropping back to my fidgeting hands.

This time it’s my turn to shrug.

“Not many people do. It’s really cool once you look into it. The newest era has more of a focus on climate activism, but the movies have been really good. They’re on Netflix if you’re interested.”

“I’ll have to check them out. Maybe you—” He’s cut off by the other bartender shouting his name.

“We’re out of Tropicália. Need another keg from the back,” she continues.

Gage sighs and pushes away from the bar.

“Duty calls. I’ll be right back.”

It isn’t until he disappears that I remember we aren’t alone.

His friends are all watching me with looks ranging from confusion to curiosity. The only one who doesn’t seem shocked is Karis. She looks more pleased than anything.

“So, new girl, are you any good at pool?” she asks.