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“Stop moping, or I’m gonna dock your pay.” Crystal snapped her fingers in front of my face. “You walked in all angst-ridden and haven’t stopped biting that sexy lip all morning. What’s happening, Hot Stuff? Shouldn’t you be celebrating some very good news?”

“Of course, you know.” I chuckled. If there was gossip in this town, Crystal always knew the juice.

“Yeah, and I’m pissed that you didn’t walk in and tell me right away.” She walked around the counter and stood by leaning. “So, what kind of drama is happening in that pretty little head of yours?”

“It’s just… It all happened so fast, and…”

She held her hand up. “Did something happen with David?”

“Besides him falling down the stairs?” I shrugged. “Yeah… I guess it did.”

She leaned on the counter and grinned at me. “Tell momma about it. This has become my only purpose in life besides slinging coffee and making witty remarks.”

I scrunched my face up as I thought about it. Even this morning, when Zane came over so I could go to work, there was something off, and I wasn’t sure what it was. It didn’t make any sense. “He wasn’t as happy about it as I thought he’d be. He kept poking holes.”

“Were there holes that needed to be poked?” She poked me in the chest. “David seems pretty level-headed to me. It’s not like he could jump for joy in the shape he’s in.”

“He said he didn’t want me to settle. I mean… What?”

She took a deep breath. “Oh, I see.”

“What does that mean?”

She threw her head back, cackled, and patted me on the cheek. “You”re a very sweet thing. You’re… in your early twenties, hon. You see things differently when you’re in your thirties, especially if you’ve had a hard time with love. David cares about you more than he probably expected. He’s probably scared.”

“Yeah, he… said something like that. Why should he be scared? I’ve… I’m totally falling for him.”

“I don’t think you know how others see you, hon. You are… even here with all my other hot gay boys. You are special. When people look at you, they see something that is almost ethereal in its beauty. You look like you stepped out of a magazine – always – even in that stupid apron.” She flicked the string over my shoulder. “David feels threatened by it, in a way. People who look like you – You’re…” She squeezed my bicep. “Then there’s us. Those normal people, like me, can get burned if we fly too close to you and bathe in your rays for too long. When you take that light and warmth away, it could destroy whoever you left.”

“That’s way too poetic for me.” I shook my head, trying to make sense of what she said.

“I’m a fucking Shakespeare. But it doesn’t make it any less true.” She turned and picked up a coffee mug from the rack and walked over to the pot we just brewed.

“So, loving me is dangerous because I’m too pretty?”

“Exactly. It’s gay math. Trust me – you come with warning signs – whether you know it or not.”

I turned and leaned against the counter as I watched her pour the coffee. “Do you know what’s interesting? I feel the same way about David. I was destroyed because of a man about his age, and I wasn’t sure I would ever get over it.” I grabbed a cup from the rack and joined her at the machine. “I know I’m hot. I’ve known it my whole life by the way people have treated me, but that doesn’t mean that my heart can’t be broken just as easily. David could destroy me.”

“I know that, hon. But does he?”

“I dropped everything to stay with him when he broke his foot. He’s not just some toy that I’m playing with. He’s… absolutely wonderful. I would never want to be the cause of him feeling bad – I’d never want him to feel the way I felt.”

“The way he already felt, you mean. See, there is the big difference, I think. You are young and bounce back quicker than people our… well, David’s age. He carried his hurt around a lot longer than you and never let anyone in to help soothe that pain. But you were able to pick yourself up faster than he did. A year later, and you found a way to move on.” She touched my cheek. “That is not a criticism, or even a – your pain wasn’t as great as his, kind of thing. I’m glad that you could, and I know that you were broken by what happened. It’s why you are here, isn’t it? Because it hurt you so bad you couldn’t pull yourself out. Imagine living in that for years.”

I put my coffee down and just wanted a hug. “How can I break through something like that, Crystal? I want him to see that I’m not running away. I mean, damn… I practically begged him to tell me not to go.”

She cackled at that and looked at me with such compassion. “Of course you did. You sweet thing. What do you think his response meant when he said he couldn’t do that?”

“How did you know?” I asked, slack-jawed.

“I would have said the same thing. Maybe I did already to my own someone that… I just knew.”

“I don’t know. That he cares?”

“That he put you first. He can’t make your decisions for you because if he did, he would always wonder if you only stayed because he asked you to.”

“It was just for a summer,” I mumbled. This had gotten even more confusing and garbled in my brain.

“Not even if it was only a week.” She slapped the counter. “Your decisions have to belong to you, boo, or they don’t mean anything. Do you understand?”

And there it was. Understanding. “Shit… Yes.”

“Good. Now, what exactly did he not want you to settle for? I guess I should have asked that. I got preachy. It comes naturally when you run a gay harem.” She carried her coffee back to the counter and leaned on it as we usually did during our slow times.

“Well…” I joined her. “I have to finish my degree over the summer. It’s about nine hours each summer session, and he was worried that it would be too much. I mean, it is a lot. But the real problem is I can’t take one of the last classes I need for my major online. It’s not being offered, but it is in person. I don’t want to go back there, but David thinks… Maybe he thinks I’m still running away from it all? Maybe I am.”

“You have to take that many hours over the summer? Honey, that’s almost a full load during regular semesters. How long is each session?”

“Six weeks.”

“That’s… How could you even do that? You’d do nothing else but…”

“Study. I know. I’d have to not work at all. I could make it work. I mean, I’d have to. I want this, and I don’t want to leave David. It’s stupid how it all happened so fast – meeting him and falling for him, but I did. I don’t know how to make any of this work. But I’m gonna find a way.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close. “Oh, Hot Stuff… That’s not how we do it here in The Pleasant. I thought you were paying your way through these online classes by working here.”

“I am. I put it all on my credit card.”

“You what?” She broke our hug and grasped my arms. “Justin, that is… Do you know the interest you’re gonna have?”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Alright – looks like I’m gonna have to clean up this mess. Let momma show you how we take care of each other in The Pleasant.” She pulled out her phone and started scrolling through her contacts. “For your knowledge, I once helped Little Timmy deal with a very serious situation after he graduated high school, so… That mother fucker owes me.”

“Crystal, I just got the job offer,” I whined. “Don’t do anything to…”

“You shut up and sit down.” She pointed to me, and I walked around the counter to one of the stools. “I got this, and I will always have you.” She cleared her throat and grinned. “Hey Little Timmy Tim, It’s Crys… Yeah… I’m good, you know… Yes… Yes…” She laughed and threw her hair behind her shoulder. “Actually, I want to talk to you about my new friend Justin, who Danny said had just been offered a job… Yes… Oh, I adore him, but I’m sure you already realized that. Yes… So here is what I was thinking. I need you to step up and do me a favor… Exactly… Yeah, so here is what I want you to do.”

By the time she was done, I couldn’t believe it. If I ever needed an agent – I would ask Crystal.