Page 25 of When the Ice Melts

“Yeah.” Chelsea nodded sympathetically. “Are you taking it back to the shop? Or can you fix it yourself?”

Addisyn took a deep breath. “Actually, Darius offered to fix it for me this afternoon.” She avoided Chelsea’s eyes.

The girl squealed as if someone had just presented her with a bouquet of long-stemmed roses. “What?!” She clapped her hands to her face and danced around behind the bar ecstatically. “See, he likes you! He totally likes you!”

Addisyn could feel the heat surging through her face. For a second the fiendish desire to douse Chelsea in a wave of boiling hot coffee flitted through her brain. “Chelsea, stop! He’s just a nice guy, okay?”

Chelsea just giggled, not at all cowed. “Sure...he’s a nice guy. A nice guy who likes you.” Coyly she batted her eyelashes. “Lucky you...catching Darius Payne.”

Addisyn was weary. A humiliating bicycle crash, a whole day of Chelsea’s unsolicited matchmaking, and some unaccountable butterflies in her stomach over tonight’s plans were all taking their toll on her. “I have notcaughtDarius Payne,” she repeated, emphasizing Chelsea’s word. “He’s just being friendly. Now, that’s all I want to hear.” She tried for the older-sister tone she’d learned from Avery.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Chelsea stuck her bottom lip out in a pretend pout and slouched against the counter, arms folded like a petulant child. “You should be elated right now. I mean...you definitely aren’t the first girl to try to catch Darius Payne’s eye.”

Addisyn just shrugged. She was tired of constantly declaring the platonic nature of their relationship. Maybe if she seemed uninterested, Chelsea would lose interest as well. “Makes sense. He’s a pretty attractive guy.”

“Well,that, of course.” Chelsea rolled her eyes, as if completely exasperated with Addisyn’s surface understanding of the situation. “But certainly his star power doesn’t hurt either.”

What?Addisyn stared at her coworker. For the first time all day, the annoying girl had her undivided attention. “His star power?”

Chelsea looked equally puzzled. “You mean...you don’t know what he did?”

Addisyn shook her head, confused. “I know he works at iClimb and he drives for Uber...”

“But you don’t know what he didbeforethat?” Chelsea’s eyes were enormous.

“No...” Addisyn had to remind herself to breathe. Something told her that for once, Chelsea was about to say something important.

Chelsea drew in a long breath. As if she weren’t even sure where to begin. “Well...you might know him as Andrew Payne. Does that ring a bell?”

Andrew Payne?Like lightning, the realization sizzled in Addisyn’s mind.NO! It couldn’t be!She grabbed Chelsea’s arm sharply. “Chelsea! Do you mean to tell me—is he—”

Chelsea was nodding vigorously, a knowing smile spreading across her face. “Yep! Andrew is his middle name.”

The shock had created a vacuum in Addisyn’s lungs. She let go of Chelsea’s arm and stepped back, then crossed her arms and studied the floor. Darius was Andrew Payne? No wonder he had looked so familiar to her!

Her heart was galloping now, running away with the new knowledge, but her inside felt almost hollow, as if the unbelief had left her a shell. She looked hesitantly back up at Chelsea, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Really?”

Chelsea just laughed and shook her head. “Yes, really!” She lightly bumped Addisyn’s shoulder with her fist. “And you’ve served him coffee every morning!”