Page 31 of The Strike Zone

“What’s your order?”

Her teeth caught the edge of her lip. “Oh…um, you know…”

I was waiting for her to add to that sentence, but she was now staring down at her feet, and we rode a whole floor without her looking back up.

“Scout?”

Her eyes shot to mine. “Oh…yeah, it’s just…um…just coffee.”

If the tops of her cheeks weren’t flushed, and she wasn’t trying her best not to look at me, I’d have left it, but something was going on.

“Coffee and what else?” I pointed right at her. “I call bullshit.”

Her eyes flicked to the monitor see how many floors we had left to travel, only to wince when there were still three left, and I couldn’t hold in the laugh.

“Scout?”

Eventually she sighed in defeat. “In my defense, it’s something I discovered during school and it got me through exams, breakups, finals. You name it. Now I like to start my day with one. It’s a little ritual.”

“What’s the drink, Scout?”

“Don’t judge…” She stared at me, and if my hands weren’t full, I’d have held them up.

“Hey, I won’t.”

“Okay…it’s a double espresso split in two—one to start and one to finish, caramel drizzled around the insides of the cup, half one percent, half almond milk, two shots of hazelnut, a packet of Splenda and a spoon size whip on top, with chocolate powder to finish.”

My brain was still trying to keep up with what she’d said, and my mouth must have dropped open because I heard her grumble, “Hey, you promised you wouldn’t judge.”

I shut my mouth, then opened it again. “I’m not, I’m just…I mean…oh man, I dunno if I can do this.”

“Do what?”

Pushing my cap up, I eased my fingers along my brow and let out a massive sigh. “This friends thing.”

“What—”

“Yeah, I might need to rethink it.” I shook my head with a grimace. “I can’t be seen with someone who drinks that. I have a reputation.”

Scout’s mouth dropped open, and she shoved me hard on the shoulder. At least, I guessed she thought it was hard. I didn’t move.

“Parker!”

“I’m kidding.” I laughed, even harder when her outrage deepened. “What I meant to say was…how interesting and how ever did you discover it?”

She shrugged. “Well, maybe not so much as discover, more like invent.”

“Wow.” I blinked. “I’m impressed. Very inventive. And did I mention brave? How do you not get laughed out of coffee shops with that? It genuinely sounds like the most disgusting drink I’ve ever heard.”

Her mouth dropped again, this time her cheeks turned fully pink. I kind of liked teasing her like this, especially when it meant her teeth sank into her plump, rosy bottom lip, like they were doing right now.

My gaze was still focused on her mouth when the elevator pinged and the doors opened.

“Welcome to where the magic happens,” Scout announced, stepping out.

I followed her and stopped.

I’d never been up here. I’d been to the floor where legal sat, which was mostly made of glass meeting rooms, but this was all open. Everyone together. Noisy chatter, clacking on keyboards, shouting.

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