Page 3 of Mara
“Ready?” I asked Alex, taking a deep breath and yanking open the door to the cafe.
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
I cringed at those words. A nurse had two rules. Don’t ever say the Q-word, and under no circumstances ask what could go wrong.
Feeling like a bad omen washed over me, I shook my body and bypassed the host that looked like a teenager.
I didn’t see my sister. There were more chairs and people than I would have thought for such a small cafe that sold frozen yogurt and ice cream.
“Gigi?” I searched for my sister amongst the chatter of all ages. Kids to old folks were dining on their frozen treats.
The theme of the cafe was set up like a tundra, with icebergs painted on the wall, and a large polar bear offering frozen yogurt cups on a platter at the far end. The lines of people waiting at the machines for the frozen goodness were long. If a frozen yogurt place could be bougie, it was this place. Leave it to Gigi to pick this shop.
I weaved in between people as I searched for the telltale bob of my little sister.
Did she stand me up?
Alex wandered off to grab a cup and load up on a yellow custard. It looked like maybe lemon or banana flavored. I wasn’t planning on eating anything until I found my sister.
“Gigi?” I called out again. My voice was drowning within the mass of shrieking kids and their shushing parents.
I really did not understand the appeal of tiny humans. They were scarier than the adults I worked with on the daily basis. At least my patients had a reason for randomly throwing a fit…kids, not so much. They would be sweet one second, then turn on you like a demon.
I didn’t need that kind of unpredictability in my life.
I saw a man sitting in a booth with dark blond, curly hair that was faded on the sides, covered in tattoos, and a helmet sitting next to him. My pussy clenched.
I sighed, averting my eyes and walking forward while looking at the ground.
Definitely didn’t need that kind of unpredictability either, I thought to myself, telling my needy vagina to shut the fuck up in the process.
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking, trying to keep my focus on the ground. I missed someone standing in front of me and smashed into their body, bouncing off and slamming into the booth of the man I was trying to avoid.
I looked up, and he smirked at me, a curious humor playing in his bright eyes.
“Oh fuck me, sorry.” I scrambled to get off the poor dude.
The rude bastard that knocked me over the first time belly bounced me, making me lose my balance and tumble sideways into the wooden booth with a thud.
I glared at the man who was ignoring my existence and blocking any way out of the booth.
“Excuse the fuck out of you,” I spat, but the yogurt fiend ignored me, hurumphing over his shoulder and blocking the others behind him, trying to cut in line.
“This is a fucking jungle, if you haven’t noticed.”
The voice made me jump, sarcasm leaking through each husky syllable.
I chanced a look at the man. He was staring at me curiously, reading my shirt and smirking.
“If you say Nirvana is anything less than amazing, I will stab you with one of the sporks,” I warned, challenging the sexy as hell man that didn’t fit in here at all. “What are you even doing in here? Did your bike break down?”
I was hurling insulting questions at a stranger. My irritation at this situation wasn’t leaving me very cuddly.
“I am waiting for someone while eating this weird shit these fuckers are willing to kill over,” he stated, like it was obvious.
I glared at his untouched frozen yogurt cup and rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, okay.”
