Page 78 of Together We Burn
Chapter thirty
Jake
“Myusual,please,”Stefanysays, her fingers idly stroking her dog’s fur as she stands at the entrance to the outdoor seating area of the coffee shop. Alex gawks like the stupid fucker he is and holds his hand questioningly. “Fuck’s sake, Alex. Venti iced double dirty chai latte with coconut milk and a…”
“Chocolate croissant,” I mutter with her from behind the newspaper I’d been using to hide from her. Sitting at the far end under a parasol, watching Stefany and Alex come here every Sunday morning, has become an obsession of mine, the way it was hers.
Stefany wasn’t a creature of habit usually, never keeping the same schedule or repeating patterns, but the stop off at this café is a routine I doubted she even realised she had.
“I’m not ordering that fucking prissy drink,” Alex says, and Stefany lunges at him, smiling wide, jokingly punching his bicep, as he tries to leap away. Laughing, he rubs his arm and dips into the coffee shop, leaving the girl who has quickly become the height of my fascination.
I lower the newspaper a little, letting my sunglasses appear over the edge just enough that she is unobstructed, but will still keep my anonymity if she were to look my way.
When dressed for her assignments or meetings with Will, Stefany exudes this fierce badass confidence, stating she’s a force to be reckoned with. But on days like today, dressed in denim shorts, a white tank top, and a plaid shirt tied around her waist, hair up in a messy bun thing on the top of her head, and those huge fashion sunglasses that basically cover her whole face–she is impossibly sexy.
Will has warned me–no, demanded–that this fiery dark angel is to be looked at and never touched. But mere days ago, I had her unravelling, quivering beneath my hand as her tight little pussy squeezed my fingers after I impulsively took what I wanted, despite Will’s command to keep this strictly platonic.
Well, fuck Will.
My reactions to her are confusing and complicated. For crying out loud, here I am, like a stalker, watching her from behind a newspaper like I had done for the past four Sundays. Confusing and complicated doesn’t scratch the surface of what this girl is doing to me.
Stefany lifts her face to the sky, basking in the sun as she waits for Alex to return with their drinks. Her dog is lying on the sidewalk beside her feet, watching people pass them by with his tongue hanging out. She looks carefree, relaxed even, and it takes everything I possess not to go over there and speak to her.
Stefany is intriguing. She is smart, quick-witted, and from her interaction with Mac in that disgusting bar she took us to, she has enough sass to rival a bitchy group of high school girls. I wanted to get to know her, to find out everything about the girl I’m letting play me like an instrument, as she thinks I’m her next target.
My perusal of her long sun-kissed legs is interrupted as Alex returns and hands the coffee and white paper bag over. Stefany quickly pulls out the croissant and tears into it, little flakes of pastry landing on her top as she eats. She looks down and brushes her hand down her chest, making her perfect tits bounce, and I can picture taking them in my hands, running my thumbs over her nipples until they are tight little peaks begging for my mouth.
Maybe following her is starting to become a problem. I’ve never been this obsessed with a girl before, obsessed with seeing her, tasting her, filling her. This woman has me acting insane, when usually I’m so level-headed. My life never has time for anything more than sex, a quick transaction. But Stefany… Will is right; she is different. She is completely consuming me.
“The barista ended up giving me their number after I ordered your drink,” Alex says, tugging on the rim of his baseball cap.
Stefany smiles and knocks his arm with her shoulder. “And you were acting all butt hurt having to get me that!”
“The barista was a dude, Stevie. Do you know how awkward it was to let him down? I mean, he was a good-looking guy, and if I was into dudes, then maybe…” Stefany starts to splutter on her drink, causing Alex to smack her on the back. “It’s not fucking funny.”
“Oh, but it so is, you man-slut.”
Alex throws his arm over her shoulder and tugs her into his chest as she cries out in hysterics. Something inside me bristles as I watch him lead the girl I am starting to think of as mine down the street and out of sight.
“Sorry I couldn’t cook you breakfast this morning, baby,” I said, coming behind a seated Stefany and circling my arms on either side of her, placing a to-go cup and a paper bag on the dining table. “Venti iced double dirty chai latte with coconut milk and a chocolate croissant. Wasn’t sure what to get everyone else, so just got Americanos for Chris and Alex, and a smoothie for Nate.”
She glanced up with an odd expression, and I smirked.
“Stop it,” she said, taking the goods from my hands and opening the paper bag, finding five croissants inside.
“Stop what?” I asked, kissing the top of her head, taking the drink carrier to the breakfast bar, and removing one black coffee for myself.
“Stop being sonice,” she said, biting into her food, letting tiny flakes fall to the table. She definitely was not the most elegant eater. “It’s unsettling.”
Leaning against the counter I’d fucked her against last night, I crossed my arms as she continued to make a mess, then proceeded to lick each tip of her fingers when she was done.
Nate walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes, his jet-black hair stuck up in every direction. Sleepily, he dropped to his knees and buried his head in Rocky’s fur.
“Sleep well, kid?” I asked, poking the cardboard straw into his smoothie and passing it down to him. He nodded with a grunt, wrapping his small hands around the cup and taking a huge slurp.
“Nate isn’t a morning person,” Chris said, dressed in a long flowy skirt and a yellow top she’d tucked into the waistband. Her hair was twisted in this weird braid that hung over her shoulder and was tied with a white daisy.
Sitting beside her sister, the pair couldn’t have been more different. Yes, they had the same hair and eyes, but where Chris was petite and feminine, Stefany had an edge. As much as it had pained her to stay out of Chris’s life, perhaps shielding her from the evil of her world gave Chris something Stefany would never have.
